Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i SA RUGBY

At this time last year, the game faced massive uncertainty. The 2020 Super Rugby season was suspended indefinitely in mid-March and since then, there have been seismic shifts in the rugby landscape. In that context, it remains hugely encouraging to write this editor’s letter at a time when the local preparation season for the Rainbow Cup is well under way after the conclusion of the Currie Cup earlier this year. Domestic tournaments in Australia and New Zealand also kicked off recently, while competitions throughout the northern hemisphere have provided plenty of action. The Six Nations competition has offered some compelling viewing on the international front, while the Springboks’ highly anticipated series against the British & Irish Lions looms ever larger. It means there has been plenty to unpack, and in…

SWEET REVENGE Early in the preparation series clash between the Stormers and the Cheetahs, Edwill van der Merwe set up a superb try after producing a massive fend-off that left opposite number Rosko Specman grasping at thin air. Yet, the quicksilver former Blitzbok would have his revenge as he proved to be a handful throughout the game by weaving in and out of defenders at will, ultimately recording a memorable hat-trick as the Cheetahs snatched a one-point win. STUCK IN THE MUD In February ex-Stormers fullback Joe Pietersen shared a video of him and his brother sharing a mud bath with a baby rhino. The two can be seen petting and playing with the juvenile rhino, who looks right at home in the muddy water. Pietersen, who stars for the…

Cheslin Kolbe’s cousin is none another than Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk. ‘It’s just incredible what he’s achieved over the past few years and is still going to achieve,’ Kolbe says. ‘He’s definitely got the speed, out of all of us in the family, although we were really competitive at a young age, racing each other, seeing who’s more skilful. That was us every day, in the streets having fun, doing what we could do, living and breathing with a rugby ball in our hands.’…

When Siya Kolisi arrived in Durban, fans wondered If the Springbok captain would displace Lukhanyo Am as the Sharks skipper. Kolisi, however, said he was happy to focus on his responsibilities as a player. ‘Everyone who knows me will tell you I’ve never seen myself as a captain,’ he says. ‘My approach to leadership is that I’m here to serve. I don’t have an ego. ‘I was happy when they announced that Lukey would remain captain. We get on really well, and I went to him straight away and asked him what he needed from me. I will always have his back. ‘He’s a calm and quiet guy by nature. We’re quite similar In that respect. Like me, he also prefers to use the leaders around him to maximum effect.’…

■ He never made the Bulls’ Craven Week U13 team despite sticking out like a sore thumb at Pierneef Primary School as a 13-year-old who stood at 1.95m and weighed 100kg. ■ Van der Mescht says his size originates from him coming from a family of what he euphemistically calls ‘not small people’: ‘My mum [Santie Bouwer] is about 1.94m. so she’s quite tall, my grandfather is also 1.9m, my dad [John] is a big guy who wears a size 14 shoe. My mum’s a size 12 men’s shoe size and I’m a size 15…’ ■ Despite weighing around 115kg at school, the youngster was still pretty handy in the sprints, once running 11 seconds flat for the 100m. He preferred the 200m because it allowed his giant frame to…

Playing 1st XI cricket at school ‘To be honest, my interest in rugby weighed up and down. I also enjoyed my cricket. In Grade 12, I had the option to go to Craven Week or to go on a cricket tour to England with school. That’s where I decided that rugby was what I wanted to do. I was missing out on a really nice tour to the UK. Rugby was where my focus was at the time. ‘Hand-eye co-ordination is something that is big in cricket and that has helped my rugby quite a lot. Cricket is also a time game. You have to graft. It’s intense but in three- or four-day cricket or in the 50-over format, you don’t get a wicket every over, so it taught me…

There’s much to be said for the unvarnished interview. The trouble is that in these days of media massaging and press officers, almost everything is spun and manipulated. Players are on-message; cliche city abounds. And then Hacjivah Dayimani steps up, his big sneakers stomping over convention and carefully scripted soundbites. ‘I was a thug,’ he says of his early life. ‘I had a thug’s mindset; there are some things I’m not proud of.’ We’ve occasionally been told players’ stories of hardship and strife – think Ashwin Willemse and Siya Kolisi – and Dayimani adds to that dark narrative with a story that is raw and visceral and utterly surreal. Growing up, he was a hustler and a fixer, doing what he had to for survival. His pals were alcoholics, gangsters,…

