Dynamic Grobbelaar can become the next Brits

Young hooker Johan Grobbelaar put in a dynamic stint off the bench for the Bulls during a second-half comeback against the Stormers that ultimately fell just one point short of victory at Newlands last weekend, and Saturday’s Super Rugby match in Pretoria offers a new experience for the 21-year-old as he will be facing overseas opposition for the first time in his career in the form of the New South Wales Waratahs.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Grobbelaar as he has gone straight from playing a key role in steering Tuks to the final of the Varsity Cup to making just his second Super Rugby appearance, standing in for the suspended Schalk Brits and Corniel Els, who has been controversially recalled by the Pumas.

“It was a great experience, coming out of Varsity Cup and having big shoes to fill, and I really enjoyed it even though the team performance didn’t go our way. We struggled from the beginning, the intensity wasn’t that good, and then we created opportunities but we just didn’t finish. Everyone’s a bit quicker and bigger at that level, and more fitness is needed.

“Now I get the chance to take that experience further, against the first overseas team I’ve come up against, having just played Currie Cup and Super Rugby against local sides. The Waratahs have a good set-piece and maul, and a good high-line defence. We’re definitely going to have to be more physical and have better intensity,” Grobbelaar said at Loftus Versfeld.

Those who are closely involved with Grobbelaar through the talent-sharing program in place between the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and the University of Pretoria have high hopes for the former SA U20 player from Paarl, and at 1.82m and 98kg he has the exact same physical dimensions as Brits.

To be able to tap into the knowledge of the veteran Springbok is a tremendous privilege for Grobbelaar because they have a similar playing style and hopefully Brits’s old-school ideological views on rugby will also rub off on the Paarl Gym product.

“At the start of the year, I got to train quite a bit with Schalk and that was a great experience. He began to play professional rugby two years after I was born and I watched him on TV, never thinking that I’d get the chance to play with him I’m not the biggest hooker so I can definitely learn from his playing style, his work ethic and his skill-set.

“I’m getting value from Jaco Visagie too and there’s a bit of pressure on us new guys, but I’m still young and I see the bigger picture that there are a lot of years left in my career. It was lovely to be able to play junior rugby and Varsity Cup. The reality is that a lot of fringe players will lose their contracts in SA Rugby’s restructuring, but I don’t feel fear about that, I just keep doing what I can control,” Grobbelaar said.

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