Nic is Groomin’ at the fringes for Province

SONNY BILL Williams has been the most talked about rugby player in the world the last couple of years.

YouTube will attest to that, as the star centre has thousands of hits on the video-sharing website. And most of those tend to appear when you type his name and the word “offload” in the search field, as his spectacular passing in the contact situation has made him something of a global superstar.

In South Africa, though, there seems to be a perception that offloading in the tackle is too risky, and that it should best stay on websites like

However, maverick Western Province scrumhalf Nic Groom disagrees, which is unsurprising, especially if you look at his performance behind the WP pack since the unfortunate season-ending injury suffered by Dewaldt Duvenhage two weeks ago.

Groom, who likes to have a go around the fringes, always looked to get his hands free and offload in the tackle in WP’s 42-6 victory over the Bulls, which created a lot of momentum for his loose forwards and outside backs in WP’s only bonus-point win of the season so far.

“Offloading, like everything else, is a skill. It’s something I have worked on and we have worked on as a team,” Groom said yesterday. “Often there is a misconception that offloading is risky, but I think if you practice it and execute it well, it’s really an attacking weapon.”

According to Groom, Australia and New Zealand are definitely ahead of South Africa when it comes to offloading in the tackle, while he says it is not done enough by players in this country.

The former Ikeys No 9, has been compared to former Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, in terms of his physicality as well as the threat he poses on attack with his sniping darts.

A massive fan of star Australia No 9 Will Genia, Groom says most of the top halfbacks in world rugby like to have a go when they see a gap opening in front of them.

Groom will again start at scrumhalf against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, in a WP team that only show one change to the starting line-up that beat the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend.

As expected, Tyrone Holmes, who has recovered from a shoulder injury, replaces the injured Rynhardt Elstadt at No 7.

On the bench, Tom Botha replaces Springbok squad member Frans Malherbe, while coach Allister Coetzee has decided to keep his back-three intact by selecting the fit-again Joe Pietersen on the bench. Lions: Andries Coetzee, Deon Helberg, Lionel Mapoe, Alwyn Hollenbach, Ruan Combrinck, Elton Jantjies, Michael Bondesio, Warren Whiteley, Willie Britz, Cobus Grobbelaar, Franco van der Merwe, Hendrik Roodt, Jacobie Adriaanse, Callie Visagie, JC Janse van Rensburg (capt). Replacements: Bandise Maku, Ruan Dreyer, Etienne Oosthuizen, Michael Rhodes, Ross Cronjé, Butch James, Jaco Taute Cheetahs: Hennie Daniller, Nico Scheepers, Robert Ebersohn (capt), Andries Strauss, Raymond Rhule, Tewis du Bruyn, Sarel Pretorius, Hendro Scholtz, Lappies Labuschagne, Heinrich Brüssow, Izak van der Westhuizen, Francois Uys, Marcel van der Merwe, Hercu Liebenberg, Schalk van der Merwe. Replacements: Elandré Huggett, Ross Geldenhuys, Carl Wegner, Davon Raubenheimer, Sias Ebersohn, Phillip Snyman, Rayno Benjamin