Dan Carter’s genius was ultimately halted by the opponent who inevitably overcomes all sport superstars: time. A couple of weeks before he turned 39, Carter announced his retirement from professional rugby, bringing the curtain down on a career that has spanned nearly two decades. Much like what Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo are to football, or LeBron James or Michael Jordan are to basketball, Carter was to rugby. His ability seemed almost eternal, unaffected by nearly 20 years of taking heavy tackles as his opponents tried mostly in vain to stop him from weaving his magic. ‘Before I was anything, I was a rugby fan,’ Carter said in an emotional letter penned to his fans. ‘I wanted to be an All Black. I wanted to represent my country - even…

Every year, more fixtures are added to the professional rugby calendar. And every year, we ask the powers that be to ease the physical and mental workload on the elite players. It’s a well-known fact that too much exposure to the physicality of top-flight rugby can lead to injuries in the long term and even more serious conditions after retirement. To some players, the six-month break during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 may have been a blessing in disguise. By the time rugby was given the green light to return via the Super Rugby Unlocked series in October, everyone was rested and desperate to play as much rugby as possible. In the English Premiership, the top clubs played two to three games every week to make up for the time…

CONOR MURRAY ‘Thinking of rewatching Prison Break from the start, but Kev’s demanding family time,’ said the Ireland scrumhalf while relaxing with his dog. JOE PIETERSEN ‘I’ve been asked about my skincare routine enough now to share some secrets … Step 1: Get your mud fix in before the local wildlife arrive,’ posted the former Stormers back. DAN CARTER ‘I’ve thought about this on so many occasions but today is the day and I am very grateful that I can do it on my terms. I’m officially retiring from professional rugby,’ revealed the All Blacks legend. SIYA KOLISI ‘Bekushushu namhlanje, so good to be back on the Park @sharksrugby #oursharksforever,’ stated the Springbok captain as he reported for his first training session with the Sharks. FRED MICHALAK ‘Work in progress…

There are so many. But something as simple as Coach Rassie coming up one morning and singling out each player, knowing where they came from, knowing what their struggles were. He took time to get to know every player. Before the final, he came up to all of us and mentioned everything about where we had come from and the challenges people had overcome. That was something more personal for me. because here’s a coach who could focus on the bigger picture, rather than just focusing on winning the World Cup final. What definitely helped us was the diversity in the group and the brotherhood that we had. not just at the World Cup but also In the buildup to It.'…

■ 2003 – Kolisi competes in the Eastern Province U12 trials and earns a scholarship to attend Grey Primary School and then Grey High from 2004. ■ 2007 – Leads the U16A Grey team. Wins the Grant Khomo Week tournament with EP. ■ 2008-09 – Represents the EP U18 Craven Week and the SA Schools teams. ■ 2010 – Joins Western Province and helps the juniors win the U19 Currie Cup. ■ February 2011 – Makes his senior debut for WP in the Vodacom Cup. ■ July 2011 – Makes a Currie Cup starting debut against Griquas at Newlands. ■ February 2012 – Makes his Super Rugby debut against the Hurricanes after replacing an Injured Schalk Burger. Scores a try in the 39-26 win. ■ June 2013 – Comes off…

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has developed a squad that boasts a wide variety of skills. The potency of the back division was evident In the Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup tournaments. ‘There’s just so much balance across the board.’ Comal Hendricks explains. ‘Ivan van Zyl is so calm, whereas Embrose Papier is more explosive. Mome Steyn Is a leader who brings so much experience and clarity to the party and Gio Aplon is in the same category. ‘Stedman Gans, Stravino Jacobs. Kurt-Lee Arendse and David Kriel are exciting young players who combine natural talent with a never-say-die attitude. I get goosebumps when I talk about these guys. 'I don’t think we’ve seen the best of this Bulls side just yet. These players will get better with age.…

