Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – It is a strange and arguably not ideal dynamic … three rugby players playing probably the two biggest games of their lives, in different jerseys, within the space of a week.
But that is the scenario facing two Stormers stars, Gio Aplon and Francois Louw, and the Bulls’ Dewald Potgieter.
On Saturday they will square up in the hotly-awaited Vodacom Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium, before being united a day later to travel to Cardiff and contemplate the challenge of Wales in Springbok colours the next weekend.
The situation is not quite so unenviable for Potgieter, the Bulls’ blindside flank: he already boasts one Super 14 final appearance, the crushing 61-17 victory over the Chiefs last year, although this all-South African clash between fierce rivals is doubtless deemed “bigger” in the minds of most of the defending champions’ players.
And he has already sampled Test rugby after entering the Croke Park fray off the bench for eight minutes when the Boks lost 15-10 to Ireland on the 2009 European tour.
Nevertheless, next Saturday will still represent his first start for South Africa, while Stormers wing Aplon and loose forward Louw will pull on the green-and-gold for the very first time, also as part of the starting XV.
There is an argument for saying Peter de Villiers and company might have delayed naming the Bok party until after Saturday’s high-stakes Super 14 final, rather than doing it as they did after the semis last week, although there are obviously also advantages to players knowing their looming national responsibilities as quickly as possible.
But it still seems a peculiar state of affairs for Aplon and Louw, in particular, knowing that they will reach the pinnacle of personal ambition in Cardiff but still have a “biggest challenge ever” ahead of it.
The Stormers brains trust, of course, will fervently hope there is no sense of minor mental distraction or even self-preservation thought by either man.
As it is, eyebrows have rightly been raised about why the Boks have opted to start against the Welsh with six players who will also have run on in Soweto – the other three are Andries Bekker, who has had monstrous game-time for the Stormers this season, Danie Rossouw and Jaque Fourie, a late replacement for the initially-selected Jean de Villiers.
Asked by Sport24 on Wednesday whether he feared the new Bok caps in his Stormers line-up for the final might be preoccupied to some extent, coach Allister Coetzee insisted: “No, definitely not. Our motto at the Stormers throughout this season has been to focus on the job at hand.
“Players in this side put the interests of the team ahead of any individual and the focus is squarely on this final.
“After it we’ll also enjoy watching them play for the Springboks.”
Laidback character that he seems, Louw posted a message on Twitter this week saying: “So pumped for this week and next.”
It was obviously the right thing to say, but it is difficult not to feel for both he and Aplon over the magnitude of these twin, career-milestone hurdles in such rapid succession …
Cape Town – It is a strange and arguably not ideal dynamic … three rugby players playing probably the two biggest games of their lives, in different jerseys, within the space of a week.
But that is the scenario facing two Stormers stars, Gio Aplon and Francois Louw, and the Bulls’ Dewald Potgieter.
On Saturday they will square up in the hotly-awaited Vodacom Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium, before being united a day later to travel to Cardiff and contemplate the challenge of Wales in Springbok colours the next weekend.
The situation is not quite so unenviable for Potgieter, the Bulls’ blindside flank: he already boasts one Super 14 final appearance, the crushing 61-17 victory over the Chiefs last year, although this all-South African clash between fierce rivals is doubtless deemed “bigger” in the minds of most of the defending champions’ players.
And he has already sampled Test rugby after entering the Croke Park fray off the bench for eight minutes when the Boks lost 15-10 to Ireland on the 2009 European tour.
Nevertheless, next Saturday will still represent his first start for South Africa, while Stormers wing Aplon and loose forward Louw will pull on the green-and-gold for the very first time, also as part of the starting XV.
There is an argument for saying Peter de Villiers and company might have delayed naming the Bok party until after Saturday’s high-stakes Super 14 final, rather than doing it as they did after the semis last week, although there are obviously also advantages to players knowing their looming national responsibilities as quickly as possible.
But it still seems a peculiar state of affairs for Aplon and Louw, in particular, knowing that they will reach the pinnacle of personal ambition in Cardiff but still have a “biggest challenge ever” ahead of it.
The Stormers brains trust, of course, will fervently hope there is no sense of minor mental distraction or even self-preservation thought by either man.
As it is, eyebrows have rightly been raised about why the Boks have opted to start against the Welsh with six players who will also have run on in Soweto – the other three are Andries Bekker, who has had monstrous game-time for the Stormers this season, Danie Rossouw and Jaque Fourie, a late replacement for the initially-selected Jean de Villiers.
Asked by Sport24 on Wednesday whether he feared the new Bok caps in his Stormers line-up for the final might be preoccupied to some extent, coach Allister Coetzee insisted: “No, definitely not. Our motto at the Stormers throughout this season has been to focus on the job at hand.
“Players in this side put the interests of the team ahead of any individual and the focus is squarely on this final.
“After it we’ll also enjoy watching them play for the Springboks.”
Laidback character that he seems, Louw posted a message on Twitter this week saying: “So pumped for this week and next.”
It was obviously the right thing to say, but it is difficult not to feel for both he and Aplon over the magnitude of these twin, career-milestone hurdles in such rapid succession …