Swanepoel: From hard labourer in Oz to star fullback for the Lions

Former Springbok flyhalves Braam van Straaten and Louis Koen planted the seed which has turned ace Lions fullback Tiaan Swanepoel into the kicking sensation he is today.

Swanepoel has taken the country by storm with his long-range goal-kicking feats, many of them in the excess of 60 metres.

“I have put in many long hours to kick the way I do,” said the 24-year-old Swanepoel, who has scored 63 points in six Currie Cup games this year.

“It all started for me in Grade 8 when I started learning to kick with Braam and Louis during kicking camps at Swartland in the Western Cape,” he recalled.

Swanepoel said that is where he had started to perfect his technique, but every weekend in high school he worked on his kicking at Hoerskool Stellenberg.

“I even went on Sundays after having played on a Saturday to go and kick and work on my technique, and at Western Province I often worked on my kicking, even on off weekends and after training,” he added.

“So I spent hours on my kicking – obviously the more you kick the more comfortable you get and the focus on the technique gets better.”

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Swanepoel said nowadays he didn’t have to train his kicking that much, or for quite as many hours, and if he just gets his “strikes” in and it feels good, he stops immediately.

Proving with his two superb tries recently against the Pumas in Nelspruit that he is more than just a kicking fullback, there is already talk that he might be destined for higher honours like Springbok rugby.

There is however, a theory he might be vulnerable under the high ball and Swanepoel admitted there are a lot of areas he could still work on to make him a better, more complete player.

“Yes, there is talk that I’m vulnerable under the high ball, but I’m positive. It’s pretty much a case of a work in progress,” he said.

“I got unlucky with a few high ones but when you are being put under so much pressure it is a 50/50 situation when contesting, but it is something I want to improve on to deal with that pressure,” he said.

After losing out on a junior contract at Province due to a hip injury, Swanepoel went to West Harbour in Australia, where he worked as a labourer by day and played rugby after hours to provide for himself.

Tiaan Swanepoel worked as a labourer in Australia before being recruited by the Lions. Picture: Getty Images

“I worked hard when I was in Australia, but I had nothing to lose and had to look after myself. At the same time, I was keen to put myself out there rugby-wise and to prove myself.”

“After I was roped in by the Lions I worked hard and they gave me a chance against the Jaguares. It went well but I wasn’t ready yet to play at that high level.”

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Swanepoel said however, he learnt a lot from Boks like Andries Coetzee and Elton Jantjies, as well as coaches Cash van Rooyen and Sean Erasmus, on how to deal with the pressure.

“They taught me that it’s not as rough as you might think and rugby is about getting mentally tough and getting better with more game time,” he said.

Swanepoel said it was important to play regularly and learn from experienced hands to cope and maintain high standards.

“It’s always an advantage to have a few Boks in the team and I watched them closely over a period of time to try and perform at that same level.”

Swanepoel believes they are ready for the Bulls in the Currie Cup semi-finals next weekend, despite going down 22-15 to them 10 days ago.

“We have done our analysis and our homework on where we went wrong the previous game, there are a few areas we can work on,” said Swanepoel.

“We are going to do a lot of video analysis next week and work hard to get the perfect team. It’s just about playing rugby to match them and our mindset is already on par, It’s just about making that switch and hitting the go button.”

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