Coetzee’s Return To Face CJ Stander Adds Spice To Belfast Derby

Springbok loose-forward Marcell Coetzee is expected back from injury to bolster Ulster in Saturday night’s plum Guinness PRO14 derby against Munster at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.

Coetzee recently announced that he will be returning to South Africa to play for the Bulls next year, something that is a sure indication of him being determined to be in the Bok team that is scheduled to play the series against the British and Irish Lions next year. He hasn't played since his announcement, which apparently upset Ulster's fans, as he was ruled out for a few weeks with a concussion, but has come through the protocols and is ready to play on Saturday.

It is up to debate whether his fellow South African, CJ Stander of Munster and Ireland, will be in the Lions squad (he was part of the Lions team that drew a series with the All Blacks a few years ago), but Coetzee will nonetheless see the value of putting in an extra big effort in Saturday night’s head-to-head confrontation.

There are plenty of other reasons aside from the battle between the two South African loose forwards for local rugby fans to seat themselves in front of the television for this match on Saturday night.

With the new local Covid restrictions forcing the Currie Cup clash between the Cheetahs and Western Province into an earlier time slot and away from the initial 19.00 Saturday night kick-off, the Belfast derby can take centre stage. The game, which kicks off at 19.15 South African time, is between two unbeaten teams.

Covid postponements have restricted Munster to just seven games in Conference B, but they have won them all. Ulster has been in even more impressive form, racking up nine straight victories in Conference A.

With Leinster having been prevented by Covid from playing their plum fixture against Munster on the Christmas weekend, Ulster has gone ahead of them in their conference battle, which is a rare thing these days.

The additional South African interest in the Kingspan clash revolves around Munster having a strong South African presence. Apart from having Stander as a kingpin among their loose-forwards, Munster has a former Springbok and Bulls assistant coach in the form of Johan van Graan as well as Bok World Cup winner Damian de Allende in their team. After a slow start, the latter has been regaining his top form and has been an influential presence in the Munster midfield.

While the Belfast game has been rightly billed as the PRO14 game of the season so far, there are several other games in this derby weekend that should attract a lot of focus. For instance, the later game on Saturday night, that between Leinster and Connacht in Dublin (21.35) is effectively a clash between the second-placed sides in the respective conferences. Leinster will start as outright favourites of course, as they should after a 26-man winning run in the competition, but Connacht has been a team that has built a reputation for giving the Dubliners an unexpectedly hard time in the past.

The Scottish derby between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield earlier on Saturday (17.00) always attracts South African interest because of the number of ex-pats in the respective teams and both teams will start desperately for a win.

Weekend Guinness PRO14 fixtures

Scarlets v Dragons (Llanelli, Friday 19.35)
Cardiff Blues v Ospreys (Cardiff, Friday 21.35)
Benetton v Zebre (Treviso, Saturday 15.00)
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors (Edinburgh, Saturday 17.00)
Ulster v Munster (Belfast, Saturday 19.15)
Leinster v Connacht (Dublin, Saturday 21.35)