Ken Borland

Q: Jannes, today you were up against a Stormers pack that featured six Springboks, guys like Schalk Burger, who was probably a hero for you growing up. And yet you were a major factor on the gainline, smashing all of those guys back, how did that feel?

JK: In my first game of SuperRugby I had big eyes, playing against all those Springboks in the Stormers team, all those guys with so many caps. But when you’re under all that pressure, you just have to lift your performance. It definitely motivates me playing against guys like that, against our arch-rivals, so you lift your game as much as possible. I’m a born-and-bred Blue Bull, I’m sure if you cut me blue blood will come out, so the Stormers are not my favourite team, it’s why they are such a big team to play against. My brother Frik once got an offer from Western Province, but he said to my Dad – “How am I ever going to pull that jersey over my head?”!

Q: Putting your body on the line like you did, is it just because you were playing the Stormers, or was there other motivation?

JK: The coach has been hard on us this week and we knew we would have to perform to win. It’s like a sin to lose at Loftus Versfeld, so we really didn’t want to disappoint our fans or the coach either. I think I’ll be moving a bit slower on Sunday, get up later. I’ll ask the coach on Monday if maybe I can have a swimming session or a massage …

Q: Your brother Frik actually had to give up rugby last year due to a neck injury. Does that also motivate you to give absolutely everything while playing for the Bulls?

JK: Ja, Frik was a prop and then he hurt his neck in 2014, when he was just 26. The year before he had been a member of the Springbok touring squad at the end of the year. I think regularly about how nice it would have been to play together. So I really want to build on the name that he put out there, to make him and my Dad, who played flank for Eastern Transvaal, proud.

Q: How do you feel after the game, you must feel immensely proud?

JK: I’m very proud, it was a massive defensive effort. We needed to act as a collective and we did that, it was good to be a part of that effort. It was a great day and a great win, we’ll keep our feet on the ground but enjoy the win.

As a boy growing up in the sub-tropical agricultural town of Tzaneen, Tian Koekemoer loved Jonty Rhodes and Dale Steyn and was used to enjoying plenty of success as one of the most talented cricketers at Merensky High School.

Despite Steyn and fellow pace bowlers Marchant de Lange and Ethy Mbhalati all coming from the Limpopo province at the northern edge of South Africa, the region is the poorest in the country, a large rural expanse of mostly tribal area, and is not known for producing many cricketers.

So despite dominating at local level and starring for the Limpopo U19 team, Koekemoer knew that he still needed to be really tested as a cricketer. That has come since he enrolled at the University of Pretoria and studied BA Languages, and started playing for the Assupol Tukkies team.

It’s a star-studded Tukkies team, the most powerful club side in the country, and Koekemoer often has to wait for an opportunity to bat or bowl.

In the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals against Steinhoff Maties, he once again sat patiently waiting for his chance to shine, bowling just two overs in each of the first two games and not getting the chance to bat.

And then the final game gave him his chance. Tukkies finally batted first, and the absence of an unwell Aiden Markram and a few errors by the top-order gave him his chance.

Koekemoer responded with a crucial innings of 19 off 11 balls that lifted Tukkies to a competitive total of 144 for nine, and he then ensured that it would be a day to really remember as he claimed three wickets to stop a strong Maties chase and win the man of the match award.

“I don’t often have to come in under pressure moments, but today I had to and I liked the challenge,” Koekemoer said after the game.

“There are only a few good cricketers in Limpopo, but in Pretoria you’re up against the whole Northerns Premier League and it was an eye-opener. I haven’t really been exposed to that level of cricket, you get used to being the only good player in your team, but this really pushes you.”

Another measure of how well Koekemoer adapts to whatever life throws at him is the fact that he has only been bowling seam since last July.

Prior to that he was an off-spinner, but he broke his finger and was unable to grip the ball and obtain as much turn as previously, so he changed to pace.