Bulls must maintain tempo against Lions says Kirsten

The saying goes that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, but while Jannes Kirsten has still got a few good years of rugby in him, he probably didn’t think that he would learn to play No.5 lock at the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup this year.

The 30-year-old utility forward, who normally plays blindside flank or No.4 lock, has had to manage and jump in the line-outs regularly at provincial level due to the absence of Springbok Ruan Nortjé, as well as the unavailability of United Rugby Championship (URC) stalwarts and departures of others.

Kirsten had a celebrated career at Exeter Chiefs in England after leaving the Bulls in 2018 – via Toyota Verblitz in Japan – winning the Champions Cup and Premiership at Sandy Park.

But his Pretoria homecoming last season was delayed for nearly a year due to an ongoing foot problem, which finally healed towards the business end of the URC season.

Kirsten was on the bench in the URC quarter-final win over Benetton, but missed out on the semi-final triumph over Leinster and the 21-16 final defeat to Glasgow Warriors.

So, having hardly played since returning to the capital city, he has been ploughing away in the Currie Cup, and helped the Bulls to remain unbeaten at the top of the log ahead of Friday’s derby against the Golden Lions at Midstream College in Olifantsfontein (5.15pm start).

“It was new for me to play a bit of five-lock – it was challenging at the start of the season, as you aren’t too used to the role,” Kirsten said yesterday after training at Loftus Versfeld.

“But I’ve learnt a lot, and have been a bit more comfortable in the role, with the line-outs and things like that.

“It is still challenging at times, but I’m learning weekly and try to be better every week. It’s nice to play constantly after a long injury, and hopefully we can create a highlight at the end of the season.”

The Bulls have won seven matches and drawn one to be on 36 points, three ahead of the Lions, with two league games to go.

But with talk that the Johannesburg side may wheel out their full-strength URC team on Friday, Bulls coach Phiwe Nomlomo will hope that his outfit can hold on to the No.1 position in the standings, after seeing off Griquas 47-24 last week.

“This is a fight for the top spot in the Currie Cup. If we win, then we know we’ll get that first place on the standings,” Kirsten said.

“It’s that time of the season that you look forward to, getting closer to the play-offs, and we are in a good place. It’s a short week, and we don’t know what the Lions are going to bring.

“But it’s important that we focus on ourselves, and we are looking forward to the match.

“The team came together quickly after the URC, so we didn’t spend much time together. We have been a bit up and down this season – in some games, we’ve started well and then we have a dip in the second half.

“In other games, we begin poorly and then we score many more tries in the second half. As the season has gone on, we’ve achieved more consistency and we’ve been more consistent in how we play, the tempo that we bring ...

“We had a bit of a slow start against Griquas, and it’s about holding onto the ball as we give a lot of possession away. It’s important that during the 80 minutes, we must avoid switching off during certain periods of the game.”