This Oupa is anything but old and decrepit

DURBAN: There was a time when a nine-year-old Teboho Mohoje ducked his head into the rucks and mauls as a fledgling rugby loose forward, and his coach in Bloemfontein said that he hovered around like an Oupa, not Teboho.

And so the nickname was born. As it turns out, the 26-year-old “Oupa” is still obviously anything but a veteran in the Springbok team and today he says he will give everything to prove that he is Oupa in name only against the French in the second Test of the series against the visitors in Durban.

“I was Free State born and bred, in the town of Qwaqwa, and I spent seven years there completely un- aware of the game of rugby, before my family moved to Bloemfontein,” the genial flank said. “I won’t bluff you and say I grew up wanting to be a Springbok. It was only when I went to Bloemfontein and learned about rugby that I first had a dream of becoming a Springbok. I watched those players on TV and I knew that I wanted to be one of them.”

It is curious that such a shy young man should have the nickname of “grandfather”, but he thinks it is funny. “Ah well, that is how these things happen, but the truth is I am the youngest and hungriest to learn about Springbok loose forward play, and the more I learn, the more I understand the role of a Springbok loose forward in the physical confron- tation that inevitably awaits us.

“All of us have role to play in shutting down the French attack,” Oupa says. “We know that they are going to come at us physically much more than last week in Pretoria. Myself, Warren Whiteley and Siya Kolisi are a new loose trio in world rugby, and obviously the French have done their homework on us. But at the same time we are doing our homework on our performance last week. As we play more together, we will gel better, and we will be better as a unit against the French today. They are trying to work us out, and we are trying to get better, so it will be interesting.”

Mohoje said that coach Allister Coetzee had encouraged him to carry the ball more today.

“Your confidence grows the more you play, and so does your understanding with your fellow forwards and the outside backs who must have an idea of when they are going to get the ball,” the 26-year-old said.

“The coach has told me to attack more with the ball in hand. He wants me to be a carrier, especially with (injured) Duane Vermeulen out of the series,” Mohoje said. “He wants me and Warren to combine together more than we have in the past.

“The team culture is different to last year. Then everybody was having their own say. Now we are all contributing to establishing our own team culture. Warren Whiteley brings a calmness to the team and we’ve all bought into playing for each other.”