In-form hooker Akker van der Merwe won’t “creep into a hole” and feel sorry for himself after not being included in the first Springbok alignment camp of the year.
Rassie Erasmus this week named a 43-man contingent that will be attending the first of three Bok strategic sessions from 4 March, with Van der Merwe – a standout performer for the Vodacom Bulls with eight tries so far this season – a notable omission.
Teammates Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels are two of 16 uncapped players included for the gathering in Cape Town, and along with DHL Stormers rake Andre-Hugo Venter and Cheetahs bruiser Marnus van der Merwe will rub shoulders with double world champions Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx.
The three-Test Van der Merwe joined the Bulls this season from Sale Sharks in a bid to strengthen their depth while also boost his chances of a Bok recall, and speaking to the media on Friday, the 32-year-old is determined to represent his country again.
“I could easily just creep into a hole and feel sorry for myself and give up hope, but it just motivates you to work harder,” he told reporters. “It’s also a good place for the Bulls to be in, having two hookers as part of the 12 Bulls players in the camp, and youngsters too.
ICYMI – Rassie clears the air on Bok exclusions
“I just go and look at all my games and see where I can improve, because obviously there is something I need to work on.
“I won’t ever say that I’m a complete player or that I’ve mastered every single thing of my craft, so there’s always room for improvement. So it just drives me to be consistently better.”
Asked if there has been any feedback from Erasmus and the Bok management on specifics he needs to work on, Van der Merwe bluntly replied, “No.”
On his impressive try-scoring form, he added: “Half of those tries are made by the forwards so I can’t take all the credit, it’s from good mauls and I’m just the one who gets the accolades. It’s the entire pack that works so hard within the system.”
Photo: BackpagePix
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
