Durban – An enduring moment from the Lions’ shocking victory over Edinburgh exemplifies the health of South African rugby and the tenacity of a Johannesburg-based club that is punching above its weight despite having no superstar players.
In fact, this may be what makes the Lions so good at the moment: they are the everyman team of South African rugby, taking strength from being consistently written off.
In Edinburgh, the flanker for the British and Irish Lions, Hamish Watson, was knocked out of the game by a series of body blows delivered by an unidentified youth named Ruan Venter.
Who exactly is Ruan?
Precisely!
He is a 19-year-old graduate of Paarl Boys High who is aspiring to play professional rugby. Vincent Tshituka, who was undoubtedly the Lions’ finest player in the United Rugby Championship previous season, vacated the No. 7 jersey for the Lions.
This weekend, Tshituka will make his debut for the Sharks against the Glasgow Warriors. He is destined for the Springboks, but have the Lions missed him? Not quite… And what other nation has a talent conveyor belt for loose forwards like South Africa?
Watson will ask the same question when he awakens from his coma after Venter collided with him three times before the 30-year-old Scot retreated to the medical facility.
Venter is a beast at 1.98m and 118kg, and the rugby community will hear much more about him in the future. Henco van Wyk, a 21-year-old outside center and another rookie to premier rugby, is also in blazing form.
Remember, the Lions lost their excellent center and captain, Burger Odendaal, to the Wasps in England earlier this year. However, instead of being mortally wounded by this loss, the Lions have recovered owing to the emergence of Van Wyk and the signing of Marius Louw from the Sharks.
Before we criticize the Durbanites for letting him go, we should consider how effectively Rohan Janse van Rensbug is playing at No. 12 for the Sharks after coming from Sale.
Van Rensburg is back playing in South Africa, and Louw has become an integral member of the Lions as a result.
Similarly, the Lions lost powerful prop Carlu Sadie to the Sharks, but Ruan Dreyer, a former Bok tighthead, is experiencing a fresh lease on life due to the increased playing time.
Sanele Nohamba’s precision was another encouraging aspect of the Lions’ victory over Edinburgh. He was logically behind Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams at the Sharks, thus the transfer to the Lions made sense.
Again, the distribution of resources among SA teams is beneficial to the game.
This Saturday, the Lions will play Ulster with confidence, and I believe they can go far in this URC because their “normalcy” is their greatest advantage. There are no Bok celebrities who come and go, and the community is united by its humility.
@MIke Greenaway67