'Krappie' groomed as Faf's successor?
STAT ATTACK: The rise of Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg has been tremendous over the course of the past couple of seasons, as his latest match statistics indicate that he could be the successor to Springbok Faf de Klerk.
The 27-year-old, who made his Test debut in 2024, has only earned two Test caps thus far but could be earmarked by the national selectors to be the No.1 scrumhalf heading into the 2027 World Cup.
He is, of course, in competition with three World Cup winners – Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams, and Cobus Reinach with the latter heading into his golden years of Test rugby.
The beauty of the Springboks’ culture is that players, especially the more senior ones like Reinach and De Klerk, are more than willing to aid in the growth of the next guy in line as they have groomed Williams and Hendrikse.
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There’s been a lot of fanfare regarding the versatility of fellow Lions utility back Sanele Nohamba, who is comfortable at scrumhalf or flyhalf, but there are some flaws in his game that have seen him being used more as an impact player as of late.
Nohamba’s defensive work is his Achilles’ heel, having a poor 52 percent tackle success rate compared to Van den Berg’s 81 percent.
Van den Berg had completed 19 tackles in the Lions’ 22-35 defeat to the Bulls – the only backline player to make the top 10 in the tackling charts for Round 10 of the URC.
The No.9 spoke ahead of the clash against the Bulls on how he relishes the physical side of the game.
“Personally, I love the physical challenge. I pride myself on matching that physicality, if not raising it,” he said.
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There are a couple of elements of De Klerk’s style of play that Van den Berg is starting to show and his defensive reads are one of the standout features.
His ability to fall back and make missile runs to stop defenders from first or second phase attack, his support play by running on the shoulders of the ball carrier, and deceitful play around the breakdown area are some of the same qualities he possesses as De Klerk.
His kicking game has also vastly improved although it’s still a work in progress, but with more minutes on the park and good mentorship at the franchise and national level, he would be in good stead to be the successor to the Pocket Rocket.
Top tacklers in URC Round 10
