Cape Town – He last featured for the Springboks in 2019, which also came after a four-year absence, so it’s no wonder that Marcell Coetzee couldn’t hide his excitement this week on being called up to the national side again.
The Bulls captain, who will lead his side in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium (7.30pm kickoff), has ‘only’ 30 Test caps despite making his debut in June 2012 against England in Durban.
In contrast, lock Eben Etzebeth – who played his first Test in that same Kings Park match – has 97 caps to his name.
A combination of injuries and being overlooked has resulted in Coetzee missing out on the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, but now he has a chance to make it to the 2023 edition on the back of a superb URC season for the Bulls.
“Being selected for the Boks, it’s incredible. You’re just on the high of beating Leinster away, and managed to book a place in the final. And then you get the phone call the next day from your CEO, telling you ‘Listen, hey, you made it!’,” Coetzee said from Loftus Versfeld this week.
“So yoh … it was an incredible feeling. You will never take that moment for granted every time the squad gets announced, and your name is on it. Obviously not being in the mix for a while now, you just appreciate it always. So, you never take those things ever for granted.
“Congratulations to all the guys who made it, and the guys who are playing around you, like Ruan (Nortje), Elrigh (Louw) and Kurt-Lee (Arendse) – it’s great to see them there – and other guys that I know, like Eben and Pieter-Steph (du Toit).
“It’s always an honour to represent your country. You’ve been blessed enough to do it 30 times, and you will never say no to getting the opportunity. The guys that have been selected – well done to them. And the guys who just missed out: keep working hard.
“I’ve been there, where you’ve been out, and you just need to aspire and work hard. You never know when the door will open. We as South Africans have a good mixture now between youth and experience, and I think the coaches who are in charge will take us in the right direction. We must just feed off that as South Africans.”
Coetzee could add a new dynamic to the Bok loose trio for the first Test against Wales at Loftus Versfeld on July 2. While he still possesses a high work-rate on defence and contests the breakdowns, the 31-year-old tops the offloads list in the URC with 37, ahead of Stormers fullback Warrick Gelant on 34.
He is the second-highest try-scorer with 10, is fourth on the carries list (197), fifth on tackles made (181) and ninth on turnovers made (14).