Victor Matfield received a phone call after arriving in London on Sunday which brought home to him how times have changed since he eased out of retirement a year ago — in Bermuda, of all places.
The iconic Springbok lock is enjoying a new lease of life in Test rugby after ending his playing career in 2011, only to have a change of heart.
On Saturday, he will face England in the QBE series at Twickenham having become South Africa’s most-capped player. This seemed a distant prospect when he was making a guest appearance on the veterans’ circuit.
Twelve months ago, 37-year-old Matfield was having fun in the sun helping his country win the World Rugby Classic in Bermuda with victory against the Classic Lions in the final. It was all part of the grand plan to return to the elite level of the game. That was the first, tentative step in the process.
‘I went to Bermuda at the end of last year,’ he told Sportsmail yesterday. ‘By then I knew that I was going to play again so I almost felt like I would go there and see if my body was feeling right for it. I had been mountain-biking quite a bit so I had gone down to 99kg and I was skinny!
‘I went over and it was much slower, but it was pretty physical. It was just good to get back into it, see how my body felt and it felt alright. There were a couple of beers after each game and before each game, too!
‘I got a call from the guys at the airport yesterday — the South African boys who were on their way to Bermuda for this year’s tournament. They were missing me...’
While those former Boks are once again enjoying the laid-back charms of the Bermuda event, Matfield finds himself back at the sharp end of his profession, ready for a fifth personal appearance at Twickenham. He had finished playing in 2011 and did some TV punditry as well as coaching with his provincial team, the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls. But, behind the scenes, he was being coaxed into a return by his long-term mentor, Heyneke Meyer — the former Bulls and Leicester coach who had taken charge of the South Africa team after the last World Cup.
‘I always thought I would have loved to play under Heyneke in a Springbok team,’ said Matfield. ‘When he got the job the first call he made was to me, to ask me to come out of retirement. He wanted me to come back in — to captain the side as well.’
At first he resisted Meyer’s advances but eventually Matfield agreed to come out of retirement on the basis that he would play on until next year’s World Cup, in the belief that South Africa could win it. He had misgivings, however — fears, even.
‘Fitness-wise, I knew I would be fine,’ he said. ‘Lineout-wise, I was also confident. But the physical contact was what I was scared of. I also didn’t want to just come back, play two or three games, not make the Bok team and then fade away. There was a lot of pressure on me and I was a bit worried.’
Matfield’s concerns proved unfounded. He soon returned to the old routine and discovered that his body coped more effectively than before his break.
‘I am definitely in much better nick than I was in 2011,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t get up in the mornings and I couldn’t walk down my stairs at home. I think the two-year break helped my body.’
A path back into the Springboks team opened up as other contenders in his position all succumbed to injury. ‘I was the only one left,’ he joked. His return soon led to him surpassing John Smit as his country’s most-capped player.
Being a Bok again has meant being reunited with his long-term lock accomplice, Bakkies Botha. Matfield has savoured the reunion.
‘It’s so funny,’ he said. ‘Every time we get on the bus, we sit at the back there and Bakkies says to me, “We’re still here. They can’t get rid of us!”.’
Yet, for Matfield, the 2015 World Cup will be his swansong — no doubt at all. ‘I have already signed a two-year deal with the Bulls for coaching. This time there won’t be a comeback. No chance!’ – Daily Mail