Lood lives his dream

30 June 2014 - 02:12 By Chumani Bambani
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LATE TACKLE: Tommy Seymour of Scotland tackles de jager of South Africa as he goes over for a try at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. De Jager says he has learnt a lot from mentors Bakkie Botha and Victor Matfield.
LATE TACKLE: Tommy Seymour of Scotland tackles de jager of South Africa as he goes over for a try at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. De Jager says he has learnt a lot from mentors Bakkie Botha and Victor Matfield.
Image: Gallo Images

Lodewyk de Jager always wanted to be a backline player. But, given that he would grow up to be 2.05m and 125kg, it's something he never quite managed, as coach after coach kept sticking him in at lock.

Scoring two tries in only his first start for the Springboks on Saturday was the nearest "Lood" came to realising that dream.

Of the tries in the 55-6 thrashing of Scotland at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, his 40m streak for the tryline compared favourably with any backline player's try on the day and was outshone only by his childlike joy in reaction to scoring it.

Goofy-looking, chubby-cheeked and possessed with the endearing tick of a multiple blink, the Cheetahs lock is yet to score a try in two seasons of Super rugby. He already has two international tries to his name in what is proving to be a meteoric rise.

"I haven't got a Super rugby try yet, so that felt like [running] 80m not 40m. It was good - a great feeling," the gangly De Jager said.

The body went into shock after he dotted down a second time. He remained on the ground - complete with tryline whitewash all over his face - after scoring with a touch of cramp, having last played 80 minutes for the Cheetahs in April.

De Jager's feat not only meant a lot to him, but his team-mates were also overjoyed.

Captain Victor Matfield, one of the first to the scene to embrace the 21-year-old after his first try, beamed: "It was so special when I saw Lood's face after the try."

It is Matfield and childhood hero Bakkies Botha that De Jager credits for his growth since joining the Bok camp. "You learn a lot from guys like Bakkies and Victor, especially Bakkies, with me playing No4 now," he explained.

"He was probably the best No4 in the world for a long period of time, so you learn from guys like that in training.

"There's a lot of off-the-ball, not so much on-the-ball, work - positioning and just working hard - that's what I've learnt the most."

De Jager's rise is all the more remarkable because until his debut from the bench against Wales in Durban, he had been nursing a hand injury sustained in early April.

Once called upon at halftime when Botha's Achilles started acting up, De Jager took his chance by using one half to put in as many tackles as anybody else had in the entire game.

Besides working himself to a standstill, he has not taken a step backwards on the gainline, be it with ball in hand or in defence.

TV Fixtures

Today

Cricket: Third Test, final day, West Indies vs New Zealand at 4pm on SS6

Soccer: World Cup, second round, France vs Nigeria at 6pm on SABC1/SS3, Germany vs Algeria at 10pm on SABC1/SS3

Tennis: Wimbledon at 12.30pm on SS5 and 2pm on SS2

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