Cape Town - Athletes aren’t always satisfied with their situation. Especially if that situation is a selection issue that is not in your favour. Like when you don’t get selected for the Springboks’ Rugby Championship campaign. But Western Province and Stormers hooker Scarra Ntubeni seems to be quite fine with his situation. Strange, right?
Not really. The front rower has one goal; to reach his peak so that he can play the best rugby he possibly can.
Ntubeni has had limited game time on the field over the last two seasons because of a number of injuries as well as the rotation policy at the Stormers. And he spent only a few minutes on the field for the Springboks in their 2-1 series win over Ireland in June.
But this time Ntubeni will not get to wear the Bok kit at all during the Rugby Championship. Instead, Adriaan Struass, Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx will have the honours. But it doesn’t seem to faze him. Not at all.
“Last year I had stop-start injuries. I just need to look after my body now. I played a full Super Rugby season without being injured, even though I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to, so at least I think I am building again rather than breaking down, getting injured or not playing rugby. I have to have a good season, you know,” Ntubeni said.
Ntubeni needs time to get back to his best. He needs game time. And making one or two short appearances off the bench will only hinder his progress. Which is why he sees his omission from the Bok squad as a blessing in disguise.
“Yes, definitely (a blessing in disguise). If I was in the Springbok squad I wouldn’t have played rugby for another eight weeks, maybe even more, so ya,” he added.
But Ntubeni will have to make the most of his Currie Cup chances if he wants to be on top of his game.
WP will host the Cheetahs, who seem to be the early pacesetters this season, in their second Currie Cup match after their 26-45 loss to the Bulls at Loftus in the opening round. And it’s a contest that Ntubeni knows they have to win.
“It’s a lot of pressure. Those guys have been playing together for I think six or seven months now. We have lost many guys since then (their victory over the Cheetahs last year). Maybe eight guys, so it’s gonna be tough. We really need to pitch up on Saturday. We can’t make as many mistakes as we did two weeks ago. A team can win if they capitalise on one mistake or one weakness.”
With Currie Cup crowd attendances dropping every year, one would think that it makes it a little difficult for players to get psyched up. But it isn’t an issue, at least not for Ntubeni, who also believes that the Newlands faithful make the task a lot easier.
“I guess we’re all professional rugby players, you know. We’ve got a job to do. I think for most of the guys it’s not an issue, but playing at Newlands and having the Newlands faithful there makes a massive difference.
“I guess maybe the first five minutes you notice it and then after that, with the adrenaline and everything, it all goes away, well for me personally.”
Currie Cup fixtures
Friday
Boland Kavaliers v Sharks, Boland Stadium, 3pm
Western Province v Cheetahs, Newlands, 5:10pm
Blue Bulls vEP Kings, Loftus Versfeld, 7:20pm
Saturday
Griquas v Lions, Griqua Park, 2:10pm
Cape Argus