It has been a tough old time for Henry Immelman since he joined the Bulls, but he will hope to make the most of his opportunity in tonight’s United Rugby Championship clash against the Scarlets in Llanelli (8.35pm start).
Having travelled the world in playing for the likes of Montpellier and Edinburgh, the utility back from Upington decided to head home from Scotland last year and moved to Pretoria.
His ability to operate at fullback and wing makes him a valuable player in such a long competition as the URC, but a series of injuries have kept him largely off the pitch.
But he is back in action now, and Jake White slotted him in at No 15 yesterday in place of the rested Willie le Roux for tonight’s game in Wales.
“He has just been so unfortunate. He’s had injuries. Right at the beginning when he joined us, he had the misfortune of an off-the-field incident as well, where someone tried to steal his cellphone – he got injured, and that put him out for a while,” White said about the tall 29-year-old.
“He’s now back, and was always going to get a chance. He’s played wing and fullback, and played at Montpellier and Edinburgh, and in European Cup games.
“He has a massive boot, and tomorrow with the rain, it’s maybe an added advantage to have his experience and the length of his kick out of his half.”
White made several changes to his team yesterday, with Springboks such as Le Roux, captain Ruan Nortjé, Elrigh Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp all given a break ahead of the November Test tour to the UK.
David Kriel also won’t feature despite having his red card rescinded from last week’s 29-19 win over the Ospreys in Swansea, with veteran Harold Vorster slotting in at No 12, while Zak Burger replaces Embrose Papier at scrumhalf.
Cameron Hanekom is back at No 8 for Louw, Nama Xaba gets an opportunity at openside flank in place of Marcell Coetzee, and Cobus Wiese will take over from Nortjé at No 5.
Gentle reminder of Hanekom's performance last time we played against Scarlets on his @Vodacom #URC debut 🔥👀 pic.twitter.com/i65A0DlK03
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 17, 2024
There is also some serious firepower in the front row, where Springboks Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Akker van der Merwe – who will take over the captaincy – will look to make a big impact from the start.
“He (Vorster) was injured and would’ve been picked sometime anyway. As it turned out, David got a hearing and we put Harold in, and then when David’s card got rescinded, we decided as a group that we would leave it as is,” White said.
“He’s got a lot of experience, and it’s going to rain tomorrow. So, having him in the midfield next to Canan (Moodie) is going to help us, just in terms of control – as in age – a little more experience.
“We were always going to rotate our squad, change and keep our players fresh. Zak, Harold, Jan-Hendrik, Xaba, Cameron didn’t play much last week as he was on the bench – Henry Immelman, a lot of guys who are really fresh because they haven’t had much rugby. I’m hoping that energy and freshness is seen tomorrow.”
Shots from the last time we faced off against Scarlets 📸#ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/6pdZBSp8ha
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 17, 2024
White added that Moodie has been given greater responsibility to direct the backline in Le Roux’s absence to help grow his own game, although he still sees Moodie’s future at outside centre.
Bulls Team
15 Henry Immelman 14 Sebastian de Klerk 13 Canan Moodie 12 Harold Vorster 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Boeta Chamberlain 9 Zak Burger 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Reinhardt Ludwig 6 Nama Xaba 5 Cobus Wiese 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Wilco Louw 2 Akker van der Merwe (captain) 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Bench: 16 Johan Grobbelaar 17 Dylan Smith 18 Francois Klopper 19 JF van Heerden 20 Mpilo Gumede 21 Embrose Papier 22 Chris Barend Smit 23 Stedman Gans.