Ken Borland

Q: What were the reasons for your decision to join Bayonne on a two-year contract?

TvJ – It was a good opportunity for me to get a start in France and I’m looking forward to learning a lot there, especially with Yannick Bru, the former France hooker who has been coaching at Toulose, now in charge at Bayonne. We learn from each other in this game and in France there are different focus points, like the scrum and set-pieces, they are more technical there, while in South Africa we are concentrating more on playing quicker rugby. The biggest thing is that you still need the hard buggers up front to do the hard work in France, and that’s what makes their rugby so competitive. I’m definitely looking at really improving my play as a tight forward over there.

Q: Having been born in Namibia and playing most of your rugby with the Mpumalanga Pumas and the Free State Cheetahs, are you looking forward to the change of culture that you will experience in south-west France?

TvJ – Yes, my parents still farm in Namibia and it’s obviously a very different lifestyle there. But I’m looking forward to living in France, I’m going to learn the language and it’s a new culture. I love a good braai [barbecue] and my Namibia team-mate PJ van Lill tells me that they still do a lot of braaing in Bayonne! That’s how you bond, especially as tight forwards. So I’m looking forward to socialising, having a few beers with mates, and hopefully doing a bit of hunting as well.

Q: Although you were born in Namibia, your education was in South Africa. Tell us about your journey as a professional rugby player?

TvJ – After school in Pretoria, I was at the academy at the University of Pretoria for one-and-a-half years, playing for the first XV and studying sports science, but then I got into pro rugby with the Pumas. That was hard graft because they are a small union, and now I’ve had five good years at the Free State Cheetahs. They have treated me really well but now it is time to move on to my next chapter.

Q: Having impressed in South African rugby and playing for a South African Barbarians side, were you tempted to try and play for the Springboks rather than your native Namibia?

TvJ – It’s always a difficult decision whether to play for Namibia or wait for South Africa to select you, which you can never be sure is going to happen. I felt I was banging on the door for four or five years but I was never invited to any Springbok camp or anything. So in 2014 I accepted a call-up from Namibia and it was an amazing experience to play for them in the 2015 World Cup, especially to play against the All Blacks. Just to gain that experience at that level was fantastic.

Q: How are Namibia’s prospects looking going into the build-up for the Gold Cup, which is Africa’s qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in Japan?

TvJ – The boys are looking really well, there are more and more Namibian-born players in the Varsity Cup, so things are brewing there. We’re definitely able to qualify for the World Cup again, if we work hard and have our best talent available. We’re looking strong. Unfortunately I won’t be playing in the Gold Cup because I have a lot of admin to do for my move to France and I’ve also been playing one-and-a-half years of continuous, extremely tough rugby, so I need a break before I start in France in July. But I will be available for the two Namibia Tests in August.

Q: Your one-and-a-half years of continuous rugby is because the Free State Cheetahs went straight from SuperRugby into the Currie Cup and then into the Pro14; how different is the Pro14 to playing in SuperRugby?

TvJ – The Pro14 is more technical, there’s a lot more focus on your exit game. It’s more like Test rugby in terms of structure and teams don’t take so many risks, you don’t see sides running the ball out of their 22 as an exit play so often, they would much rather kick. So there’s more of a Test mindset in Pro14 and sometimes the weather plays a role in that as well. But it’s been fun, even getting stuck in the mud sometimes!

Q: That sounds like the sort of rugby made for big, heavy tight forwards but do you think being a mobile hooker who has also played flank will be an advantage for you?

TvJ – Yes, I also had offers from Scotland but I believe playing in France will be a bigger grower of my career. It will be good to play in wet weather, in France they have very big packs and heavy runners and it will be good to see if I can play against that. PJ van Lill is also a heavyweight and he’s done okay!

Sharks hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle’s return to rugby has not been greeted with universal acclaim following his two-year ban for doping, but those who are unwilling to forgive the former Toulouse player should perhaps consider the case of high-riding Lions coach Johan Ackermann.

