VIDEO: Hooker - 'Caps become irrelevant'
WATCH as Springbok rookie Ethan Hooker speaks about the influence of the experienced backs in the squad and his take on being inexperienced at Test level.
Hooker is set for his first start in his third Test.
He made his Springbok debut off the bench against Italy in Gqeberha and earned a second cap as a replacement against last week’s 17-24 loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
This will arguably be Hooker’s biggest Test of his young career, but he and his younger teammates have drawn on the experience of the senior heads in the squad.
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“On the young guys, we’re pretty privileged to have players like Damian [de Allende] and Jesse [Kriel]
“They calmed us down quite a bit, and their experience came through strongly throughout the week.
“We’ve been training with them for the past couple of months now and have been learning from them.
“That gives us a lot of confidence going onto the pitch.
“We do try to play with not so much fear as many may think.
“We just want to get on the pitch and express ourselves just like anyone else, and people like Jesse and Damian help us to channel that into just performing on the weekend.”
Hooker added that despite being a Test rookie, it doesn’t faze him as much as he is selected to do a job on the day to the best of his ability.
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“The game of rugby is exactly that. At the end of the day, I’ve been playing it since I was 10 years old.
“Once you get onto that pitch [Test], caps become irrelevant.
“You just focus on executing your job to the best of your ability and express your talent.
“In times of pressure, the experienced players will come out to calm matters, but on the pitch, it’s quite irrelevant at the time.”
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