VIDEO: Coach's sage advice to discarded Roos
The absence of vogue loose forward Evan Roos from the most recent Springbok alignment camp has been the talk of the town since the event concluded last week.
Having been one of the inform players in the United Rugby Championship. most pundits expected him to be adding to his nine Test caps this year.
However, having been discarded from the alignment camp call-up group, it is now suggested that his absence may be related to some external factors.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus was at pains to declare that those outside the camps ar not forgotten.
No one wanted to confirm the real reason for his absence – and conspiracy theories abound – but there is some sage advice for the 25-year-old loose forward.
Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani, speaking from Glasgow where they are preparing for a URC quarterfinal face-off with the defending-champion Warriors, said Roos knows what will assist in his being recalled.
(WATCH as Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani gives discarded Springbok Evan Roos some sage advice on getting back in the Green and Gold…..)
“Our mindset is very simple with regards to our players,” Hlungwani told a virtual media briefing, adding: “If you’re in the Springbok alignment camp, yeah, we celebrate you and are happy with you.
“If you’re not there, the best thing we can always tell you is to work harder, keep looking for improvement, and that’s the same thing we’ve sort of told Evan.
“He knows he can always be better, and that’s where his mindset is now.
“He’s just going to keep working and keep putting his hand up, and that opportunity will eventually come again.”
Roos played the last of his seven Tests against Portugal at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, in July last year.
He subsequently underwent shoulder surgery and missed most of the rest of that year.
This year, he has worked and improved other aspects of his game, such as his off-the-ball play.
If he follows Hlungwani’s advice and Erasmus follows through on giving opportunities to those outside the camps, then Ross may well get another look in.
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