White on 'gifted footballer' Simelane at fullback: 'He must be more versatile to play for Boks'

Bulls mentor Jake White says Wandisile Simelane, whom he called a "gifted footballer", needed to show more versatility to compete for a place in the current Springboks.

White picked the former Lions outside centre at fullback for the first game of this year's United Rugby Championship (URC) against his former team at Ellis Park on Saturday.

That, and David Kriel's move from No 15 to 12, was an eyebrow-raising pick but not uncharacteristic of White.

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The former Springbok coach played a hand in his ex-captain John Smit moving from prop to hooker back in the day.

While at the Sharks in 2014, he rejigged Lwazi Mvovo from wing to fullback and Sbura Sithole from wing to outside centre.

Mvovo got an immediate recall into the Springboks as a result of the switch, while Sithole got his first and only Bok call-up that year.

"The way the game is going now and the way I'd like to coach is that I'd like players to be interchangeable," said White.

"Looking at the All Blacks playing (against the Wallabies), you had Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Richie Mo'unga running in different positions in different plays in the game.

"For me, it's not just about where he is or the number on his back. It's about interchanging those players.

"Wandisile is a gifted footballer. I think he got a football scholarship or a contract to go to [Moroka Swallows] when he was a schoolboy.

"He's got some footballing skills in terms of feel and the way he kicks as well – he's got some good timing."

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Simelane's career had stuttered at the Lions before he swapped red for sky blue.

The former Jeppe High School pupil