Cape Town – Marcell Coetzee had never before been victorious over Leinster in a playoff match, so Friday night’s sensational United Rugby Championship victory over Leinster in Dublin was even sweeter.
The 31-year-old loose forward had spent five seasons at Ulster in Belfast, but had to wait until he was at the Bulls in Pretoria to beat the Irish giants.
Coetzee led with an inspirational display as the Bulls pulled off a remarkable victory at the RDS Arena against the four-time defending champions.
It was also a timely reminder to Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber about what he could offer the national side against Wales next month.
“The emotions ran high in the interview afterwards! I’ve had a couple of go’s at them – four or five times, and I couldn’t manage it and came short with Ulster. Then wearing a Blue Bulls jersey and managing to get the win, it’s a proud moment. As a captain, you couldn’t be prouder, and it’s definitely a highlight of my career,” Coetzee said in the post-match press conference.
“But the job’s not done yet. Still got one more job, and we are going to prep the best we can and see what happens in the future. But personally, a big highlight of my career, and something to be proud of forever.”
Jake White’s team were relentless in defence and dominated the collisions to disrupt the home side’s usual flowing attacking game, and the South Africans finished their try-scoring chances expertly as well.
Johan Grobbelaar’s touchdown from a tap penalty and offload by Elrigh Louw was one to remember, and now the Bulls await either the Stormers or Ulster in the final.
Our Captain scores 😤 And the BullsEye team go berserk 🎙![CDATA[]]>🔥@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/c0Nmhg1kUl
“They are full of international stars, so before the game, we said ‘Listen, if we want to manage to win this game, we are going to have to play at that level’. That comes with the physicality that we brought, and we knew if we could get into their faces and win the game physically – and start implementing our strengths – we could come out with a win,” Coetzee said.
“Being in Ireland (before), I would know first-hand how quickly the weather can change here. We had sunshine, we had rain, then we had sunshine again.
“So, it’s all about sticking to your system. I know we had a plan, we wanted to execute it and it actually played into our favour if it did start raining.
“We wanted to be right upfront in their faces, our kicking game was very good, and we managed to get good chase-lines going. You just adapt to what is presented to you, and luckily the group responded very well.
“We executed to perfection and (it was a) good job by the boys. But the job is not done yet. Great victory… we will take this in. But there is still one game to go, and we are very pleased with that.”
Asked by IOL Sport about which team he would prefer to face in the final, Coetzee smiled and said: “It (Belfast) is a bit closer, towards Dublin! But at the end of the day, you have to adapt to what you get. Both are quality sides, and we will be watching them with enthusiasm. But may the best team win.”
IOL Sport