The 2023 Rugby World Cup kicks off tomorrow and SARugbymag.co.za hails the top loosehead props in tournament history to have packed down for the Springboks.
Os du Randt
Du Randt’s career typified every character trait that defines the stature of the greatest to have played the game.
He is one of only two Springboks to have won two World Cups and featured prominently in the 1999 third-place campaign. Having made his debut in 1994, Du Randt had nine Test caps under his belt and was just 23 years old when he won the 1995 World Cup.
Du Randt was forced into early retirement in 2000 – at the age of 27 – because of recurring knee problems, but one of Jake White’s first tasks as Bok coach in 2004 was to lure him back into the game. The hulking Free Stater went on to repay White’s faith in him, helping the Boks win both the Tri-Nations and the 2007 World Cup.
His 2007 World Cup performance was colossal, with his display in the semi-final win against Argentina particularly memorable. He did, however, save his best for last as he completed the full 80 minutes in a titanic final appearance for SA against England in Paris.
Tendai Mtawarira
Affectionately known as ‘Beast’, the affable loosehead lived up to his nickname during a decorated career.
Mtawarira featured at three World Cups and played for more than 11 years in the green and gold, but his career could’ve been even longer had the government not decided in 2010 that the Zimbabwean-born behemoth wasn’t eligible to play for the Springboks until he became a citizen.
Still, Mtawarira established himself as a force of nature during the 2009 British & Irish Lions series and went on to earn more caps for the Boks (117) than any other front-row forward.
He scored just two tries in his Test career but his work in the scrums and as a ball-carrier more than made up for that, and who can forget the roars from the crowd as he charged forward with the ball tucked under his arm, or his trademark of hoisting a lock above his head to receive a kickoff, often holding him there until the ball had been caught.
Fittingly, his final appearance came in the 2019 World Cup final, when he demolished England’s Dan Cole to help the Boks lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.
Steven Kitshoff
The ultimate ‘super sub’, 2019 World Cup hero Kitshoff has made almost 75% of his Springbok appearances off the bench, but maintained a standard of excellence, making an impact every time he takes the field.
The 76-Test loosehead started his career as Mtawarira’s understudy, and was unexpectedly kept on the bench as Ox Nche came on to the scene, but Kitshoff has seized his opportunity to make the No 1 jersey his own as he prepares to make his third trip to the World Cup, after a pectoral injury for Nche during training in 2023.
Kitshoff has often been the catalyst for the Bok pack engaging another gear in the second half of Test matches, and as a scrummager, the former Stormers skipper boasts an almost unmatched engine.
His superhuman workrate around the park and unique breakdown ability is also what sets the inaugural Vodacom URC-winning captain apart from his peers.
Photo: Getty Images/Icon Sport
