Illness has robbed the Bulls of the accomplished Harold Vorster for Saturday night’s clash with Munster, but it has opened the door for stocky Stravino Jacobs to make a name for himself at inside centre.
Jacobs is only 1.80m tall but weighs a powerful 103kg, making him ideally suited to launching raids across the gain line.
The 26-year-old usually plays on the left wing, but Bulls coach Johan Ackermann believes he has the physical attributes to make an impact at inside centre.
“Stavino showed his power running last week against Zebre. That’s his strength, ball in hand,” Ackermann said.
“That’s what we’re excited about — to see what he can do when he gets more ball in hand, because sometimes at wing you’re not guaranteed how many times you’re going to touch the ball. Sometimes the game doesn’t go your way.
“Now we’re probably going to see him with much more ball in hand.”
Ackermann compared Jacobs to two highly physical wingers in former Lions star Ruan Combrinck and All Black Caleb Clarke.
“Stavino’s physicality reminds me of a Combrinck or a Clarke; those kinds of players in that they are so physical. So we’re excited to see that.
“Defensively, Stavino has always been a good tackler. At 12, loose forwards and other 12s run at you most of the time.
“He’ll hopefully be able to handle that, even though it’s a new position.”
Interestingly, Jacobs’ move into midfield has created an opportunity for former Munster winger Thaakir Abrahams to return to the Bulls’ left wing.
The former Sharks player spent the 2024 season with the Irish province and will now face his old team.
Munster will be desperate to respond after losing 26-20 to Glasgow Warriors in Limerick last week, while the Bulls arrive in Ireland on the back of a 47-13 demolition of Zebre.
Ackermann expects Munster to be a vastly different proposition.
“I think Munster are going to be so challenging. They obviously want to fix what happened last season when we beat them twice, especially in the quarter-final.
“We know they’re going to come out firing. They’ve lost their first game, so that will be added motivation.”
Ackermann also provided an update on several injured players who remained in South Africa, including former Springbok hooker Akker van der Merwe, who has not played since January due to a neck injury.
“The neck is fine. Before the calf injury, he scrummed and had full contact,” Ackermann said.
“He re-injured the calf just before we went on tour. His progress at the moment is good. That’s the feedback we’ve got.
“Everybody who stayed behind — Embrose Papier, Akker and Sergeal Petersen — are all tracking nicely with their injuries.
“But I doubt Akker will be ready when we’re back. Hopefully we’ll see him soon.”
The Bulls will soon receive a significant boost, with Springboks Marco van Staden, Johan Grobbelaar, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels all expected to return next week — with all three capable of playing at hooker.
The Bulls host the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on October 10.
Bulls team for Munster:
15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Stravino Jacobs, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Juann Else, 1 Alu Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Cheswill Jooste, 23 Willie le Roux.
