Captain Ruan Nortje will run out for his 150th Bulls appearance next weekend, anchoring a high-stakes URC quarter-final before heading to Japan.
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The Bulls’ popular captain, Ruan Nortje, is set to play his 150th match for the franchise in next week’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Munster at Loftus Versfeld — adding an immense extra layer of motivation for the home team.
Nortje is nearing the end of his illustrious career in Pretoria, as the 27-year-old is set to continue his rugby journey in Japan next season. A Bulls man through and through, Nortje has only ever worn the blue jersey since leaving school and sits 24th on the prestigious list of most-capped Bulls players in history.
Nortje made his senior debut for the Bulls in 2018. Four years later, his consistent provincial performances were rewarded with the first of his 18 Springbok caps — underlining his meteoric rise as one of South Africa’s premier locks.
“For me, it was a little boy’s dream come true to represent the Bulls,” Nortje said recently. “I’d have been happy with just one appearance and never imagined in my wildest dreams I’d get to 150 matches. I’ve been incredibly grateful and have been blessed not to suffer many injuries.
“For a small boy from Daspoort — a suburb of Pretoria — in my wildest dreams I never thought I’d captain the Bulls,” he continued.
“The biggest thing for me is always to appreciate the privilege I have to play in this jersey, and that’s why I play like it’s the last time I’ll ever have this opportunity. I just go out to enjoy it and be the little boy who dreamt of it 20 years ago. That will always be my motto: to go out and be the little kid who dreamt big.”
Nortje noted that his primary message to the next generation of aspiring rugby players is to value self-belief above all else.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken from this journey is you have to back yourself,” Nortje said. “At the start of my career, I was maybe somebody who doubted myself because I didn’t always believe that I could play where I am at the moment. It’s crazy to look back and see how nothing is impossible.
“When I speak to the team, I always just try to be honest and to speak from the heart, and not to think too much about it. I ask in prayer to say the right things at the right time and share the right words with the guys. Every time I look back, it’s scary to see how quickly the time has passed.”