The right place at the right time.
That is how Lions utility back Ruan Combrinck has summed up his elevation to the national team ahead of his Test debut against Ireland tomorrow at Emirates Airline Park.
It has certainly been a long road to the top for the 26-year-old Combrinck, who now admits that at times, during the last two years, he was angry at being excluded from the national team. He has made peace with that and now believes he is ready to enter the Test rugby arena.
Combrinck will start tomorrow’s Test off the bench and is almost certain to earn his first Test cap on his home ground where he has consistently put up performances that Springbok coach Allister Coetzee just could not ignore.
“It wasn’t the easiest road to get here. Whenever you have a dream and vision and you use your God-given talents and you keep working and have a positive mindset, God will put you in the perfect place at the perfect time,” said a calm and composed Combrinck.
But besides what Combrinck believes is a timely dose of divine intervention, the former Michaelhouse schoolboy has put in a lot of hard yards and extra training in the past three years and it has been evident through his performances for the Lions in Super Rugby and the Currie Cup.
Combrinck has been an integral part of Johan Ackermann’s successful team in the domestic game and has also played a vital role in the evolution of the Lions game from the traditional South African koppe stamp-style, to an expansive game that has elevated the Lions to the best South African team in Super Rugby at the moment.
As the Lions have grown, so too has Combrinck and much of that the fleet-footed winger has attributed to maturity and his tireless pursuit to becoming a Springbok.
“There is a big shift in mindset that I’ve had from the last two years to now. I also believe that it comes with age and maturity and all the grinding and hard work. You get to a stage where you are pissed off for greatness because you’ve been working so hard and for so long but it doesn’t happen. Suddenly, when you get that breakthrough, you want to capitalise on it,” Combrinck said.
The explosive speed with which Combrinck plays the game is in stark contrast to the man who sits facing the media two days before the biggest day in his rugby career.
Combrinck is cool, calm and collected - attributes which the Springboks will need desperately if they are to level the series against the Irish tomorrow but they will also need confidence, which Combrinck has in bucket loads of.
The confidence that oozes from Combrinck has a lot to do with how he has been able to deal and accept the disappointment of not having made the Bok team in the past and an appreciation for the highs that he has had with the Lions in winning the Currie Cup last year and now riding the crest of the wave in Super Rugby.
“It has been emotional and I believe it is for everybody who is here for the first time. It is emotional but when you have been playing rugby non-stop for three years, then you get that thing called confidence and it takes a lot of the emotions away because you are so eager to play. When you have all that confidence, there is no fear in you. So come what may, you will be ready for it.”
It seems as though Combrinck is ready for his big moment on the big stage and it couldn’t have come at a better venue and at a better time.
“It would have been special last week, obviously, but if it was last week or whether in New Zealand or Wales, it doesn’t matter. But to do it at (Ellis Park), the ground I’ve become used to, it’s gonna mean so much more. I had this vision in my mind, I don’t know why it came up the whole year, if I was to be selected imagine what it would be like running out at (Ellis Park) packed with people, your home ground and full of confidence. It was a mind blowing picture that I had but it will definitely mean so much more,” concluded Combrinck. - The Star