Warren Whiteley: Still very much the talk of the town

It says much for the influence of Warren Whiteley that there’s such a fuss being made about his return to lead the Lions against the Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The 30-year-old No 8 – and technically still the regular Springbok captain – is actually merely playing his first game at home since the knee injury sustained in March.

ALSO READ: Swys de Bruin: Only Facebook makes you bad overnight

But for some it feels like years.

And with the Lions’ journey in this year’s Super Rugby playoffs looking distinctly difficult, Whiteley’s leadership can’t be underestimated.

Here’s what a few key voices in this weekend’s Jukskei derby had to say about him.

Swys de Bruin (Lions coach): ‘He’s still so coachable”

I take my hat off to the leaders in our group like Warren. They just move on from setbacks.

We often think experienced players don’t need to be coached anymore. But it’s like golfers, the better they get, the more coaches they actually need.

Just because Warren is a Springbok No 8 doesn’t mean you leave him alone. He’s still very coachable, you hear out how he’s feeling and what he wants to work on.

There’s still a lot of input and it’s great.

John Mitchell (Bulls coach, Whiteley’s first full-time senior coach at the Lions): ‘He’s the heart of that team’

He’s their spiritual and intellectual leader in many ways. He speaks both languages really well and he leads by example.

Warren is a different type of No 8. Behind a very strong scrum, he brings some added attacking dimension. He was very good off-scrum against the Sharks two weeks back upon his return.

He just finds ways to use his attacking skills so effectively. He’s got a motor running, he’ll go the full 80 minutes.

Warren Whiteley: ‘I’m not that guy’

All I always try to do is contribute. I never try or ever want to be ‘the man’. I’ve never been like that and I never will be like that. How I approach a game is simply doing my job.

I’ve been out for four months this year, so it’s special to be leading the side out at Ellis Park (this weekend). It always is. It’s something I never take for granted. It won’t be any different but I’m going to be so grateful to be back.

For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.