Jeandré Rudolph’s latest Man of the Match performance left his coach laughing and admiring in equal measure.
The 32-year-old loose forward starred in the Bulls’ 54-26 demolition of the Scarlets at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
“It’s amazing and good to see him playing well, and we’ve got great competition in that back row,” Johan Ackermann said afterwards. “Elrigh Louw and Marco van Staden didn’t play tonight.
“He’s a good footballer who can play anything, and he keeps finding his form. Today I laughed, because sometimes he looks tired and down, and then the next moment he goes again. It’s good.”
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It was the latest in a run of standout displays.
Two weeks earlier, off the bench against Stade Français in the Investec Champions Cup, Rudolph scored a marvellous try that belonged to a back.
Receiving the ball on the right wing inside his own half, he chipped over the advancing defender, regathered and dotted down for a wonder try.
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Jeandre Rudolph gets Loftus on its feet
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The irony is that Rudolph was only ever meant to be a stop-gap.
Sixteen months ago, at 31, he was on the brink of retirement after five seasons with the Cheetahs, who were not playing in the URC.
Ackermann, newly arrived, offered him a short-term deal last July. Few noticed. Fewer expected much.
He has since become a stalwart, with a bulldog spirit and a pace to the ball that has made him one of the competition’s most feared breakdown operators.
He finished last season with 20 turnovers, more than anyone else in the URC, and was named Man of the Match in the Champions Cup win at Pau.
In August, the Bulls named him both their Currie Cup Player of the Year and Champions Cup Forward of the Year.
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Opponents noticed too.
“I thought Jeandré was incredible at the breakdown, a nuisance really,” said Stormers coach John Dobson after their narrow win over the Bulls in January.
Some, among them former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer, believe he is Springbok quality, although Rudolph himself is unaffected by the hype.
Although thoughts of retirement linger, he just wants to play. Even at 32, he has shown no sign of slowing down and nobody at Loftus is complaining about the stop-gap who stayed.
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Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
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Jeandré Rudolph’s latest Man of the Match performance left his coach laughing and admiring in equal measure.
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