How Fassi is tackling his 'shortcomings' to keep Bok flame flickering
Aphelele Onke Okuhle Fassi is single-minded in his quest to be on the aeroplane when South Africa head to the World Cup in France later this year.
The three-times capped Springbok made huge strides in his pursuit of a national team recall with a Man of the Match performance in the Sharks 22-19 United Rugby Championship win over Edinburgh in the Scottish capital last week.
The last of his appearances in the coveted Green and Gold was the 12-13 loss to Wales in Bloemfontein last July.
He was then axed from the Bok squad ahead of the Rugby Championship and suffered an ankle injury in the Sharks’ 14-28 loss to Munster in November, ruling him out of the South African ‘A’ team’s tour in November.
At the time of his canning Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber called it a ‘pause’ in Fassi’s Test career.
And the utility back is determined to work his way back into the mix.
The 25-year-old said he has worked on ‘quite a few things’ since his recent return from injury.
“When I got dropped from the Bok camp [last year], I was told by the national coaches that there were certain things in my game that I needed to fix,” Fassi said in an online media scrum this week.
“I guess everyone knows about the tackling [and that] was probably the key aspect.
“There are also things in my kicking game.
“Those are the things [I work on], but I also work on my strengths.
“Working on your weaknesses too much, you forget about the strengths you have.”
He felt that you measure ‘progress’ by the on-field performances.
“You don’t see it on the training ground, because there’s no pressure there,” the outside back said.
“I’m proud of myself that I can actually say that I have progressed.
“You never want to miss a tackle or kick out on the full, but you only become better through repetition,” Fassi said.
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He also confirmed the obvious – his Springbok dream is alive.
“Any rugby player has the aspiration to be in the World Cup squad,” he told the media.
“I just recently came back from [an ankle] injury and having played only three games my game time has been very limited.
“That is obviously why I have not been [placed on the] rested [Bok list].
“My mindset now is to play the best rugby that I possibly can and hope it is enough to get called up to the squad or [Bok] camps.
“I’ll be grateful for that.”
Mini bio
Full name: Aphelele Onke Okuhle Fassi
Date of birth: 23 January 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth: King William’s Town, South Africa
Height: 1.89 metres
Weight: 87 kg
School: Dale College Boys’ High School
Test summary:
Three Test caps
Two Test tries
First Test: 2 July 2021 (age 23) – left wing, against Georgia at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Last Test: 9 July 2022 (age 24) – left wing against Wales at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
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