VIDEO: Krappie primed for final Bok battle after 'learning curve'
CARDIFF, WALES: It’s been a long and demanding end-of-year tour for the Springboks, but resilient scrumhalf Morne van den Berg’s fight is far from over.
The Springboks face Wales in their fifth and last clash on tour before they head home, and one would think a break is on the cards, but the No.9 says he is ‘fresh and ready to go’ once he gets back to the Lions.
As Grant Williams returned home to the Sharks after the Boks’ 24-13 victory against Ireland last Saturday, Van den Berg is likely to play in his sixth Test this weekend.
The 28-year-old earned his Test debut against Portugal last July and has scored four tries in his five outings in the Green and Gold.
Two weeks ago, against Italy, he scored a fantastic try, showing strength beyond his size in an otherwise superb game. Throughout the game, he demonstrated great control at the back of a pack that more often than not provided front-foot ball early on.
After the red card to Lood de Jager, he reverted to a more disciplined role, kicking from hand with accuracy and finding his runners when asked to inject spark down the line.
It was his best-ever game in the jersey and one that he would want to build on this weekend.
Van den Berg is soft-spoken and prefers to do his talking on the field. And there is no denying how hardworking and talented he is, with a fearless attacking mindset.
Most analysts see him as a major future contender in a post-Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach era, competing alongside the likes of Grant Williams and Jaden Hendrikse.
Van den Berg spoke to reporters on Tuesday about the last challenge on tour against Wales and how much he has grown as a player over the last four weeks.
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“This tour has been a pretty spectacular experience for me.
“Just to witness all the different hostile environments, the big stadiums, and the passionate crowds,” he said, adding, “To experience the training in the cold – it has been a huge learning curve.
“That French Test, when you hear the crowd, and you think, yes, this is a lot of pressure.
“And then you get to test yourself against Italy and be able to say,’Yes, you can handle it’,” he said with a wry smile.
“So I would say the first thing I learned [on this tour] is that I can.
“And then from the players, from a guy like Cobus and Grant. We really pushed each other at training to get better. [There were] small competitions [between us] from the basics to learning more about the game.”
Van den Berg spoke highly of the Welsh, despite being ranked 11th in the world and winning only two of their 10 matches this season.
“They chase lost causes, so the experience we’ve gained from the United Rugby Championship is that they are guys who are willing to fight for each other, and they’ll certainly get together and want to put up a massive fight this weekend.”
“They have a lot of quality players, and I’ve played against some of them in the URC, and they are very talented.
“So we know what to expect from some of their individuals. We will certainly not take this match lightly.”
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