Pretoria in the off-season is never quiet, but this year it hums with an international intensity. Fast bearing down on the city is the biggest fixture on the calendar, an August 15 showdown with the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld. For Vodacom Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann, this is the rare moment where a pre-season transitions from training routine into pure theatrical drama.
The highly anticipated fixture marks the first time the All Blacks will face the Bulls in Pretoria in 50 years. Ackermann, who once lined up against the men in black as a Springbok, views the match with absolute respect.
“Wherever the All Blacks play, worldwide, you look at the following they get, and the tradition, and so on,” Ackermann says. “It’s a memory that will last forever with them. A great opportunity to measure yourself, but also to experience something that you’ve always probably only watched on TV.”
While the fixture is a dream for local rugby fans, it presents a massive logistical hurdle for a squad deep in a rebuilding phase. With nine Vodacom Bulls players called up to Rassie Erasmus's latest 44-man Springbok squad, Ackermann faces a severe selection headache. Only scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been released back to the union, but his participation remains heavily in doubt as he requires rest.
“Although it’s a wonderful opportunity, in the bigger picture it’s not ideal for our pre-season and preparation for the United Rugby Championship (URC),” Ackermann admits.
Compounding the problem is a Carling Currie Cup fixture scheduled for the same weekend, meaning Ackermann must find 46 match-ready players to fulfil both obligations. “It’s entirely possible one or two players could make their Bulls debut against the All Blacks,” he explains.
Because this is an official touring fixture and not a loose exhibition, Ackermann is threading a needle few coaches would envy. He must build foundational conditioning for the upcoming VURC season while simultaneously preparing a depleted match-day squad for the highest level of physical impact.
“We probably do a little bit more conditioning than a normal week,” he says. “But it is a tough balance, because we can’t just do conditioning, but not get contact-ready. It’s not a warm-up game where you play 30-odd players. This is a full official match.”
To survive the brand of rugby he wants to play, Ackermann brought in Rupert Oberholster as the new Head of Athletic Performance. Oberholster is tasked with fast-tracking the conditioning of a squad that ran all the way to the VURC final last season and had precious little time to recover.
Beyond his own selection worries, Ackermann is keeping a sharp eye on the broader landscape of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. Having twice played New Zealand during his career, he respects the threat posed by a revitalised touring squad playing under their new head coach, Dave Rennie.
“The All Blacks will be a different team with Dave Rennie,” Ackermann notes, crediting Rennie’s ability to galvanise a squad and reshape a brand of New Zealand rugby that had recently looked uncharacteristically shaky.
Despite Rennie's immediate success in the Nations Championship, Ackermann's ultimate conviction lies with his countrymen. “I still think the Springboks will win, because I think we’re still settled in our experience and depth, and quality, and set piece. Everything in me says that the Springboks will be just too strong.”
The All Blacks fixture serves as a trial by fire for the next generation of Bulls players. With core stars like Ruan Nortje, Wilco Louw, and Kurt-Lee Arendse departing, and new faces like Thaakir Abrahams and Curwin Bosch entering the mix, the squad's DNA is shifting rapidly.
For the youngsters stepping up to cover the Springbok absences, Loftus Versfeld will become the ultimate testing ground.
“I’m excited about the players coming in, but just as excited about our youngsters,” Ackermann says. “I want them to realise they need to put pressure on the senior players. Hopefully now, through Currie Cup rugby and by training with us, some of these young players will show us that in the future we can hand them the jersey rather than going outside the union to find it.”
It is a season defined by the hurt of May's final defeat, but re-energised by the looming black wave. As Ackermann sums up ahead of the gruelling month: “Sometimes you have to take something aside, to really see the good in things, and there were a lot of positives.”