Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Loftus Versfeld will be dancing to a different tune if new Vodacom Bulls recruit Trevor Nyakane gets his way.
According to the supersport.com website, the Springbok prop, who has been training with his new team-mates in the Pretoria heat for the last week, has been gearing up for a new surprise dance move when the Bulls score a try this season.
Many will remember Nyakane’s signature move with then Cheetahs team-mate Raymond Rhule in last year’s competition after the burly prop scored, and the delight of the crowd thereafter to the dance moves.
The big smiling prop laughed deeply when asked about the move, revealing he has been “harassed” by his team-mates to come up with a new one that they all want to learn.
“That’s been the question I’ve been hearing from most of my team-mates,” Nyakane laughed when quizzed.
“And it is quite amazing their response – the guys like the dance and they have been telling me we need to work on something. Hopefully when the time comes and I get over the whitewash I’ll be able to produce something to make people have a good time.”
There are no more hints at exactly what the dance move entails, just that the excitement is there, and the Bulls want to score as many tries as possible to perfect their dances.
It has surprised Nyakane, especially as it is many of his Bok team-mates who have been prodding him along to design something new.
Still he hasn’t started giving dancing lessons just yet.
“It’s a bit too early but guys like Jan Serfontein, Hougi (Francois Hougaard) and Jesse (Kriel) are on my case every day. They’re like ‘we need to work on a dance when we score a try’. For me it will be amazing to see if the guys are going to join me or if I will be dancing alone. So far though, it seems promising…”
The big prop admits Pretoria is a bit of a shift from his days in Bloem – mainly as “I could get from anywhere to the stadium in 10 or 15 minutes” while the traffic has been something he has had to negotiate as well.
“I’m happy to be here at this point in time. Things have been going well. It is a different type of training but these are the things that a rugby player needs to adjust to. I’m embracing every moment and loving it here in Pretoria so far.”
And while his recall to the Bok squad at the end of the year signalled all was forgiven for his tardiness – something that saw him dropped from the squad a year earlier – he now has a hunger to experience his first World Cup later this year and has set his sights on England 2015, even though his visit in November with the Boks was not as successful as the team had hoped.
“It was a difficult tour for us when we went up there but at times you need things like that to happen for you to realise you’re not on top of the world. Hopefully we will learn our lessons and it will bring us closer together as a team. For me personally it was a rollercoaster of a year, especially as I didn’t play that much. It was a privilege to get a chance to play at the Boks again, but at the end of the day I worked hard and did what I had to do, and Heyneke Meyer gave me the chance again. Now hopefully I can take that further and get a chance to go and play in the World Cup.”
Right now Nyakane is a happy man, closer to his home and loved ones, he has been enjoying himself.
Dancing his way through the training sessions, the big Bok is looking to settle into his new blue jersey as soon as possible.
And if he can get Loftus to get up and dance in the process, all the better.
