De Jager attributes his resurgent form to coach Mitch
PRETORIA: Springbok lock Lood de Jager is almost in the best form of his life – and most of that has to do with the arrival of John Mitchell at the Bulls.
De Jager has made no secret of Mitchell being his mojo, and that of the Bulls team in their sudden resurrection from the dead into being contenders to make the play-offs.
Having missed the game against the Stormers due to a calf strain injury, De Jager showed his pedigree as one of the country’s top locks along with RG Snyman, with a dominant performance in the Bulls 40-10 win over the Sharks last Saturday.
“I think coach Mitch has played a massive part in that. He gives us a lot freedom and wants us to express ourselves and do what we do well. As a team we are playing well, and it is easy to play well in a team that is playing well. I’m really enjoying my rugby and hopefully we can continue with that,” said De Jager.
However, his role within the Bulls and Springbok set-up is not lost on De Jager, and despite his heroics as a lethal line-out exponent for both franchise and country, he has added another string to his bow with his high work rate and mobility around the park.
Admittedly, De Jager has been a bit of a slouch, but the standards Mitchell has set for him and the side have challenged the former Cheetahs captain, who has always wanted to be the best amongst his peers.
With a dominating physical stature and the rugby brains to match any lock in world rugby, De Jager needs to work on his fitness and the less scrutinised areas of his game to be considered among the best in the world and, more importantly, in the country.
“The physical part came naturally to me from a young age. But it is the mobility part and the fitness and work rate part I’ve been struggling with. So I’m trying to work on that part of my game. So the physical part for a guy in South Africa playing lock should come naturally,” De Jager said.
But his evolution cannot be taken in isolation from that of his team, and the gigantic lock insists Mitchell has also been instrumental in the team’s rite of passage from being the perennial whipping boys in the past four years to now being considered a threat – mainly because of how the coach allows the players the freedom to play the situation as it unfolds on the field.
“Ja, it is a thing we do during training, playing different situations and being ready for what you see. Coach Mitch encourages us to play what we see, and not to think too much. And it’s going well for us.”
While the Bulls may feel that they are riding the crest of the wave after two successive wins over the Stormers and Sharks, the reality of facing one of the best teams in the competition has already dawned on them, seeing that the Melbourne Rebels are among the top try-scorers in the competition, and have been the surprise package of 2018.
But the Bulls will rely heavily on how the competition is heavily weighted in favour of home teams, and the fact that they have lost only one game out of three at Loftus, according to De Jager.
“The Rebels have scored the second most tries in the competition thus far, so they are a good attacking side. They slipped up against the Jaguares, but they have had some great victories as well. We definitely need to be sharp on defence, and hopefully we can force some turnovers and score some points.”
“It’s a massive boost for us being at home. We want to take it week by week, but we want to win our home games and make Loftus a fortress. But we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, and are focusing on the Rebels,” said De Jager.