Breaking to light
IT was only when he made a sniping run down the blindside against the Sharks to set up Francois Hougaard s score that people finally realised that, hey, Bulls scrumhalf Rudy Paige has entered the race for a Springbok World Cup place.
He had made similar darts, transforming the Bulls into one of the best counter-attacking sides in Super Rugby, before a knee injury stymied his progress.
Life for a man who has spent his time in the shadows can be difficult. Even when he breaks into the light, he must still prove that it isn t a fleeting presence.
That has been Paige s existence at the Bulls. He has been overshadowed by Francois Hougaard until they finally realised he is a winger for most of his time in Pretoria. Not to mention the signings of Piet van Zyl and Jano Vermaak, who since left for France.
I m just happy with the game time, to be totally honest. It s a simple fact: the more you play, the better you get,” Paige said.
As such I ve made the right decisions and I ve backed myself and believed in my ability.
It hasn t always been easy. As a sportsman or rugby player, you believe in yourself and you re obviously going to think you re better than all the other guys. But the coach isn t always going to think what you re thinking, which made my first couple of years pretty tough.
I only got game time during the Currie Cup. If I m honest, I didn t exactly set the world on fire at that stage but I knew what I could do.”
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer called up the other contenders for the third-choice scrumhalf place for camps in Johannesburg and Cape Town this month the Lions Faf de Klerk and the Sharks Cobus Reinach.
De Klerk has played like a blonde-haired, watered down Aaron Smith. Reinach won plaudits during his debut Bok season last year.
I never imagined I d be in Meyer s wide view at the beginning of the season,” said Paige, who confessed to being a big George Gregan fan.
Everybody wants to be there. I m not going to tell you that I haven t thought about it.
I m in a very tough spot when it comes to Heyneke s plans. There are very good scrumhalves in the country. Faf has been playing great rugby and Cobus is a very good individual player. Even though the Sharks are struggling, he is still very highly rated.”
It s accepted that Fourie du Preez and Ruan Pienaar are number one and two. If Paige, 25, does make it to the UK it will be on the Handre Pollard ticket, the 21-year-old flyhalf whom Paige has complemented like a rear spoiler to a Formula One car.
I definitely think there s competition for that third scrumhalf position,” said World Cup-winner Joel Stransky.
Paige has cleared quickly, hasn t he? He s gotten the ball to Pollard much quicker, which has allowed him to run onto it and to attack the gain line a lot better.
But I m not sure if he s better than Reinach.
If you take Du Preez and Pienaar, you don t want another kicking scrumhalf. You will look at the running skills and when you do that, Reinach will be ahead of anyone else.”