The legendary Os du Randt says gaining the acceptance of the Springbok change room helped silence the “gremlins” in his mind during an extraordinary return to Test rugby.
Du Randt was the first Springbok to have won two World Cups and featured prominently in the 1999 third-place campaign.
Having made his debut in 1994, the loosehead prop was forced into early retirement in 2000 – at the age of 27 – because of recurring knee problems, before Jake White lured him back into the game.
The hulking Free Stater went on to help the Boks win both the 2004 Tri-Nations and the 2007 World Cup.
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Speaking on the Boks Unpacked X The Verdict podcast, the 80-cap Du Randt touched on his experience building up to his comeback Test against Ireland on 12 June 2004 in Bloemfontein.
“In my mind, I thought I was pushing the boundary just to try to make a comeback for the Cheetahs,” he said. “Then Jake said he wanted the Schalk Burgers – the youngsters – to look up and see that I’d done it, been there.
“Then we trained against the Shimlas. I got a knock on this little cartilage and I was out. So all these guys were training, and I was training with Doc Derek [Coetzee] on the side.
“Everybody was going on about ‘the old man – is he not too old? Jake is mad, why is he doing this?’ So, mentally, it was tough to get past that.
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“I think the biggest change came … I’m not going to repeat what was said, but to have that recognition from the players themselves when they gave the jerseys … That was one of my favourite moments in a Springbok jersey.
“If you have the jersey, then everybody else can say something about you. I can’t remember everybody, but I think Bakkies [Botha] was the first guy to jump up and say whatever he said.
“At that stage, it literally felt like a 50kg weight dropped off my shoulders because suddenly you realise that, as a player, it’s one thing knowing who is good and who you respect, but hearing that from the players themselves was a turning point for me.”
The 54-year-old added: “I always believed in myself, but suddenly you’re there and I think you’re probably also your own worst enemy, because you keep remembering that you could run, you were quick, you could run with the backs when you did dead sprints.
“You also come out of an era where you always played 80 minutes, and suddenly you’re only playing 50 minutes and people are chirping you that you’re not fit anymore.
“Those little gremlins are in the back of your mind.”
Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images
The post Os on being the old Bok coming back appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
The legendary Os du Randt says gaining the acceptance of the Springbok change room helped silence the “gremlins” in his mind during an extraordinary return to Test rugby.
The post Os on being the old Bok coming back appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