The former Springbok lock is just about the most popular figure in South African rugby at the moment because of the inspirational job he has done in taking the Lions from the wilderness three years ago and into this weekend’s SuperRugby playoffs, but he too was banned for two years in 1997 for nandrolone use.

Ackermann then made his return to the playing field and even returned to Test rugby in 2001. He made a second comeback in 2006, becoming the oldest player to represent the Springboks at 37 years and 34 days against Australia in July 2007 in Sydney. That record was subsequently broken last year by former Toulon star Victor Matfield, when he captained South Africa to the bronze medal in the World Cup playoff against Argentina aged 38 years and 172 days.

Interestingly, Ackermann and Ralepelle actually appeared in a Test together, back in November 2006 when the Springboks beat England 25-14 at Twickenham. Ackermann started in the number four jersey, while Ralepelle came off the bench to replace captain John Smit.

Those were the days when Ralepelle was a 20-year-old prospect, who was fast-tracked due to political pressure to include more Black African players in the Springbok team, a dozen years after Apartheid had ended. The next week, Ralepelle was named to captain the team against a World XV in Leicester, becoming not only the youngest player to captain the national team but also the first Black. Those of a more cynical disposition were sure coach Jake White, now with Montpellier, was making a statement aimed at the politicians more than anything else.

Ralepelle is not quite 30, so who knows what lies further down the road for him; perhaps he too could make an international comeback. But he is not keen to speak about the past and his indiscretion with drostanolone, an anabolic steroid popular with bodybuilders.

“I’m living a new chapter now, in a new environment. I’m excited and it’s just fantastic to be back playing rugby. I want to seize the opportunity to play the game I love,” Ralepelle told Midi Olympique this week.

Apart from the feeling that he was a political pawn, fast-tracked for reasons of window-dressing, Ralepelle has also had rotten luck with knee injuries.

One game into the 2007 SuperRugby season with the Bulls, he suffered a serious knee injury, which he injured again in the warm-ups for the 2008 campaign. He suffered further knee injuries in 2012 and in 2014 after just 16 matches for Toulouse.

Both the Bulls, based in Pretoria on the South African Highveld, and Toulouse are inland teams and, having served his ban, Ralepelle is now happy down on the coast in Durban, on the Indian Ocean.

“Durban is a lovely city, it has the best weather you could ask for, I can go to the beach any time I like!

“I had wonderful days in Pretoria, it’s where I grew up and first made my mark, and I also had a great time in France. I made great friends there, it’s a good environment and Toulouse is a great team, the home of rugby in France. It was a great opportunity and a great place to play, and I miss the culture and values of that team,” Ralepelle said.

But the Sharks have given Ralepelle a lifeline when perhaps nobody else would, thanks to Smit, who was the CEO when the hooker was signed last November, and director of rugby Gary Gold. It is not the first time the 2007 World Cup winning captain has aided Ralepelle.

Smit contributed some of the school fees to enable Ralepelle to study at Pretoria Boys’ High, which he himself attended.

Ralepelle is determined to be the author of his own success now and has clearly been working hard off the field, given the lean and mean physique he has been sporting during SuperRugby this season.

“It’s been great to get a few games under the belt and I can still improve, which is exciting. Every day I’m striving just to be more on top of my game. It’s a matter of time and it gets easier playing week in, week out. I’m not yet where I should be, but in the mean time I just want to give more and more of a contribution to the team.

“It’s important that I don’t put my body under pressure, so I worked hard before the season just to keep up with the pace of SuperRugby. I worked hard on my conditioning and I am a little lighter, which helps me to move around the park more. I can have an impact that way, it’s not just about strength because if you’re blowing after five or 10 minutes you’re not going to have much strength anyway,” Ralepelle said.

While French rugby still involves plenty of driving play and is extremely physical, SuperRugby is changing, according to Ralepelle, who returned to the Southern Hemisphere competition in April after three years away.

