Lood de Jager says missing out on the highs of the 2023 World Cup due to a heart condition has helped him rediscover his love of rugby as he pushes for a Springbok comeback this year.
De Jager was a shock omission from South Africa’s squad for the World Cup, after what was initially reported as a “chest issue” forced him to miss the first of three warm-ups against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
It was later revealed that the lock was diagnosed with pericarditis a day before the squad was announced, which kept him sidelined and threatened to end his rugby career.
De Jager has made strong comeback this year, scoring in his first game back for the Panasonic Wild Knights in January and helping the club make an unbeaten start to the Japan League One campaign.
In an interview with RugbyPass, De Jager was asked whether he would be pushing for a return to the Springbok squad for the July series against Ireland.
“Can’t say too much. I’m taking it game by game,” De Jager told RugbyPass. “I don’t want to say too much but hopefully I will be there and it will be good for me. Missing out on last year and rugby in general, I have found my love for the game again. You feel like a kid again every time you are on the field.
“Whether it is for Panasonic or hopefully for the Boks later in the year, I’m just very thankful to be out on the field. When you get a real big scare and things get put into perspective when you get a condition like that, honestly for me every day out on the field is a massive blessing at the moment.”
De Jager opened up on his heart condition, saying he first experienced something was wrong during the Monday training session ahead of the Test in Argentina.
“Five minutes in I felt like someone was sitting on my chest, I couldn’t breathe,” De Jager said. “I was almost suffocating, just pressure on my chest and shortness of breath. Just a very eerie feeling. I went off the field and told the doctor something was not right… Tuesday morning I just felt no good. I just stayed in my hotel until we flew back.
“It was actually misdiagnosed in Argentina because I went for the scans there, that is where I first picked up that there was an issue.
“The tests there didn’t quite pick it up because I didn’t go for an MRI and then our team doctor was, ‘Look, let’s just make sure when we get back to South Africa that we didn’t miss anything’. So it was then that they picked it up, the pericarditis, so I am very thankful. It could have ended terribly.”
Photo: CHRISTIAAN KOTZE/AFP via Getty Images
The post Lood: I feel like a kid again appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
