Cape Town - You are responsible for organising the Springbok backline defence against the all-conquering All Blacks, and despite your best efforts, a record score is conceded.
Then you have to rush back home and spend your Monday morning in Bellville - not exactly the glamorous lifestyle of a professional rugby player.
But Juan de Jongh is not just any player, and Western Province coach John Dobson said on Thursday that the former captain was “buzzing around” during practice at Newlands ahead of Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final against the Blue Bulls at Loftus (6pm kickoff).
His presence comes at just the right time for a WP backline that has done well at times on attack, but been a bit all over the place on defence during the competition.
While Dobson will appreciate having a first-choice Bok in his team, the game also presents De Jongh with an opportunity to perhaps rekindle his love for a sport that must have hurt him badly following the 57-15 thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks.
And in so doing, helping his beloved Province go through to their fifth consecutive final.
“He was a bit - it’s only human - he was a bit ginger on Monday, with the contusion on his calf. So he didn’t train on Monday and I think he sat out Tuesday as well. And if you saw him today, he’s brilliant,” Dobson said Thursday’s team announcement at Newlands.
“The thing about him is that he is a strong fellow. He was keen to play, so mentally, he’s brilliant. We tried to just give him as much space on Monday and Tuesday as that was a pretty traumatic afternoon in every respect (against the All Blacks). And then to be back at Bellville on the Monday morning was tricky.
“Bongi (Mbonambi) was slightly different because Bongi hadn’t played as much, and he comes from the Bulls and really couldn’t wait. But Juan today was buzzing around.”
As expected, De Jongh came in at No 13 for Johnny Kotze, while star midfielder Huw Jones is also back from a slight hamstring niggle to start at inside centre in place of the unavailable Damian de Allende from the team that faced Boland in the last league game.
Werner Kok is back at right wing for Scott van Breda, while in the front row, Mbonambi takes over from Mike Willemse and JC Janse van Rensburg pushes Alistair Vermaak to the bench, where lock JD Schickerling makes a welcome return from injury.
While WP have the attacking personnel in the backline such as Kok, De Jongh, Jones, Cheslin Kolbe and Leolin Zas to hurt the Bulls with ball-in-hand, the result will be determined by whether the forwards can secure enough possession against a monster Bulls pack.
How Province handle the barrage of up-and-unders expected will also play a key role, but Dobson says his team won’t shy away from confrontation in what is likely to be a hostile atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, no one expects us to win, and we are going out there to play and attack to win. If we go out there and be tentative, in our shells, and have the paradigm of the Bulls bullying us, then that tends to be what happens,” he said.
“So our whole approach is to go out there and play and win. We won’t leave any regrets out there, but the key thing is to play without fear. Maybe in the Boland game where you shouldn’t make an offload, but in this game, you may have to push things a little bit.”
Teams for Loftus
Western Province:15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Bench: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 JP Smith, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Johnny Kotze, 23 Scott van Breda
Blue Bulls:15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Bench:16 Bandise Maku, 17 Martin Dreyer, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Joshua Stander, 23 Bjorn Basson/Nic de Jager