Marcell Coetzee was all smiles at Loftus Versfeld on Thursday as he posed with coach Jake White and Blue Bulls Rugby Union president Willem Strauss Marcell Coetzee was all smiles at Loftus Versfeld on Thursday as he posed with coach Jake White and Blue Bulls Rugby Union president Willem Strauss, but now he won't be able to play against the Stormers. Photo: Willem Strauss/Bulls
Cape Town – It was supposed to be a fairytale return to the Bulls side for Marcell Coetzee, but now it won’t happen.
The experienced loose forward jetted back to South Africa at the weekend after completing his Japanese club commitments with the Kobe Steelers, and Bulls coach Jake White was contemplating bringing him straight back into the side for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against the Stormers in Cape Town (3.30pm kick-off).
White had said last week that he was still deciding whether to start Coetzee or play him off the bench at the Cape Town Stadium.
But that won’t be possible, as Coetzee is ineligible for selection.
The SuperSport website reported earlier on Thursday that the 31-year-old flank cannot play due to competition rules.
The adjudication on Coetzee by the URC organisers has been confirmed to IOL Sport by two Bulls sources.
Despite having already played seven URC matches earlier in the season before travelling to Japan in November last year, Coetzee needed to be registered for the Bulls by March 30 this year to be up for selection later in the competition.
This was not possible as the Springbok loose forward was on duty for Kobe in Japan, and the Bulls were not sure whether he would return to South Africa in time for the URC play-offs, as it was dependent on how far his club would progress in their competitions.
But Kobe were eventually out of the running for the Japanese play-offs, and were even in danger of having to play promotion-relegation matches.
IOL Sport were told that the Bulls could only confirm about three weeks ago that Coetzee won’t be playing any extra Kobe matches and would be back in Pretoria by May 1, and they applied to the URC for a special dispensation to have him cleared for selection.
But the organisation declined that request, having tightened up the rules after Sharks star Lukhanyo Am did a similar thing last season after his sabbatical in Japan.
So now Coetzee can only feature for the Blue Bulls Currie Cup team in Saturday’s match against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld (5.30pm kick-off).
His experience would have been valuable in what is sure to be a high-octane play-off against the Stormers on Saturday, but now Marco van Staden is likely to hold onto the No 6 jersey in Cape Town.
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IOL Sport