Nelspruit - His international career had looked dead and buried after failing to make the Springboks World Cup squad last year but Teboho ‘Oupa’ Mohoje never stopped believing that he would make it back into the Springbok set-up.
On Saturday against an Argentina side that looked set to bury the Springboks in their Rugby Championship encounter, Mohoje’s fighting spirit kept the Springboks in the game as the Cheetahs flank turned back the hands of time and was one of a few players who walked off the field with his reputation enhanced.
The 26-year-old Mohoje not only repaid coach Allister Coetzee for the faith shown in his abilities as a valuable cog within the Springbok team, but Mohoje’s performance finally doused out the burning concern of where Coetzee was going to find a blindside flank good enough to do the hard graft in this year’s Rugby Championship.
Well, Mohoje showed Coetzee and the rest of his teammates that in him the Springboks have a credible No 7 that doesn’t shy away from confrontation especially on defence, is athletic enough to get around the park and is just as comfortable jumping in the lineouts as he is carrying the ball.
While Mohoje’s return to the national team came through the unfortunate injuries to Siya Kolisi and Duane Vermeulen, it is going to take a lot to wrestle the No 7 jersey.
For the better part of his senior rugby career Mohoje has had to battle injuries and many doubters about his abilities, but he is a man who makes the most of the little handed to him.
Mohoje made his Springbok debut in 2014 against Australia amid a lot of questions about his capabilities to play international rugby and the man who hails from QwaQwa has never looked back, putting in a monumental performance against the All Blacks a week later. Since then he has hardly put a foot wrong in the Green and Gold.
After being handed the captaincy of the SA A side in June against the England Saxons and that of the Cheetahs in Super Rugby thereafter, Mohoje vowed to give everything to the cause of becoming a Springbok again.
“It’s great to be part of this environment again, the vibe is quite different to last year, and I think you saw in this game how we are really playing for each other.
“When the chips were down, we displayed real resilience and kept on grafting for each other, and that gave us the edge,” said Mohoje.
“For me, personally, playing in the SA A side certainly gave me some confidence, and so when this opportunity to play for the Boks came around, I just knew that I needed to do whatever I could to make the most of it.”
Coetzee was equally impressed with Mohoje’s contribution in helping secure victory against the Pumas and he will seek the same if not a better performance in Salta this week.
“Oupa is an out-and-out lineout specialist, he has a high work rate, and he’s also got good pace, and that’s what we want from our loosies. He showed why he was in winning sides against Australia and New Zealand in 2014, and there’s really no doubt he’s a quality player,” Coetzee said.
“He has had injury problems in the past, but we’ve seen what value he can add at blindside flank.” - Independent Media