VIDEO: What the Bok jersey does to the little boy inside Evan
VIDEO: Evan Roos makes his return to the Green and Gold almost a year after his last game against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
He last ran out in the Springboks’ 24-13 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires in a World Cup warm-up match.
The 23-year-old Roos has been included in Rassie Erasmus’ team at No. 8 and told a media briefing on Tuesday that he was elated to be back in the Bok fold.
Roos has excelled in so many different roles for the Stormers that it is hard to imagine he has left any box unticked and finally the call came to join the Bok alignments camps earlier this year.
His form in both the URC and in the Champions Cup has been such that he was literally kicking the Springbok door down.
Roos has been hailed far and wide as a potential superstar since his early playing years.
He can see and take a gap like a centre, has very impressive ball-carrying skills, and never seems to get stopped or moved backward. He just powers through a wall of forwards like there is no tomorrow.
He has the traits of a classic No. 8 namely acceleration, speed, ball skills, power, and aggression.
In 2022 Roos burst onto the scene during the URC and kicked the door down so that the Springbok selectors could not ignore him.
And then the accolades came – URC Players’ Player of the Season, Fans’ Player of the Season, and Next-Gen Player of the Season while he was also included in the URC Dream Team.
This earned him a Springbok call-up and he made his Springbok debut on July 9, 2022, against Wales.
However, he was one of the unfortunate ones to miss out on South Africa’s final World Cup squad of 33.
The game against Wales might be his road to redemption as Erasmus starts his focus on the next World Cup in 2027 in Australia.
He will be sharing the loose trio workload with World Cup winners Kwagga Smith and Bok captain Pieter-Steph du Toit.
To be back in the Bok fold means a lot to the flank told reporters on Tuesday.
“I wanted to be part of that group that went to France so badly but that just makes you more hungry to use your chances,” Roos said.
“Every time you put the jersey on and being in this environment, the little boy in you is happy. It is a dream come true.”
“I’ll be playing with a bunch of Rugby World Cup winners in the pack, which makes my job much easier.
“I’ve known these guys for about three years, and it certainly gets more comfortable each time I’m in camp.”
Asked what the Springboks can expect from the Welsh, Roos compared them to South Africans.
“They are a lot like us South Africans,” Roos said.
“They are hard-working and humble people, so we expect them to give everything for the full 80 minutes. Much like us, they are willing to go to dark places, so we are anticipating a hard grind up front.
“They are a physical pack, so I think it’s going to be a proper Test match this weekend.”
“It’s awesome to be back in the team, and everyone is very excited about the match. We want to build on what the team has done in the last six years, so there’s a massive responsibility on us to start off this weekend with a bang.”
