Lizo pushes his way to brink of Bok cap by going down the road less travelled

THE SPRINGBOK fairytale has most times told the story of a rugby prodigy hailing from a traditional rugby school and from a family rich in sporting history.

Well, that has been the story over the decades stemming from the dark and immoral days of segregation to the modern-day professional era where your family name, school and to a certain extent privilege remain a stepping-stone to wearing the green and gold.

But once in a while we encounter a player who reminds us that the true Springbok story is not one green-and-gold brick road paved from birth. Instead it is the coming to fruition of a dream that many in rural South Africa never thought possible.

One such Springbok fairytale is the rise of prop Lizo Gqoboka from being a complete stranger to the game six years ago to now standing on the verge of being the first Springbok to come from the rural town of Mount Frere in the former Transkei.

In fact, rugby was never part of Gqoboka’s plans after he completed matric at Ntabankulu High School and embarking on a life-changing journey to Durban to study. While Gqoboka struggled to get to grips with English as he had been taught in isi Xhosa all his life, he stumbled upon rugby when a friend, Zekhe thelo Shange, asked him to come along to training at Collegians in Durban.

In just a matter of six years, Gqoboka moved to Port Elizabeth to be part of the Eastern Province Kings, signed a lucrative contract with the Bulls and now stands on the brink of reaching the pinnacle of any rugby player’s dreams.

“I’m just very excited and it is a huge honour for me to be part of this group and to represent my country,” Gqoboka said.

“I just look back and see a beautiful picture and I see the hand of God because I realise how tough it is to make it even if you start at a young age. For me to be able to be playing at this level after just six years is really a blessing. I started liking rugby because I was playing for fun and at that stage was just focused on my studies. The more I played the more the love grew and the belief. It was not an easy journey, I had to make big decisions along the way, but it is all worth it now.”

The 27-year-old Gqoboka may have found rugby by chance, but he was actually born to play the game with his 115kg and 1.83m frame which is almost the ideal size for a modern-day international prop.

While many hours with former Springboks Robbie Kempson and Gary Botha have helped sharpen Gqoboka’s technical ability at loosehead prop, it is his raw talent as a rugby player that caught the eye of former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer three years ago when he was called up to a national team camp and the very reason why he could take the place of his rugby hero, Tendai Mtawarira, in the Springbok team to play against France.

Gqoboka’s scrumming ability has improved immensely since joining the Bulls at the end of 2015 and while he has had to play musical chairs with Pierre Schoeman in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup sides, Gqoboka continues to stand head and shoulders above his teammates.

It has been Gqoboka’s humility and patience that have made him appreciate and make good ise of his opportunities, and while he has the utmost respect for Mtawarira, he won’t hold back should the opportunity to play ahead of the Sharks prop come along.

“In life we have different journeys and I think Tendai is a legend of the game. He has the most caps as a loosehead prop in that jersey and one needs to respect that. I respect him as a player and still look up to him but when my time comes then my time comes,” Gqoboka said.

After a disastrous 2016, Gqoboka is optimistic that the Springboks will rise again and become a force in world rugby, mirroring his life journey with the oncemighty Bulls. “We’ve had a tough season at the Bulls but I believe that all seasons are necessary for the building of our character. We may be losing, but we are gaining a lot of experience and learning at this level every week. In a year or two I believe the players will go on to win Super Rugby and there will be a lot of Springboks coming out of that group as well.”

If Gqoboka is capped a Springbok, it will be a moment that changes his life and that of his family.

But it will also mark the moment that the Springbok story changes from one about the manicured fields of colonial-built schools and “Springbok blood”, to the tale of far-flung rural areas where the new generation of rugby internationals doesn’t speak a word of English or Afrikaans and only stumbles on the game by chance.