Cape Town – He may have had extra motivation as he is from the Western Cape originally, but Keagan Johannes’ performance for the Bulls against Western Province on Wednesday night warranted the Man-of-the-Match award that he received afterwards.
Apart from scoring a well-taken try, his slick service from the base gave the Bulls attack great impetus throughout their 45-34 victory at Loftus Versfeld that took the Pretoria side to the top of the Currie Cup log.
Johannes – who hails from Mamre near the Cape West Coast – was snapped up by Hoërskool Garsfontein in his teens and has come through the Bulls junior structures.
Having turned 22 last November, the No 9 is pushing hard to be a regular figure in the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship match-day 23 by impressing in the Currie Cup.
The competition is tough, with Springbok Embrose Papier the incumbent halfback for Jake White’s side, while former Griquas captain Zak Burger usually plays off the bench.
Johannes has had the odd URC cameo off the bench, but all he can do is produce the goods for Gert Smal’s Currie Cup team and hopefully catch White’s eye.
He certainly did so against WP on Wednesday night. Johannes has that key ingredient that every top scrumhalf should have – a smooth pass with zip – which adds real energy to the Bulls attack.
Johannes has a knack of picking out runners in the wider channels with fast, flat long passes as well, and has the ability to snipe around the fringes with his electric pace – which he did with great aplomb in scoring against Province with a sharp dummy to dot down under the posts.
Having also played flyhalf as a junior, his kicking game is also solid, while he is a highly efficient defender as well.
“Oh! Well, I just saw the gap and an easy, old classic scrumhalf try,” Johannes told SuperSport in a post-match TV interview about his five-pointer.
“First of all, it’s a huge privilege playing on Loftus. I just think the guys push each other quite well during the week. We just get the best out of each other, and I think that’s what pushes me to stay in the team and just do my best every day.
“(Playing alongside Morné Steyn) It makes it so much easier for me. He communicates well, and all I have to do is listen! I am very excited playing with him, and it’s a huge privilege.”
Flyhalf Morné Steyn, who was the Bulls captain on the night, was delighted that his team could pull off a bonus-point win, even though they conceded five tries.
“It was quite a difficult one. It was a good win, but I think we gave a lot of penalties away. Our defence wasn’t up to standard tonight, so a bit of a tough one, but a good win,” Steyn told SuperSport.
“We just spoke about it now with their captain (Nama Xaba) as well. It felt like we score, then we give them one again, then we score again and give them another one. So, small things we have to work on, but let’s just enjoy the win first.
“There are a lot of new faces tonight – a couple of youngsters coming in again – and I think there is a nice balance between the older guys like me and Bismarck (du Plessis), and the much younger ones coming in.
“So, it’s a great vibe. Jake and everyone is doing a great job – Coach Gert is doing a great job. So, we are just enjoying it.”