Ken Borland

Debutant Springbok wing Aphelele Fassi has spent the last couple of weeks fielding congratulatory phone calls from King Williams Town and Dale College wishing him good luck for the start of his international career.

The Eastern Cape has been very proud of the 23-year-old ever since he started making waves at the Sharks, and many observers believe he is a unique talent, with a combination of physical attributes that is seldom seen.

And Lady Luck certainly had her eyes on the prodigious young talent as he scored with his first touch in Test rugby in the first Test against Georgia. Not that luck had too much to do with it though as Fassi showed, while galloping down the touchline, the many attributes he has – good hands to take the pass slightly behind him, a massive stride, great feet, searing pace and clinical finishing ability. Just before halftime, he set up the Springboks’ third try with his clever chip infield just to showcase a kicking game befitting a former schoolboy flyhalf star.

“When I first got the ball, I just saw space in front of me and my first instinct was to just back myself and go for the try. Mzwandile Stick [backline coach] gave me the confidence during the week to back myself and just finish off whatever opportunities I get. I’m very proud to represent my country and I’ve had people from back at school and home phoning me to wish me good luck, including the principal.

“In my first Currie Cup game, I did the same thing. And I did visualise it again on my bed in the hotel this week, but you don’t really think it’s going to happen. And then it all happened so quickly. It’s a moment I will cherish for a long time,” Fassi said after the Test.

The lanky [1.89m] athlete has usually played at fullback in senior rugby but he also made his Currie Cup debut for the Sharks on the wing back in 2018 and also scored an impressive counter-attacking try, following a mistake by the Bulls.

The Springbok family looks to have welcomed a new star, one that will hopefully follow in the footsteps of all-time leading try-scorer Bryan Habana, who also scored with his first touch in Test rugby, against England in 2004.

“It’s been fantastic being part of the Springbok environment and the senior guys have obviously given me plenty of guidance. I feel very comfortable in this set-up,” Fassi said.

And he certainly looked very comfortable out on the field as well.

“The coach told me from the beginning that I was in his plans and I knew where I stood, so it wasn’t a total surprise,” debutant scrumhalf Rudy Paige said of his inclusion in the Springboks’ World Cup squad despite not featuring at all in the Rugby Championship.

Paige was chosen as one of three scrumhalves along with veterans Fourie du Preez and Ruan Pienaar, and seemingly leapfrogged Cobus Reinach, who was Pienaar’s understudy throughout the Rugby Championship.

But in a dismal tournament for the Springboks, Reinach’s decision-making was often exposed, most notably against the All Blacks when he took a free kick from the wrong place and had his try disallowed, lost possession by going on a solo attack, and also spread the ball wide when the gap had opened up for him to go through.

“The Bulls had an indifferent season, but I felt my energy and consistency were still good and I wanted to take that to the Springbok squad. Obviously I had to lift it at the Springboks and I was very happy just to observe Fourie du Preez at training, how he goes about things. He’s probably still the best scrumhalf in the world and I was learning every day,” Paige said.

The 26-year-old enjoyed an outstanding Super Rugby campaign and is an efficient, quick passer of the ball as well as having an immaculate kicking game.

“Cobus Reinach was injured for a lot of Super Rugby and I tried to give him game time but he never quite recaptured his form. Rudy provides really good service and he’s more or less like Fourie du Preez as a player. He has an unbelievable kicking game in the wet and great service, and unfortunately he got injured on the end-of-year tour,” coach Heyneke Meyer said when explaining his selection.

As for allowing a situation where Paige will go to the World Cup without having played any Test rugby, Meyer defended his management of the new cap.

“I wanted to play him in Buenos Aires, but the guys who let the country down in Durban had to go and fix it. Even the Australian squad has guys who haven’t played at all and I don’t think playing one Test will make that much difference,” Meyer said.

“That end-of-year tour opened my eyes to what I’m capable of and it made me hungry to be part of the Springbok team, I saw what the blazer means to them. I want to be part of that for most of my career and I need to improve my defence and adapt to international rugby as quickly as possible. My quick service and my kicking game are the things I back myself on,” Paige, the son of a delighted Congregational Church priest in Oudtshoorn, said.