Brits brings a bit of comic relief
NEWCASTLE: Schalk Brits has been a bit-part actor in the Springbok saga of the Heyneke Meyer era. But the Saracensbased player coerced the Bok coach into picking him for the World Cup because of his intimate knowledge of the conditions in England and of the European teams, with his knowledge of the Scottish players especially handy this week.
Brits, a dynamic athlete with ball in hand has always had his physical dimensions count against him when Bok coaches have literally been sizing up their options at hooker, but there is not a rugby pundit in the world that does not acknowledge his X-factor, and if he was not South African he would probably have been capped many times at international level. A team like the Wallabies would have loved him, especially with him being one of the game’s free spirits.
At a press conference yesterday, Brits not only provided insight into Scotland but his wise-cracking also brought comic relief. For certain, he does not fit the mould of the traditional Springbok hooker.
“Who says there is an injury crisis at centre?’ he smiled, adding “Pick me, pick me,” while poking attack coach Johann van Graan in the ribs. He would probably do a good job there, too.
“Scotland? Well I actually enjoy watching them these days,” he said. “That has not been the case for, well, it has never been the case! Seriously, they are playing really good rugby and you can see the influence of Vern Cotter (their Kiwi coach) coming through at just the right time.
“It has taken him a year to get Scotland to play his brand of rugby that was so successful at Clermont (the French Top 14 club that Cotter coached for nearly a decade).”
Brits says the Scottish forward pack is playing with purpose, direction, discipline and naked aggression, in the tradition of New Zealand packs.
“But they also play with freedom to attack when the hard work is done. Against the USA on Sunday they showed patience in the first half, did not panic when the Americans went ahead, and then turned up the heat in the second half and ran away with it.
“It was a mature performance that you would not have seen from Scotland a year or two ago.
“You want Scotland to be strong, you want everyone at the World Cup to be strong for the good of the sport.”