A DREAM

DEBUT

HerschelJantjiesgot hisBokcareeroffto

a flyingstartwithbrilliantgamesagainst

AustraliaandtheAll Blacks BYKIMABRAHAMS

A

FTER his dazzling
Spring bok debut he told
his mother he wasn’t go-
ing to make a big deal of
it. In fact, he said, he
didn’t want to talk about
his rugby at all until he’d
helped the Boks win
against the biggest guns of them all: the
All Blacks.
“It was my first game,” Herschel Jantjies

told his mom, Adeline. “And the first
match isn’t anything to talk about.”
Well, not for him, maybe, but his per-

formance in that electrifying first game
against Australia at Ellis Park was all the
rest of the country could talk about.
Two incredible tries in a debut, a Man

oftheMatchawardanda substantial

hand in helping the Boks to a 35-17 vic-

tory – it was quite an achievement for a

wet-behind-the-ears 23-year-old. But

Herschel was adamant: the All Blacks

were the ones who really mattered.

And the young man from the small

Western Cape community of Kylemore

near Stellenbosch has earned himself

bragging rights now. The Boks might not

have beaten New Zealand but they came

pretty close – and they have Herschel to

thank for that.

The South African side looked set for

defeat when the pint-size scrumhalf

scored the team’s only try with 40 sec-

onds to spare in the Rugby Champion-

ship game in Wellington on 27 July. And

the score of 16-16 was celebrated by the

Boks almost as much as if they’d won.

Minutes after the final whistle,

Herschel broke his silence. “To be

honest, I didn’t really think,” he

aidof his game-changing move. “I

anted to get the ball in my hands

rethe try.

ld’ve got it closer to the posts [for

nversion] but luckily Handrè

puta great kick in at the end and

t over for us.”

inKylemore, Adeline (48) was

g with pride. That was her hum-

• deflecting glory and paying
  e tothe rest of the team.
  andher husband, Sammy (50),
  g uedto the TV for their eldest son’s
  secondgame, the thrill of his debut still
  freshintheir minds.
  They were in Johannesburg with their
  younger son, Sammy Jo (20), to watch
  Herschel run out in the green and gold
  and Adeline couldn’t hold back the tears.
  “I can’t explain the feeling,” she tells
  YOU. “It was an emotional moment. Just
  talking about it makes me want to cry all
  over again. It was overwhelming.”
  Adeline says she asked her boy before
  the Wallabies game to “just give Mommy
  a try or two”.
  “He said, ‘Mommy, please, I’m there to
  create tries, not score them’. But I’ll be
  honest with you, I knew he was going to
  score a try.”
  After the game against the All Blacks,
  former Bok player and coach Nick Mal-
  lett joked Herschel should consider re-
  tirement although he had only two Test
  caps to his name. Because how could he
  top such a brilliant start to his inter-
  national career?
  Coach Rassie Erasmus cautioned
  against praising the young player too

LEFT and RIGHT:

Herschel made a

dazzling interna-

tional debut with

two tries against

Australia.

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Back

bursting

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homage

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wereglu

14 | 8 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za^