Cape Town — Johan Goosen was so good at flyhalf during last year’s Currie Cup-winning season that he was earmarked for a Springbok recall for the November tour of Europe.
But then he sustained a serious knee injury in the United Rugby Championship against Cardiff in Wales last October, and was out of action until last week’s clash against Edinburgh at Loftus — an 11-month layoff.
Despite such a major setback, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber has made it clear that the 30-year-old pivot will be back in the national team if he can prove his fitness in the URC over the next few weeks, and he began that journey as a fullback in the 33-31 win over Edinburgh.
But now, it’s the real McCoy: Goosen will wear the No 10 jersey in Friday’s encounter against Connacht at Loftus, and the rugby fraternity will be waiting with bated breath to see if he can deliver.
The former Cheetahs star wasn’t too prominent at No 15 last week as he got through 50-odd minutes, but expects something different against Connacht, where he will also be surrounded by devastating speedsters such as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Sbu Nkosi.
“Very good, very good (how Goosen has gone in training this week). Last week, it was about grooming him into that team environment after 11 months out. Taking nothing away from Chris (Smith) — Chris did quite well. But I think it was always a question of time before we give Goosen time at No 10 as well,” White said during the Bulls team announcement on Thursday.
“That’s an incredible backline we’ve put together now. Literally all of them have played for South Africa, and some on the bench played for South Africa.
“So, it’s the first time we’ve put them together as a combination, but I know how talented they are. I’m looking forward to see how quickly they take before they can click.
“They are all very talented rugby players, but it’s just a question of how long it’s going to take for us as a team to gel as a unit.
“They keep the ball in hand, and when you see them at training, they make line-breaks and there is so much support.
“It’s a nice (early evening) game: it’s not the middle of the night, and it’s not raining or anything. So, hopefully we will be able to keep the ball in hand.
“Part of rugby is also how cleverly you kick to them, and all of those guys are clever rugby players.”
Bulls Team
15 Kurt-Lee Arendse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Cornal Hendricks 12 David Kriel 11 Sbu Nkosi 10 Johan Goosen 9 Zak Burger 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Marco van Staden 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Walt Steenkamp 3 Francois Klopper 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 Reinhardt Ludwig 21 Embrose Papier 22 Chris Smith 23 Lionel Mapoe
IOL Sport