CAPE TOWN – Having one Leyds on the field is hard enough for the opposition to handle. Having two would probably resemble somewhat of a nightmare (for those on the other side of the halfway line, that is).
But creating problems for the opposition isn’t something that Dillyn Leyds should be empathetic about at all, it’s a good thing for the Stormers, after all, and there is nothing he would like more than delivering a double dose of Leyds potency along with his brother, Tristan.
While chatting about the vibe in the Stormers squad ahead of their Super Rugby opener, Dillyn also got to talking about his younger brother and how his biggest dream at the moment is being on the Newlands pitch along with Tristan.
“He prefers playing fullback as well, and hopefully I will do well enough to stay in that position this season,” Dillyn said at the High Performance Centre in Bellville yesterday..
“We’ve got a five-year age difference so we never got to play representative rugby together, but it’s been a lot of fun during training. He sort of has the same feel about the game as I do, he enjoys running around and not just waiting for the ball to get to him, he likes trying to make things happen.
“He’s promised me that he’s going to work really hard this year to hopefully get a look-in. I just hope he stays injury-free. I hope he just knuckles down and works hard so we can play together at Newlands, even if it’s for 10 minutes.”
The Stormers will kick off their Super Rugby campaign against the Hurricanes at Newlands on Saturday (3.05 pm kickoff), and when asked how the group is feeling ahead of what should be a good challenge, Dillyn said: “Walking in here this morning you could sense the excitement it’s game week.
“The guys were pretty loud and up and about at the gym at half past six this morning, other times we would just come in and stretch and the guys would check their phones and so on, but this morning there was a nice buzz around the HPC.”
While at least a Dillyn cameo in front of the Newlands Faithful is right up there in terms of things the 27-year-old wants to experience this year and one of the major reasons why he has decided to stay and play his rugby in South Africa, he also spoke about his Test ambitions, ambitions that are very much alive.
Tristan Leyds has never played representative rugby with his older brother Dillyn. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky BackpagePix
“It was a difficult decision (to stay), but in the same breath it was an easy one, there are still things I want to achieve here,” Dillyn said.
“When the Springboks won the World Cup it was a really good thing for everyone involved. They worked really hard and helped SA rugby peak, and I still want to be involved in that as well.
“I have a couple of Test matches, but I don’t think if you mention the name Dillyn Leyds people are going to say ‘he’s a Springbok’, it’ll be ‘he’s a Stormers stalwart’, that’s the type of response that would come. I want to play a lot more Tests for the Springboks and hopefully I can be involved in the British & Irish Lions tour, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Another big factor for me was also my brother, he’s involved in the senior group now. My biggest dream is probably to run out at Newlands and play a game for the Stormers with him.”