VIDEO: Veteran Cheetahs prop extends contract
NEWS: Cheetahs prop Schalk Ferreira will turn 40 in February and while many might think that is too old to be a professional rugby player, he just extended his contract with the Cheetahs for another year.
What makes this milestone even more special, is that he was told fifteen years ago that he will never play rugby again after a serious neck injury.
At the time he was playing at Western Province prior to the start of the Super 14 season when he suffered a neck injury during a vehicle accident. He made his return to the field during the last four rounds of the competition, however, a year later, in 2009, he retired from rugby due to further injuries to the vertebrae.
Ferreira went through two years of turmoil, having undergone a neck fusion, but the neck was aggravated and this setback forced him to retire. He couldn’t even pick up his bag after his last Currie Cup match and his left side was paralysed.
Thankfully he recovered miraculously in the two years following that, but weighing a mere 90kg, he was not sure if he would be able to make a come-back.
At that stage Rassie Erasmus was coaching the Stormers and decided to give the prop an opportunity.
Ferreira appeared in all ten matches in the 2012 Vodacom Cup competition helping them win the competition for the first time in their history, beating Griquas 20–18 in a final that Ferreira started.
After a stint with the EP Kings and Toulouse, he linked up with the Toyota Cheetahs just days before his 37th birthday in 2021, thus becoming the oldest player to debut for the Free State in 127 years.
Speaking ahead of the big Currie Cup clash against the Lions in Bloemfontein this weekend, Ferreira said he still has a passion and hunger for rugby.
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“I am very blessed that I can still play rugby. Physically I feel the same, I have no ailments. Every time I get on the field, I feel like I get a second chance. I have a strong work ethic and I think I am a good fit for this Cheetahs team,” Ferreira said.
Coach Hawies Fourie added that he had to ponder what kind of salary a player of that age might be offered. Ferreira made the decision easy when he sent a selfie of himself shirtless in the gym.
