Aphiwe Dyantyi
School left a bad taste but now the wing is the toast of the town
defies the odds and sets Super Rugby world alight
● Aphiwe Dyantyi has a tale to tell.
Not just because he is one of domestic rugby’s most celebrated lost-and-found items, but because he’s fully contextualised the reasons for his self-imposed hiatus.
The Lions’ box-of-tricks winger made a sensational introduction to Super Rugby last week when he bagged the man-of-thematch award against the Sharks. Staggeringly however, he was almost lost to the game.
The obsession with school rugby and how it somehow is the biggest arbiter in determining a player’s relevance for the remainder of his/her sporting life, has again been brought into sharp focus after Dyantyi resurfaced as a wing of true class.
Nowhere are insecurities more easily bred than on school grounds. “Having not played first team I had difficulties at high school. You feel that you are not good enough,” he said of his time at Dale College.
Now Dyantyi is a confident young man and it is hard to imagine him ever having an underdeveloped sense of self.
“I’m not suggesting the coaches made the wrong decision. At the time the coach made the best decision for the team. Our first team was among the top 10 in the country. It just was not my time,” Dyantyi said.
The sport has a well worn, clearly identified path for timely bloomers but the masses watching that bus drive off don’t always know which way to turn.
“You play first team, then Craven Week, you sign for a union, then it’s SA under-20, and so the story unfolds. I think you are sold that dream from an early age,” said Dyantyi.
Disillusioned, he gave up the game but it wasn’t time wasted. “That gave me the opportunity to refocus my mind. In high school I never liked tackling. But when I got the opportunity to play again I never shied away from contact. Now I love those moments... being physical,” said the 23-year-old.
How he resurfaced at University of Johannesburg is worth repeating. “The first time I saw Aphiwe, they were just messing around, having fun,” recalled former UJ under-19 coach Mac Masina.
“I thought, this guy has everything. I asked him if he would play for us and he was very negative. It was typical of a black player with an opportunity just needing a boost.”
“He tricked me,” countered Dyantyi. “I was playing flyhalf but he told me he wanted to play me wing. I said ‘no I’ll play flyhalf or fullback’. He’s like ‘okay, that’s fine, play fullback’. The first three games I played fullback but after that in a game he’d tell me to move to wing because he wanted to have a wing that can control things at the back.
“I’ve got to be open to other people’s opinion. It used to be my way or the highway,” said Dyantyi.
Besides, if fees can fall, so can dodgy attitudes. “I was looking for a bursary but fell under the average. Through rugby I could get a bursary and I figured if I can get one by playing wing it was a win-win situation.”
Dyantyi has an aversion to being limited by others or himself. He describes himself as unpredictable, an opportunist who loves expressing himself.
It was clear from his Super Rugby debut that he has a vast skills set. He attributes it to his days at flyhalf.
“You can’t stop working on your skills. Coach Swys (de Bruin, the Lions coach) calls it your circus act. It’s the little marginals. I can’t be a one-trick pony. We train hard so you get used to high-pressure situations. You can easily adjust when you play with experienced people around you.
“The guys were great because they don’t impose themselves. They allow you to play your natural game. Elton (Jantjies) for one, will say ‘AP whatever you call, I’ll back it’. The same with Lionel (Mapoe). You’d expect them to baby you but they don’t.
“I learnt a lot from Courtnall Skosan in terms of positional play.”
It is not hard to see why growing up Dyantyi adored Carlos Spencer. “My one brother and I never missed a Blues game.
“Locally, the players who mesmerised me were actually wingers. Brent Russell, Breyton Paulse, Ashwin Willemse.”
Those players had attributes that continue to resonate. “Coach Swys emphasises the importance of beating your man, whatever it takes,” said Dyantyi, on whom it cannot be lost, that he is beating the system.
I couldn’t resist having him in our under-19 side
Mac Masina Former UJ under-19 coach