Johan Goosen is only 28 years old! It’s hard I to believe he could have at least another five I years of high-level rugby in him, particularly I when considering what a long and winding road he has travelled on his rugby journey. Its been a career of extraordinary highs and lows, with a storyline sometimes seemingly scripted by a Hollywood writer searching for a controversial and drama-filled subject. Goosen is now set to join the Bulls in a move that will provide an opportunity for the utility back to reimpose himself on South African rugby. Its an undeniably decisive career move for a player who was widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most prodigiously talented up-and-coming stars during his breakthrough years on the local and international circuits. GOOSEN’S…

Its not often that a Rolls-Royce passes through and almost no one turns to have a look. Looking at the muted response that met JP Pietersen’s recent retirement, it’s difficult not to feel that is what happened with a career that was much better than its numbers suggested. Sharing a dressing room with men named Os du Randt, Beast Mtawarira, John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen, Fourie du Preez, Frans Steyn, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, among others, can dim a player’s star, but we forget that Pietersen was an absolute thoroughbred. PIETERSEN WASN’T EXACTLY WHAT YOU’D CALL A BLUNT OBJECT. IN FACT,EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM WAS DECEPTIVE At some level the reaction by many is understandable because the announcement of the retirement took a while…

Five years ago, Jasper Wiese was at a crossroads in his life. There were rumours that the cash- strapped Cheetahs might not have the resources to offer him a new contract. Wiese, then 21, considered hanging up his boots. When he called home for advice, his father told him that he was welcome to return to the Northern Cape and take up a job on the family farm. Fortunately, the Cheetahs managed to retain Wiese’s services and he decided to stay in the game. Five years later he’s making waves for Leicester as one of the most powerful carriers in the Premiership. ‘I’m lucky the Cheetahs decided to keep me on,’ he says. ‘From that point onwards, I told myself that I was going to make every second count. I…

Monye shares a story from a night out In Johannesburg while on tour. ‘It was after a mid-week game and we all went to a nightclub. We arrived in two 60-seater buses with ‘Lions’ printed all over them. It was not subtle. We were well-oiled by then but were let In ahead of a long queue of people. We’d been shopping earlier and I’d picked up a little laser pointer. I was standing on the mezzanine looking down at the dance floor. I was pointing my laser at the boys, seeing what they were up to. Out of nowhere I was cut In half by a huge tackle. I was on the floor and this guy grabbed my wrist to check my hand. He said, ‘Mate, you’re In South Africa.…

Robert Bums wrote in 1796 that ‘Nae man can tether time or tide’. Were he alive today, the fabled Scottish poet might have added ‘Duhan van der Merwe’ to ‘time and tide’. When the 1.9m, 107kg wing powered through England captain Owen Farrell to score a match-winning try in the opening round of the 2021 Six Nations, it was a definitive statement to the rugby world. He would not be stopped. Duhan van der Merwe has always been a big man. At Outeniqua, where he attended high school, he stood head and shoulders, literally and metaphorically, above his competitors. The blond wing left defenders scattered in his wake and scored tries almost at will. SA Schools and Craven Week selections were a formality. So too was his eventual youth contract…

1. OSDURANDT Avoid his channel at all costs! 2. SCHALK BRITS He ran like a wing, stepped like a centre and passed like a flyhalf. Had the ability to play in the backline, but a clever player like him had to play in the forward pack. Great talent! 3. MARIUS HURTER The only player always smiling, even when his teammate knocked the ball on. He loved scrumming! He would tell you, ‘Just give me the hit. then you can watch No 8.’ 4. WIKUS VAN HEERDEN (c) This is not his first-choice position, I know, but you have to make place for him in your team. He is an all-time sreat in mv books. 5. CHRIS JACK Dominated the No 5 jersey for the Crusaders and the All Blacks in…

CRAIG LEWIS SAYS APHELELE FASSI It feels almost wrong that the 23-year-old hasn’t had an opportunity to earn higher honours. Every indication was that Fassi was very much in the national picture at the start of the 2020 Super Rugby season. However, the pandemic deprived the Springboks of any action last year, and effectively denied him an almost certain Springbok cap. It’s been a painful waiting game to see when the Boks will finally play their first game since the 2019 World Cup, but there will surely be at least a couple warm-up games before the British & Irish Lions series. Should that series take place in the northern hemisphere, there will be a need to take an extended squad over to the UK, and you can rest assured Fassi…

