A South African rugby fan says he knows exactly who the next Springbok scrumhalf needs to be, what the Vodacom Bulls need to work on going into the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs, and who the most underrated team in the competition is. And if you want to know the answers, then you’d better be quick about it because 12-year-old Libone Gxaba also has homework to do.
Gxaba was one of the presenter stars of the recent Kids Round in the competition and astounded all with not only his passion for the game, but some of his insights.
For a start, he thinks the Vodacom United Rugby Championship is the hottest thing to hit rugby since the Bomb Squad.
“The competition just brings that whole vibe of rugby. It’s such a great platform to watch the young players grow with their rugby,” he says.
Right, with the Gen Z thumbs up for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship out of the way, it’s down to the real nitty gritty of teams and players.
“If there’s a player that has to get a Springbok call-up, it’s got to be Embrose Papier. Has to be. He’s had a great season and I think he’s a good bet to become a Springbok. The only challenge is that we have plenty of scrumhalves at the moment, so there’s big competition. To be honest, if I had to pick competition for Embrose it would be Herschel Jantjies. I’m just not seeing it with Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach or Grant Williams,” says Gxaba.
Sorted. Now for the South African teams.
“The Vodacom Bulls are such a high quality team this season. If I had to give them any advice now, with two games left before the playoffs, I’d says just play your normal game and get yourselves ready for the knockout stages. There is of course the debate around whether to use their experienced players over these next two rounds or rest them for the playoffs. That’s a tricky one and I’m not sure I have the answer for that. The experienced players also still need game time to be sharp, so I’m not sure about that. But the Vodacom Bulls have been very consistent with their squad this season. They’re a strong team with a quality attack, especially in the backline where Willie le Roux has added a lot. But they need to work on the defence.”
Are you listening Jake?
And what about the DHL Stormers?
“What a team – winners of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and finalists again last season. There’s a big opportunity waiting for them in these next two rounds.”
The Hollywoodbets Sharks?
“Loaded with Springboks, and they’ve signed so many more players as well with Trevor Nyakane and André Esterhuizen. It hasn’t been a good season for them, but what a turnaround as they now have a great opportunity in the EPCR Challenge Cup. And that forward pack of theirs!”
And finally, the Emirates Lions.
“They are such an underrated team. They’ve beaten some of the best European teams. I mean, they recently beat Leinster. People haven’t seen the real Lions yet. They have so much heart. I’ll be honest, I was a Sharks fan, but I think now for the playoffs I’ll be going neutral.”
So that’s settled then. Except for that one niggling question that seems to be bouncing around between the north and south.
“Look, I heard all of that about Ireland being the best team in the world. They are a big team, and I can’t wait for the Springbok Test series against them. But if you look at the Six Nations, was it really that competitive? I don’t think the Six Nations was super competitive this year, so then it looks like Ireland are so much better. But we’ll see.”
Take note world rugby.
Libone has spoken.
Photo: Supplied