When Boeta Chamberlain saw the look on his Vodacom Bulls teammates’ faces after they’d lost the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final to the Glasgow Warriors, he knew he was exactly where he needed to be for this next phase of his career.

What Chamberlain saw in the disappointment and frustration on his new teammates’ faces confirmed in his mind that this is a team that will never settle for second place. How much it hurt crystalised in his own mind just how much it meant to this team.

“That defeat to the Glasgow Warriors hit the players hard. You could see it. But I could also see that the impact it had on this team and the reaction by the players also means there is something special coming in the next year or two,” says Chamberlain.

It’s exactly for this kind of feeling that the 25-year-old decided it was time to leave the Hollywoodbets Sharks, and within a week of that a deal had been concluded for him to join the Vodacom Bulls.

“The plan was to get my hunger for the game back. I’m extremely grateful for what the Sharks did for me, but after seven years there and having gotten married recently, we felt like it was time for a new challenge and for me to get out of my comfort zone a bit,” he says.

Growing up in the Cape and as a rugby prodigy at Paarl Boys High, it was only natural that Chamberlain was firmly focused on a future with Western Province. He was a standout early on, and is perhaps one of the few players to have been scouted while sitting on the sidelines having just torn his knee ligaments. That happened during the St Johns Easter Rugby Festival in 2017, with Chamberlain playing for Paarl Boys High against Affies when he was injured. It certainly didn’t stop a Sharks recruiter from offering him a contract for the next year. Now the fact that his next move was to Loftus Versfeld has surprised even Chamberlain.

“I never thought I’d play here. I grew up in the Cape and it was always Western Province or nothing. Then in 2018 I went to the Sharks, and that wasn’t really in my plans either to be honest. And now I’m here at Loftus Versfeld.

“In our family it was always Western Province. And then one year my mom decided to support the Bulls. My goodness. It was war in our household. Fortunately it only lasted one year. But there was never a doubt in my mind growing up that the Bulls were a formidable team. It was always a team to look up to – who they are as a union and how they played. As a player you always knew that a game against the Bulls was going to be like war. To be part of this union now feels like an honour for me.”

Similarly, Chamberlain has been welcomed with open arms.

“This team welcomed me right from the start, and it’s given me the opportunity to just be myself here. From the time I signed with them I received messages from the other players saying they were looking forward to me joining them. It actually gives me goosebumps just to think how warmly I was welcomed here.”

But it’s the Vodacom Bulls’ pursuit of excellence that has reignited something in Chamberlain.

“There are world-class players here at the Vodacom Bulls and I feel like I can learn a lot from them. I look up to many of them. You take somebody like Johan Goosen who’s been a Springbok and is world class. From a young age he’s just achieved so much in the game. For me to be able to learn from a player like him is just a positive for me.

“And then Jake White has a world of experience. I was eight years old when he won the World Cup with the Springboks. Just to be able to play under a coach who has coached around the world and has so much experience in taking teams from nowhere to finals, is a privilege.”

The intensity of the Vodacom Bulls’ training sessions has also impressed Chamberlain.

“The way we prepare as a team, the detail that goes into it and the way we train, there are very high standards that we set on the training field. The way we train is very much the intensity of how we play matches. It’s very much a mindset thing, and I’ve seen that it’s all mindset at the Vodacom Bulls. Everything is about winning.”

Chamberlain also fits exactly what White was after when he signed him – versatility in the backline. And it’s something Chamberlain is happy to develop.

“As a youngster I always played number 10, and the first time I started playing 15 was at high school. I quite enjoyed the freedom and time that position gives you.”

“But for me it’s not about where I play. At the moment I just want to pull on this jersey and represent this union.”

Photo: Supplied