Strauss enjoying new lease on life
HOOKER: NOT RULING OUT AN INTERNATIONAL RETURN
The body’s feeling good, he’s scoring tries for fun and the company’s great at the Bulls, but stalwart hooker Adriaan Strauss has admitted to giving some thought to making himself available again for the Springboks.
Strauss retired from international rugby at the end of 2016 after a horrible first year as captain of the Springboks, but his stellar form for the Bulls this year has caused speculation that new national coach Rassie Erasmus might want him back in the fold. While Malcolm Marx is the undisputed first choice at hooker, stocks are low in terms of back-up. Bongi Mbonambi is out injured. Jaco Visagie has barely played at the Bulls due to Strauss’ great form, Chiliboy Ralepelle is playing well for the Sharks but is only a year younger than Strauss, Stormers hooker Ramone Samuels struggles with his lineout throwing while Scarra Ntubeni is making his way back from injury.
“I’ve really been working hard and I’m enjoying my rugby again, I’m playing with a smile on my face,” Strauss said. “The most important change was that I had a break last year, which was an opportunity to work on my body and I had a good pre-season. After my back operation, I knew I had a few kilos to lose in order to keep up.
“In terms of the tries, I’ve just been in the right place at the right time. The forwards are really working hard and the maul was an area we really wanted to fix. Our preparation these days is amazing, the vision is good and we are all working towards our goal, which gets hammered out every week.
“I don’t know how long I will keep playing, but I am enjoying every second of playing and every training session. It was a big decision to retire from the Springboks and I took it very seriously. So to make a comeback would be a very big decision as well. I always want to contribute to my team in any way I can so I must be able to do that for the Springboks if I do come back, it must be a positive move for the team.”
The 32-year-old said his attention was more on the challenge posed to the Bulls by the Highlanders this weekend, and applying the lessons learnt from the win over the Rebels, even though the approach of the Otago side will be very different.
“It’s important as a group that we learn and grow and it was important that we got through the frustration of last weekend. Everything is not always going to go your way, you need that, we were frustrated, but we fought through and we’ll learn the lessons from that for when things get tough again. The Highlanders don’t go away, they play for the full 90 minutes,” he added.
“It’s important that we are mentally well-prepared and that we be smart physically, get our rest as well. We want to show that we’re improving as a team, we want to dominate them, especially at home, and we need to execute well.”