VIDEO: The Bull who became South Africa's latest 'success story'
SPOTLIGHT: Ruan Nortjé is a prime example of what can be achieved when you go the extra mile on the road to success.
That is the view of Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White, who has witnessed that journey.
Nortjé only had one Test cap to his name before the 2024 Test season and he won it back in 2022 against Wales.
The 26-year-old lock now has four caps for the Boks after starting in the No.5 jersey in the last three Tests. It includes back-to-back victories over the All Blacks.
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“There’s a success story if you ever want to hear one,” said White.
“He came from a small school; he wasn’t a provincial player as a junior and he basically came in as a late developer through university and now he has played against the All Blacks and he has beaten them in a Test match.
“Nortje is incredibly disciplined. He trains hard, he works as hard as he can and he puts incredible amounts of detail in.
“I don’t think people are aware that he has his own laptop and his own analysis system.
“He works hours and hours behind the scenes on his game and his line-outs and that’s why he can play and contribute like he does in the Springbok set-up.
“I am looking forward to him coming back as well because of all the experience he is going to pick up there.
“I suppose he is a little bit like a computer whiz. The more codes he learns and the more systems he learns, the better he is going to become as a line-out forward.
“That’s one of the strengths he has. He is definitely one of the top locks in terms of line-out accuracy and line-out wins, so he can only get better.
“He’s still young for a lock forward. I’m looking forward to seeing how he comes back and brings whatever he’s learned into the group.”
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White is trying to find the right balance between youth and experience in the squad for the upcoming United Rugby Championship season and it helps that more of his players are becoming regulars in the Bok squad.
“That kind of confidence and learning will help us in play-off games.
“In a short space of time – literally three URC campaigns – we’ve now got nine Springboks in the squad and that will make us so much stronger because we can almost pick a Springbok in every position now.
“It is a great place to be when you want to win this competition.”
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