Embrose Papier is set to carve his name into Bulls history this Saturday, and coach Johan Ackermann believes the Springboks are taking notice.
Papier will make his 170th appearance for the Bulls if he comes off the bench against Zebre Parma at Loftus Versfeld, moving past legendary scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen as the club’s most capped No 9.
The milestone comes amid another outstanding season from Papier, who has been one of the Bulls’ standout performers in both the URC and Champions Cup.
Despite missing out on recent Springbok alignment camps, Ackermann revealed there has been communication from the national setup.
Rassie in touch
“I think they [the Springboks management] have made contact with him,” Ackermann told the media on Friday.
“There hasn’t been another camp, but they have made contact with him so I’m sure they’re keeping an eye on him.
“They’ve chatted to him about some of things he needs to improve on. That’s good news for us because it means they’re looking at him, but nothing is for certain.
“Hopefully Embrose can just keep playing the way he’s playing and the rest is out of his control.”
‘Exceptional 9’
Ackermann also praised Papier’s influence and consistency over the years.
“He was outstanding at school and obviously took it forward in his professional career,” he said. “He’s a very quiet person but he’s a really exceptional 9.
“The outstanding factors for me are his support play and his speed. The fact that he’s in such good form for us is great, because that was in many matches the deciding factor.”
The Bulls have made several changes for Saturday’s clash, with Willie le Roux starting at flyhalf, while Kurt-Lee Arendse returns at fullback and Canan Moodie shifts to outside centre.
This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.
