The Vodacom Bulls have announced that coach Gert Smal will take charge of their 2022 Currie Cup campaign.
With the Bulls expected to participate in both the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and the Currie Cup, competitions that are set to overlap in the new year, the Pretoria-based side felt it was imperative that the team start its title defence campaign under the guidance of a distinguished mentor.
Smal worked as an assistant coach to current Bulls director of rugby Jake White in a partnership that took the Springboks to the 2007 World Cup.
The 59-year-old has since served as Ireland’s forwards coach between 2008 and 2013 and was then appointed as Western Province’s director of rugby, a position he held up until 2018, when he left to join White at Japanese club Toyota Verblitz.
“It is an honour for me to be given this opportunity to coach at one of the top unions in South Africa and also in a competition of such prestige as the Currie Cup,” said Smal.
“The Bulls are in a good space at the moment as the winners of the Currie Cup for two seasons in a row. Our aim will be to continue flying the union’s flag high and cementing our position as the most competitive side in South African rugby. I look forward to the journey ahead with this ambitious side.”
Commenting on the appointment, White said: “We are excited to have a coach of Gert Smal’s calibre joining our ranks as the head coach of the Bulls’ Currie Cup team.
“The competition remains the premier domestic competition. It has, therefore, been important for us to bring in somebody with vast coaching experience and an understanding of the game to complement the vision of this union.
“We are focused and working hard on ensuring that our Currie Cup campaign and planning is on track. We have now won it twice in a row, and we have won the most out of any union. So, we take it very seriously.
“We are working hard that whatever date we are given for it to start, or whatever other competition we’re in, we take it very seriously. We’re not going to allow the chance to win three Currie Cups in a row to be taken for granted.”
