Master and student: Fourie excited to show Simelane the No 13 ropes

What a wonderful opportunity it must be for a talented outside centre like Wandisile Simelane to be able to learn the tricks of the trade from one of the best No 13s this country has produced, namely Jaque Fourie.

And that is exactly what is happening right now at the Lions; Fourie, who played 72 Tests in his career, is now Simelane’s defence coach at the Lions.

While big things are predicted for the young Simelane, Fourie, at 38, is a veteran rugby star who is confident his 23-year-old student can live up to his promise.

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“Wandi’s an exciting player and we all want to see him with the ball in hand,” said Fourie this week, as the Lions build-up to their opening game in the new United Rugby Championship.

The men from Joburg are in Parma and face the Italian club, Zebre this Friday.

“But while we all want to see Wandisile in space and scoring tries, and hopefully the weather will be good for us this weekend, it’s going to be tough. It’s our first year playing in a European club competition,” added Fourie.

“And, the hard work will need to be done first. That said, these are exciting times for us, and it’s going to be great playing against international players again each week.

“Many of these young Lions players will only get better and stronger for that experience.”

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Simelane, who featured in the Springbok set-up prior to the visit by the British and Irish Lions in July, said he was now more excited about the future than ever.

“My experience with the Boks was amazing,” he said. “I learnt so much there and hopefully the positive will be that it will rub off in my play.

“There’s no better way to test yourself than to play against the best and now (in the URC) we have a chance to do that.”

The Lions match on Friday kicks off at 6.15pm.