Two Boks back on field in style
WITH their latest injuries very nearly having meant death and early retirement respectively, tentative steps back into rugby through a SuperSport Rugby Festival would have been exactly what Bongi Mbonambi and Jamba Ulengo needed.
The two Springboks made their returns from a burst appendix (Mbonambi) and a niggling knee injury (Ulengo) for DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls XV at the Oudtshoorn Festival on Sunday, games their teams won 50-3 and 27-20 each.
And while Bridgton Stadium is a far cry from where they were when they got injured, the surroundings were a timely reminder of their origins just when they got another chance to pursue the game they love.
“It’s a very humbling experience coming back to the communities per se,” said Ulengo.
“Most of these people only get to watch us on TV, so getting up close and personal with the community at large is very humbling because people look up to us, whether we want to believe it or not.
“We once were out of these communities as well, so we have to give something back because these are the future Bulls or Springbok players.”
Ulengo scored one of the Bulls’ four tries in their trans-Jukskei “derby” against the Lions after being out for more than a year due to a knee injury that wouldn’t go away because it seems to have been misdiagnosed.
“I got injured in 2016 already and we tried to manage it and see how far the rehab would take us,” explained Ulengo.
“That didn’t work and I played with a sore knee throughout last year and I didn’t do well, so they decided it was time for me to take it seriously. Fortunately I went to see a specialist in Sweden and he was able to sort it out.
“My patella was deteriorating and there was a bone growing underneath it. There was also a vein growing because of the pain and whenever I ran, I was in pain. Nobody was able to pick that up here, so I had to go to Sweden in the end.”
For Mbonambi what was supposed to be a routine appendectomy very nearly meant losing his life: “I picked it up late and just as I went into surgery it burst.
“There was a lot of fluid in my intestines and the doctor said it was touch and go to the point where I could have died because it could have poisoned me from the inside.
“I actually went in for the first operation but then they found out there was still some fluid in my upper intestines, so I had to go in for major surgery where they cut my stomach open so they could clean it up properly. That’s why I was out for three months.”
As a result, Mbonambi had last played in a Super Rugby warm-up game against the Bulls before the Rugby Challenge league game against the SWD Eagles on Sunday – a game in which he didn’t exactly look like he’d been away for long.
“It was really awesome to be back,” said Mbonambi.
“I give all the glory to God that I could come back and play, and thanks to Dobbo [Western Province coach John Dobson] and the SuperSport Rugby Challenge team for giving me the opportunity to play.”
Ulengo enjoyed himself too, although a cramp reminded him how long he’d been out: “I’m a bit rusty obviously, but I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be back on the field again.
“I wouldn’t have thought in my wildest dreams that I would be back on the field because the chances of me playing again were very limited.
“The knee feels solid and with game time I think everything will fall into place, but for now it feels solid.”
With regard to how soon they would be able to play Super Rugby, both said they were willing to take whatever game-time opportunities came their way to get back to their sharpest form. —