Following in the footsteps of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield – the most-capped second-row partnership in history –was never going to be easy, but, in Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth, South Africa’s second row is in safe hands ... potentially for many years to come.
Both in their early 20s, De Jager and Etzebeth played key roles in helping South Africa reach the semi-finals of Rugby World Cup 2015. Peerless in the lineout and destructive around the park in attack and defence, the Springboks’ boiler-house brat pack stood head and shoulders above most of their rivals in England.
When Etzebeth first wore the green and gold in 2012, 2.06m tall De Jager was still playing age-grade University rugby. But once the Bloemfontein-based Free State Cheetahs offered him a Super Rugby contract two years ago, he has shot up the ranks to become one of the most highly-rated second-rows in world rugby.
“Three years ago I was playing Varsity Cup rugby for North-West University-Pukke in Potchefstroom,” 23-year-old De Jager tells World Rugby TV.
“I think I was a late bloomer at school, I played well but I didn’t play Craven Week, or any of the youth weeks or South African schools or anything like that.
“Then Naka Drotske gave me an opportunity at the Cheetahs, and here I am, I can’t believe it!”
Like all good double acts, De Jager and Etzebeth’s personas are not one and the same.
“He’s more an intense figure than I am,” De Jager explains. “Off the field I’m a more relaxed kind of guy. I like to make a joke and take it a bit easy.
“But on the field there’s no good cop, bad cop, I think we try to be bad cop and ‘badder’ cop. Hopefully it works.”
Labour of love
While Etzebeth, the older of the two by a year, has the power to intimidate with his bulging biceps and brooding looks, baby-faced De Jager is more than happy engaging his brain to outthink the opposition as well as using his brawn.
"I like the lineout, it’s a passion of mine so I don’t see it as a chore or as work, I just see it as something I enjoy."
A keen student of the game, De Jager isn’t afraid to put in the hard work, both on and off the training field in a bid to get an edge at lineout time.
“Monday and Tuesday you look at the lineout and discuss what you want to do against the opposition and what they do. It’s a lot of analysing, a lot of research, but I like it. I like the lineout, it’s a passion of mine so I don’t see it as a chore or as work, I just see it as something I enjoy.
“Some teams complicate the lineout a lot whereas we keep it simple. We don’t have triple spins and one guy running in because that’s just a recipe for disaster. We have a lot of options but they’re simple options.”
As a 14-year-old De Jager watched South Africa win Rugby World Cup 2007 back home on TV, and he admits rubbing shoulders with some of the stars of that team has left an indelible impression on him.
“I think for the young guys in the team, it’s amazing, it’s immense. We bring the emotion to the team and guys like Victor, Fourie (du Preez) and Schalk (Burger) bring so much calmness and composure.”
Also on World Rugby TV this week, Argentina legend Felipe Contepomi talks about how Los Pumas are a different animal these days, it’s cousin v cousin as Wallaby star Tevita Kuridrani goes head to head … again, with Fiji’s Nemani Nadolo, and we travel to Hong Kong to explore the impact Get Into Rugby has had on the city’s hearing impaired schools.