De Jongh not banking on any favours

Juan de Jongh of South Africa during the 2015 Cape Town Sevens at Cape Town Stadium, South Africa on 13 December 2015 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Juan de Jongh of South Africa during the 2015 Cape Town Sevens at Cape Town Stadium, South Africa on 13 December 2015 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Published Aug 18, 2016

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Nelspruit - Forgotten centre Juan de Jongh is expecting no favours after being handed a Springbok lifeline by coach Allister Coetzee.

The 28-year-old De Jongh is in contention for making the Springboks match day 23 for the Rugby Championship opening Test against Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

After being ignored and deemed surplus to requirement by previous coach Heyneke Meyer, De Jongh will make a welcome return to the national team after a four year hiatus which saw the likes of Stormers teammates Jean de Villiers and Damian de Allende being catapulted ahead of him.

Even though Meyer lamented De Jongh’s lack of size and physicality, Coetzee has rewarded the Stormers captain’s consistent form in Super Rugby and for the national Sevens team with a long overdue call-up that will see De Jongh battle for the No 12 jersey with De Allende during the course of the Rugby Championship.

De Jongh is expected to be named on the bench for the Test against Argentina after only spending a week with the team following his return from the Rio Olympic Games with the national Sevens team that won bronze after beating Japan in their third place play-off.

“That’s life, that’s something out of my control. The only thing I can focus on is making sure that I play some good rugby, making sure I’m prepared on weekends and building my legacy and what I want to achieve and inspire people to do,” De Jongh said on Wednesday.

He has chosen to not look back at the time he was out of the squad.

“That is something of the past now and I don’t want to go into it. My only thing in those years was to make sure I am well prepared and I give myself the opportunity even though people don’t think the same way. I don’t want any favours in life. For me it is important to work and play hard and making sure I’m on my A game when it comes to the weekend.”

Even though De Jongh is looking for no easy handouts, his long standing relationship with Coetzee will see him get a fair opportunity to finally cement a place in the team.

De Jongh, though, says the onus will be on him to replicate the same performances that kept him in the Stormers and Western Province teams under Coetzee and that he will need to pull his weight if he is to make the team.

“It’s fantastic to be back and working with Allister again. He’s been my coach for several years now and we have a good relationship since we achieved a few things at Western Province. For me it is about keeping focused, being well-prepared and working hard in this set-up to make sure I give myself opportunity. And to get an opportunity from him to express myself and make sure I find myself a spot in the team and stay for a very long time.”

The truth of the matter is that De Jongh will take a little bit of time to adjust back to the longer format of the game after spending the better part of this year playing Sevens rugby.

He admits there are habits he has picked up from playing Sevens that he will have to unlearn but he is confident his experience and wisdom should carry him through.

“They are two different codes so it is important for me to make sure now that I’m ready. There is a lot of detail that needs to go into the Springboks now. Sevens is totally different to fifteens, there is a lot of other things you need to do there that you can’t do here.

“There are habits you learn in Sevens that you can’t do in fifteens and vice versa. I’ve got some time now to make sure I gel into this team culture and make sure I know all the calls and that I’m prepared. Hopefully I can still be smart and strong upstairs to make sure I get away from those bad habits and the negative stuff,” said De Jongh.

The Star

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