Jake not going against Bok wishes in picking Goosen at 15 for Bulls: 'He will play 10 again'

Just because he won't be wearing the preferred No 10 jersey on his back doesn't mean that Springbok team management shouldn't be interested onlookers when Johan Goosen makes his long-awaited return for the Bulls on Saturday.

Following a near 11-month hiatus from a knee injury, the 30-year-old slots in at fullback for his franchise's URC meeting with Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld, despite the national hierarchy probably wanting to see him have a go at pivot.

Goosen has been earmarked as the Boks' preferred third-choice flyhalf building towards next year's World Cup and looks certain to feature in some capacity on South Africa's year-end tour to Europe given the current depth crisis in the position.

Yet Jake White, the Bulls' director of rugby, believes he'll be granting one of his prized assets enough freedom to showcase his playmaking skills at 10 without overburdening him in terms of his match fitness.

"It gives us a chance to get Johan into the game without having to control things from the first minute, allow him to just get a bit of a feel again for the game because he won't last the 80 minutes. He's just gotten back from a long break," said the World Cup-winning former Bok coach.

"I'm sure the Boks would've preferred to see him at 10. He's in the mix there. But we're being conservative. I probably could've squeezed him in last week already, but we really just wanted to find the right time for him to come back.

"The Boks, if you read between the lines, have shown that they prefer guys who've been in the system for a long time, which explains why Frans is starting this weekend.

"I'm not taking away anything from someone else who's played well in the No 10 jersey over the past year. They need a seasoned guy. It would've been