Ever since I can remember, the so-called smaller rugby unions and franchises across South Africa have produced some of the best rugby talent on display. Not only to the South African rugby public but also to the world. If we delve deeper into the roots and to where many of these top players originally come from, we would quite frankly all be blown away by the rugby talent that has emerged from the ‘platteland’. Before the professional era, the likes of Griquas and Border managed to win the Currie Cup on more than one occasion and it shows that South Africa had a serious wealth of talent not only concentrated around the bigger cities. Another fact to back up this argument, and we will delve deeper into this shortly, is…

Comal Hendricks recalls the darkest moments of his life in vivid detail In late-2015, doctors told the dual-code international he had a rare heart condition and that he would never play rugby again. Hendricks fell into a deep depression. Whenever he thought about his Stormers and Springbok teammates running on to the field without him, he would lament the cruel hand he had been dealt. Whenever he thought about representing the Blitzboks at the 2016 Olympic Games – a dream that was taken away from him in the wake of a life-changing medical verdict – he broke down in tears. His story could have ended there. But while Hendricks was bowed, he was not broken. He pulled himself off the canvas and got back into the fight. He tells SA…

With the British & Irish Lions series beckoning, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will be spending many a sleepless night fine-tuning his squad to front the men in red. As ever, the back row composition will surely be at forefront of his mind. South Africa has an embarrassment of riches among the loose forwards. The depth Nienaber has to choose from is unparalleled in rugby, but the challenge will be to find the right balance in his selections. Fitness permitting, the starting combination of Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi and Pieter- Steph du Toit looks set to continue for the Springboks. However, competition beyond these three stalwarts has never been more intense. We take a look at some of the other options Nienaber has in his arsenal and how he might deploy…

Fresh from winning the Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup double with the Bulls, Sintu Manjezi will be spending the next six to seven months on the sidelines after damaging his knee cartilage and anterior cruciate ligament. The 25-year-old lock was injured during the first half of the Currie Cup final against the Sharks, but continued to play on until he was substituted on the 60-minute mark. Manjezi had just broken into the Bulls’ starting lineup, after completing a move from the Cheetahs, and yet he refuses to be dejected or distracted by such a setback. ‘I am a bit chilled about it, but also slightly frustrated because I am going to be out for a while now,’ Manjezi tells SA Rugby magazine. ‘It’s also quite a bit of a…

Jasper Wiese moved to Bloemfontein at the age of 18 to pursue a professional rugby career at the Cheetahs. His younger brother Cobus entered the Western Province academy and eventually graduated to the WP and Stormers teams. In 2020, both received opportunities to play in England – with Jasper moving to the Leicester Tigers and Cobus to the Sale Sharks. ‘It’s a huge coincidence that we ended up leaving South Africa round the same time,’ says Jasper. ‘It’s strange to think that we’re closer now than we were before. I hardly saw him when I was based in Bloem and he was down in Cape Town. ‘When I arrived here, he made the two-hour drive from Manchester to Leicester to spend some time with me. That gave me a boost…

What are some of the most memorable moments of your career? A lot of good things happened. There is the funny story of how my career started at the Sharks. I stayed in Morningside, just up the road from the stadium and we played a Friday night game against Boland in the Currie Cup. I walked down from my house to the stadium fully kitted out in my Sharks gear, along with the fans. People were looking at me thinking I’m just a normal ball boy walking to the stadium to work [laughs]. I scored a try and then walked home afterwards. Just a normal 19-year-old laaitie from Cape Town, arriving in Durban and the next thing he knows he is playing in the Currie Cup on the big stage.…

Earlier this year, Worcester Warriors confirmed they had recruited Duhan van der Merwe from Edinburgh as the first major signing for the 2021-22 season. The Warriors’ director of rugby, Alan Solomons, believes the powerful 25-year-old will prove to be a crowd-puller at Sixways. ‘Duhan is an X-factor player, who has established himself at International level. He Is an exceptional talent and, I believe, will have a huge impact on the team. ‘He has pace and power and Is a world-class finisher. He is a player who puts bums on seats and our fans are certainly in for a treat. He is also a first-class bloke and team man and will fit in well here at Sixways. We all look forward to his arrival.'…