He rolls over tacklers like a truck on the run
Burly Junior Springbok loose forward Juarno Augustus is not called “Trokkie” (small truck) without good reason.
He is built for power — from the wide-set shoulders and huge arms‚ to the broad hips and thunderous thighs.
He takes some stopping‚ even from a standing start. Stopping him was a problem that all opponents at the recently completed World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Georgia had.
Augustus scored seven tries in five games – scoring in each match – and was named player of the tournament.
There was not a single team that could quite cope with his low centre of gravity and tacklebusting runs.
Augustus‚ who hails from the Western Cape via Tygerberg High‚ the school that produced Bok hard man Eben Etzebeth‚ Blitzboks star Justin Geduld and Bulls wing Travis Ismail‚ is on the right path to follow all of them to greater things.
Augustus joins some illustrious names on the roll of honour too: Aaron Cruden and Julian Savea from New Zealand‚ SA’s Jan Serfontein and Handré Pollard and England’s George Ford are just five winners who went on to make a huge impression at Test level.
“Ja‚ those are some big names that have gone before me‚” Augustus said.
“It’s really special to be on that list of names. Jan [Serfontein] and Handré [Pollard]‚ who was at my primary school in Somerset West‚ have gone on to be Springboks.
“That inspires me and gives me confidence that if I keep working hard I could also become a senior Bok.
“But I can’t take credit for my performances because it all comes down to the hard work my teammates do as well. I just finished off those tries.”
Augustus will return to Western Province, where he is on a junior contract.
That situation might change rapidly because there will be huge interest in his services if the union‚ which overlooked him for the under-18 Craven Week in 2016‚ does not secure his services on a more lucrative deal soon.
Augustus did not want to talk about his contractual situation with Western Province, preferring to focus on the way forward this year.
“I used the failure to make the under-18 Craven Week team as motivation to become better‚” Augustus said.
“Now I hope I make the WP under-21 team for the national competition and maybe with a bit of luck I can make the senior Currie Cup team too‚” he said.
“The World Champs was a new experience for me because every game was of a higher level than I’ve ever encountered.
“I went into each match just trying to play as hard as I could and give my all.
“I like taking the ball into contact and, since I was little, coaches have told me that it’s a strength that I need to play to.”
But he’s far from one-dimensional and showed with deft offloads and some big tackles that defence is also a strong aspect of his game.
He finished in the top 20 of tackles made with 48 for the tournament, the third highest in the Junior Bok team after flank Ernst van Rhyn and lock Ruben van Heerden.
“People didn’t see me as a great defender but it was something I worked really hard on as well‚” Augustus said, adding that ball-carrying was also the result of hard work.