/ 18 April 2012

Bulls take pleasure in Saru interest

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke on Wednesday said it was a feather in its cap that the South African Rugby Union (Saru) was interested in four of its management assistants.

Saru confirmed on Sunday that it had entered into formal negotiations with forwards coach Johann van Graan, former Springbok fullback and Blue Bulls backline coach Ricardo Loubscher, defence coach John McFarland and conditioning coach Basil Carzis.

They were expected to be part of Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s management team before the three-Test series against England from June 9.

“We are glad for them, it is a credit to the system, that a lot of our coaches can be involved there. It is obviously Heyneke’s choice,” Ludeke said.

“The big picture is we support them 100%, we are glad for them and it is great for the Bulls system.”

Ludeke said he had discussions with Meyer and the loss would not affect the Bulls’ system.

“There is no impact on our campaign for the season, they will still be involved and we had discussions, me and Heyneke, on the use of them. There is no disruption and it is great for them,” he said.

Bulls skipper Pierre Spies concurred with his coach that it would not have an impact on the team’s season.

“It is not something we are worried about and it didn’t actually have an effect on our team this week at all. We’ve been focusing on what we want to do on Saturday,” said Spies.

The four coaches will be released to continue their work with the Bulls until the end of the Super Rugby season when they are not involved with the Springboks. — Sapa