JOHANNESBURG - Of the four wings on display in the Currie Cup semi-final in Durban tomorrow, only Courtnall Skosan hasn’t featured for the Springboks this season.
The other three - fellow Lions star Aphiwe Dyantyi and Sharks men Sbu Nkosi and Lwazi Mvovo - have all played Test rugby in 2018; Skosan having played all of his 12 Tests last year, and being overlooked this year.
And add injured Sharks wing Makazole Mapimpi - who’s also featured for the Boks this season - to the mix and Skosan has certainly got something to prove. Not that he’ll look at it that way.
“It’s always exciting when it comes to the semi-finals. It’s always big and challenging and this is where you want to be (as a player),” said the flying winger this week. “The Sharks have been amazing this season, so it’s going to be good.”
Indeed it should be, especially with such class out wide. The matchup between Dyantyi and Nkosi is already a big talking point, with Skosan saying the return of the Bok players to the respective sides should raise the standard now in the play-offs.
“Look, it’s a one-game season now. It’s what happens on the day ... you either go through (to the final) or you’re out. For us, the last three weeks have been amazing. We spent a lot of time together (during the break for the home Tests) and the team has grown in that time; you could see that in our match against the Pumas (last week). And of course, the Boks coming back has brought energy to the team.”
Skosan though said the Sharks - who beat the Lions comfortably in league play in September - remained the favourites to win and advance to the final. “I’d assume they are the favourites; we can just do what we do. We’ll stick to our DNA and hopefully do it well, execute properly, and then it should go well.”
Coach @ivanvanr talks about the captaincy this week. #LetsUnite #SHAvLIO pic.twitter.com/2Z2KT8P23k
— Xerox Golden Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) October 18, 2018
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