Expect ‘good’ drama when the Lions pick ‘Krappies’

It took Morne ‘Krappies’ van den Berg a mere 19 minutes to make his mark in a Lions jersey.

Yet, as a substantial 48 000-strong crowd at FNB Stadium would discover, making one’s mark doesn’t necessarily only have positive connotations.

When the 22-year-old scrumhalf came on as replacement during the Superhero Sunday meeting with the Bulls, his first act was showstopping.

From quick ruck ball, the man with a nickname that translates to “little crabs” easily wriggled out of Cornal Hendricks’ grasp, chose a tiniest of blindside gaps, staved off Manie Libbok and ran in for a 25m try.

About 15 minutes later, he handed the Bulls a match-clinching try on a platter when a wild pass from a defensive scrum evaded his whole backline.

And in the dying seconds, he combined superbly with replacement hooker Jan-Henning Campher, who showed some inexperience by kicking forward instead of just merely off-loading to his haring teammate.

Van den Berg probably could’ve attempted a pick-up, but rather opted to toe ahead, meaning he lost his battle with the touchline and an unlikely victory was out of the equation.

It was a roller coaster ride.

“That’s ‘Krappies’ for you,” Hugo van As, his Wits coach in the Varsity Cup and a man who knows him well, said.

“You can expect some drama when he’s playing in your team. But that’s never a bad thing. No team has ever complained about having a guy who can create some magic.”

Leaving some footprint on proceedings was always going to be important for Van den Berg.

With the experienced Ross Cronje struggling with an ankle injury, the nimble halfback had an ideal opportunity to stake a claim for being new recruit Andre Warner’s deputy in the No 9 jersey.

He was duly on the plane to Buenos Aires this week as the Lions open their Super Rugby campaign against the Jaguares.

“I’m pretty confident when I say I think he’s going to establish himself quickly. He might fall back when Ross returns, but he’s probably already ahead of Dillon Smit (the Lions other reserve scrumhalf),” said Van As.

“He’s really talented, but his standout quality is that he’s a fighter. He’s really not a guy who just rides on his raw ability, he’s worked incredibly hard to get here.”

Despite sporadic appearances in the red-and-white, particularly at age-group level, Van den Berg, who hails from Hoërskool Linden, took pride becoming a talisman for Wits.

That influence reached its zenith last year when a spectacular individual performance – which included four tries – in the semifinal of the Pirates Grand Challenge, the Lions’ flagship club league, laid the foundation for a first title win in 52 years.

“He’s been incredible for us. There’s no doubt ‘Krappies’ has always been an ambitious guy, but it was so heartening to experience how he kept calm in reaching those goals. We (Wits) were probably a means to an end, but he’s always given his all for us,” said Van As.

The former Lions centre considers Van den Berg so gifted that he easily slotted him in at fullback too, but admits he’s always felt a bit conflicted.

“Jeez, I hope I didn’t screw up by doing that. We all know how being a jack-of-all-trades can be a curse for a South African rugby player. But we felt he could do a job for us there.”

However, it’s understood that Lions team management consider him a specialist scrumhalf.

“That’s the plan the last time I heard and it seems as if (Lions head coach) Cash van Rooyen is going to give him a run there,” said Van As.

“He’s been working on his core skills, particularly his kicking game, which has become so important for all halfbacks since the World Cup. ‘Krappies’ has the skillset, people can rightly be excited about him.”