His career may be littered with all kinds of orthopaedic upheaval but lock Lood de Jager insists SA rugby is in rude health.
In fact, he argues, this is as good as it gets. “South African rugby is in the healthiest position it has ever been,” said De Jager. “To go to Australia and play all the players in the squad except RG Snyman who had a bit of a niggle and still beat Australia comfortably. They did this while blooding youngsters next to experienced players.
“This is a high performance environment that also brings that competitiveness and that makes us so much stronger. I’m really excited about the future of SA Rugby,” said the 2019 Rugby World Cup (RWC) winner.
The bearded lock backs up his claim. De Jager was reminded the Boks won their most recent RWC titles with much reduced time in their preparation and was then asked if there is any reason the Boks cannot go on to record with a first hat-trick of RWC wins.
“I can’t. I honestly can’t. Especially when you consider they are bleeding in youngsters next to the experienced players. Rassie [Erasmus, head coach] is a very pragmatic guy. He doesn’t go into any Test match willy-nilly. He plans everything and there is a reason for everything he does. There is no reason we can’t win the next World Cup but it is going to take a lot of hard work. There will be other teams that will be a lot better.”
The Springboks are certainly tough to beat. Their only defeat in their past 10 Tests came against Ireland in Durban in the drawn series earlier this year, and they have lost two Tests in their last 17.
They do, however, face a stern challenge with the All Blacks, the team they pipped in the 2023 RWC final, soon to put their lofty status to the test.
The All Blacks, however, are not the invincibles they were a few years ago. They have a new coach, struggled to down England at home and suffered a defeat in their capital against Argentina at the start of the Rugby Championship.
Asked if it is a great time to play the All Blacks, De Jager said: “It’s a great time. It is difficult to say with the All Blacks. You could see in that last game against Argentina, they were desperate. We’ll have a good plan and they’ll come with good plans. It is the epitome of Test rugby, Boks against the All Blacks at Ellis Park is massive. They will come out all guns blazing but we will do the same.”
De Jager, however, is still sidelined with a rotator cuff injury and might not play again this year. He quipped that he may need to reintroduce himself given the amount of time he has been on the sidelines.
“It is difficult to say,” he said about a prognosis for his recovery. “I am doing my rehab here but I’m contracted to my club in Japan for three more years so I’m talking to my medical team there and the medical team here. We’ll see how it goes. It has been slow going. The last three, four weeks we’ve seen real progress. It is difficult to put a time on it but I will be back on the field again.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.