“There’s been a big change, mostly because of the laws. With the speed of the game, players really need to be fitter and stronger. It’s an amazing competition,” Ralepelle said.

How fortunes change in rugby is also amazing and, if Ralepelle, who remains both mobile and good in the loose as well as proficient in the set-pieces, needs any encouragement, he only needs to look at how Johan Ackermann has not only restored his reputation but has grown it exponentially.

The Sharks will have to make a change at hooker and appoint a new captain for the next month after Bismarck du Plessis was suspended for four weeks by Sanzar on Sunday for petulantly kicking out at the head of an opponent during the match against the Chiefs at Kings Park.

Du Plessis’ act of gross unsportsmanship came just three minutes after the Chiefs had had their hooker, Hika Elliott, red-carded, and subsequently suspended for one week, for charging into the back of Tendai Mtawarira’s head with his shoulder at a ruck, almost immediately transferring all the pressure back on to the home side.

Matters became even worse for the Sharks when Frans Steyn was red-carded for a dangerous tip-tackle before the half-hour mark and his hearing is set for Monday.

While those two senior players let the side down so badly, the other 13 players on the field rallied magnificently to sneak a 12-11 victory over the Chiefs.

Kyle Cooper and Monde Hadebe are able replacements for Du Plessis in the front row, but the issue of who takes over the captaincy is less clearcut.

Flyhalf Pat Lambie or eighthman Ryan Kankowski would appear to be the frontrunners.

Director of rugby Gary Gold also faces a tough decision once Du Plessis returns to action on April 19 as this is the Springbok’s second incident of foul play at a crucial time this season, following his assault on Victor Matfield in the Sharks’ loss to the Bulls in Pretoria three weeks ago. Does Gold trust that the fiery hooker can mend his ways and remain disciplined under pressure for the sake of his team or does he take firm action against a repeat offender?

The matches that Du Plessis will miss are at home to the Western Force and Crusaders, the visit to Ellis Park to play the Lions and the return fixture against the Bulls in Durban.

Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold on Monday defended the decision to sign Springbok hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle despite the fact that he is serving a doping ban, saying other teams were also chasing his signature and that his suitability had been thoroughly investigated.

Ralepelle, who won two Super Rugby titles with the Bulls, was handed a two-year suspension by WorldRugby after an out-of-competition doping test in March 2014 returned a positive test for a metabolite of an anabolic steroid, drostanolone, he had used while recovering from an operation on an anterior cruciate ligament following a knee injury he sustained while playing for Toulouse against Biarritz in France.

“We have done due diligence and Chiliboy is very remorseful. He deserved his penalty, there is no excuse for what he did and he knows that, but he will have done his time in April next year, four games into Super Rugby.

“We weren’t the only people in the market for him and I hope he will do his talking on the field. He’s an outstanding leader, he’s matured as a player at 29 and he deserves a second chance. Personally I think he got a raw deal before going to France, it was very sad that he was let go. He’s an outstanding player and, while I was forwards coach for the Springboks, he put John Smit and Bismarck du Plessis under real pressure. His work-rate is sensational, he carries and drives well and his set-piece work is precise,” Gold told The Citizen on Monday.

Several critics have expressed their anger at the decision to sign the hooker with 22 Test caps between 2006 and 2013, but the double-standard is clear when one considers how Johan Ackermann, who was banned for two years in 1997 for taking nandrolone to help heal a knee injury, has been welcomed back into the fold and is doing great work as the Lions coach.

The new year will also see the Sharks sporting a new assistant coach in former Springbok scrumhalf Robert du Preez, who has just steered the North-West Leopards to the Currie Cup First Division title, and a new defence coach in Omar Mouneimne, who has worked with Italy, Edinburgh, the EP Kings and Lyon.

Highly promising Western Province lock Ruan Botha has been mentioned as another possible signing for the Sharks, but he is still under contract in Cape Town, although Springbok Pieter-Steph du Toit’s move from Durban to the Stormers could see him eager to relocate.