How Willem Alberts returned to the Lions and became team leader

Big Willem Alberts, widely known as the “Bone Collector”, is set to go full circle.

The designated new Lions captain will regain the team’s leadership next week after being appointed to take over from flyhalf Elton Jantjies who is enjoying a sabbatical in France.

But for Alberts it will be a case of rewinding the clock back to 2008 when he captained the Lions in a few matches before departing for Durban and the Sharks in 2010.

Although sometimes brutal on the field thanks to his massive 120kg frame, Alberts is soft-spoken off it, but when he speaks everyone listens.

Although he’ll be turning 37 next month, Alberts is in peak physical condition and extremely fit and again become a regular in the Lions team – albeit at lock rather than loose-forward where played in his younger days.

After returning to South Africa from France at the end of 2019, Alberts missed the Lions’ first few games in the initial stages of Super Rugby early last year, but he was back in business in the middle of last year when rugby started up again following the break due to the coronavirus.

Remember these guys? Lions players JC Janse van Rensburg, Willem Alberts, Willem Stoltz, Cobus Grobler and Wigan Pekeur in 2008 at a training session. Picture: Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

And it was clear from the word go that Alberts was determined to repay the faith the Lions had shown in investing in him again by delivering quality performances. But that’s what you get from a seasoned professional, someone who previously had played 86 games for the Lions, 73 for the Sharks, 79 for Stade Francais and 43 Tests for the Boks.

Alberts has a big presence, and an impressive pedigree, and is the type of player all the juniors will look to for guidance – and that is why he’ll be the man to take over the captaincy of the Lions while Jantjies is in France.

Prior to Alberts’ appointment, Lions coach Cash van Rooyen made it clear that the choice of the new captain had to be a joint decision between the players and coaching team.

Although Van Rooyen had identified a few candidates – and there are a number of seasoned campaigners and promising leaders in the Lions set-up – he wanted to speak to the team first before revealing the leadership options. What this does is give ownership to the team and ensures everyone feels included.

And so Alberts will back leading the Lions, just like he’d done more than 12 years ago for the first time. And who knows, if he continues to impress he may well find his way back into the national selection picture.

It’s almost impossible for the Bok brains trust to simply ignore him.