It wasn’t really a surprise that when the dust settled on Friday night and the Vodacom Bulls won their away Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against the Dragons at Rodney Parade, their most battle-hardened warrior Marcell Coetzee was the easy candidate for the man of the match award.
There are many superlatives to use for Coetzee, whose dogged leadership is action and not words, and the way his grit and determination have become the focal point for the team is not unnoticed.
That’s why it isn’t just another number when Coetzee captains the Bulls this Saturday against Scarlets as they look for more points to take them into the playoffs.
He will lead the team onto the field for the 73rd time - making him to fifth on the list of Bulls captains in an era where players longevity is measured by minutes and not caps.
Still that takes him past one of the legendary captains in the modern era - Anton Leonard - who led the Bulls several times as they had their early 2000s resurgence in the Heyneke Meyer era.
And if anything is to be believed, Coetzee has a lot more left in him as well.
After Friday night’s win, the first one to lay the praise on him was his coach Johan Ackermann, who said he was immensely proud of the performance.
LEADS FROM THE FRONT
“I can just credit Marcell. He has been so good for us in the past few weeks, both on and off the field. The way he has led the team and the way he challenges the guys and encourages them. Against the Dragons it was tremendous the amount of work he got through and how he put his body on the line.
"He led by example for us, when our backs were against the wall. Those are the moments you need your leaders to stand up and he did that. Credit to him and hopefully that form will continue for the rest of the season.”
Ackermann also spoke about how Coetzee helped change the momentum in the game, his halftime talk to players and the effect it had on the Bulls winning the match in the second half.
This weekend Coetzee will get another chance, not only to build on a legacy that has seen him etch his name in the record books, but also to take his side a step closer to the playoffs.
“I can’t believe how quickly time has flown,” Coetzee smiled, underlining just how much his move to Pretoria in 2021 has meant to him.
“It feels like the other day I arrived, and now I sit with this achievement.”
It’s all thanks to the management and players who’ve helped me along the way, who have complemented the role along the way.
CREDIT TO TEAM-MATES
“If you take the previous captains like Naas (Botha), Victor (Matfield), Ruben (Kruger), Joost (van der Westhuizen), it’s phenomenal. But in saying that, you’re only as good as the guys that you surround yourself with.
“I have guys like Marco (van Staden), Ruan (Nortjé), and Gerhard (Steenekamp), those are experienced guys that you lean on when times get tough.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team achievement, and if you can just contribute in whatever way you can, then that is awesome. For me, it’s all about the journey with the guys, and it’s been an exceptional journey so far.”
Coetzee has had heartbreak before, missing out on two World Cups earlier in his career, but still managed 31 caps for the Springboks.
But now his focus is different, he has settled in and is playing for the team he loved from his childhood. And he is now part of the legendary players that have graced Loftus Versfeld over the years and is in the record books.
And yet, the one thing you can expect from Coetzee is that he will want to add more, do more, and contribute more while he is at Loftus.
This might not be the last record he sets, not if he has anything to say about that.