Veteran Nizaam Carr says the young Vodacom Bulls loose forwards included in the next Springbok alignment camp must work even harder and take nothing for granted.
Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom and Mpilo Gumede will join 2023 Rugby World Cup winner Marco van Staden as four of a dozen Bulls on the 43-man list that will be attending the Bok strategic sessions in Cape Town from 4 March.
Louw returns to the Boks after his maiden two appearances in 2022, while it will be a first experience of the national setup for the promising Hanekom and Gumede.
The 32-year-old Carr, who can play across the back row, made his debut for South Africa in 2014, and earned the last of his five Test caps in 2016.
Speaking in a Bulls conference on Thursday, the former DHL Stormers and Wasps star shared his advice for the rookies while urging against complacency and over-exuberance.
“The main message I’m giving to them, because there’s guys in my position who are extremely good and remind me of a lot of younger Nemo … it’s firstly, never take anything for granted,” he told reporters.
“I always talk to them about my injury that happened to me in 2012 when I tore my ACL, where I had everything sort of going for me, and off the field things were nice and I was getting paid well, I was getting contracts and there were a number of teams that were interested in me.
“And just like that the injury happened and all of a sudden I fell way down the pecking order and I had to work my way up.
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“They [youngsters] are here to learn from us and they don’t have to experience things like that themselves, so [I tell them], ‘stay calm, don’t get over-excited because everything will pass’.
“Just try to always do your best and when you train, don’t take it for granted. When you’re in the gym, you might be tired and those are the times when you actually don’t want to do it, that’s when you get better.
“When you see the other boys maybe fooling around and you’ve got four sets, make sure you maybe do an extra one because that’s improving, that’s sharpening yourself. Hard work, that’s all that it takes.
“The most important thing is to stay rustig [calm], and everything will come at you at the right time.”
Carr returned to action in a friendly against the Valke last Friday after a 12 weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury, and is optimistic about featuring against the Stormers in the Vodacom URC North-South derby next Saturday.
He added: “I tore my ATFL but apparently you don’t need that ligament to play because you’ve got enough support around the ankle. I also damaged a bit of my syndesmosis, that is why it took so long [to heal].
“What was supposed to be two weeks didn’t recover well, still lots of pain and then turned into eight to 12 weeks. So only fully coming back now to full swing of things.
“If you’re out for 12 weeks that’s a long time and then you have to play catch-up, but it’s part of the game. But I feel good now, feel fresh and ready to go.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/INPHO/Shutterstock
The post Old Bull’s advice for Bok hopefuls appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
