‘Great to be back in the mix,’ says Grobbelaar ahead of Wales match

Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar admitted he was thrilled to be back playing for the national team, after slipping off the Bok radar earlier in the year, and is looking forward to a stiff challenge against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Grobbelaar is enjoying his best run in the Bok setup, having featured four times on the Boks’ end-of-year-tour so far, with this weekend’s game set to be his fifth, which will take his overall cap tally up to eight.

He only made his Bok debut against Portugal in July last year, before playing against the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, and Wales on last year’s end-of-year-tour.

This year he didn’t crack the nod for the Bok squad for their incoming series, or the Rugby Championship, but strong performances for the Bulls at the start of this season’s URC earned him a spot in the year-end tour squad.

Although Malcolm Marx is the Boks‘ most trusted hooker, as seen by Grobbelaar only playing seven minutes against Ireland and three against France, he is slowly working his way into regular contention, with him playing 36 minutes against Japan and the full 80 against Italy.

He is now set for another start against Wales, although he will likely be substituted at some stage in the second half for Bongi Mbonambi.

Speaking earlier this week, Grobbelaar said he was happy to be back, and that the team have been performing well on tour, winning all their games, and are eager to continue that good form against a tough Wales team.

Great to be back

“It’s been great (to be back). Earlier in the year, I was out of the Springbok mix, so to come back in now, and get opportunities to fight in the four or five games I’ve played. It’s great putting on the green jersey and getting the opportunity to be on the field,” said Grobbelaar.

“There have been a few big games the last couple of weeks, and earlier this year we had big away games that we won, so I think the team’s done really well.

“This is the last one for the year for us against Wales, and I don’t think there will be any lack of motivation from the guys. We’ll handle it with the same intensity as any other Test week.”

The Boks released a slew of players from their squad, allowing them to return to their franchises ahead of the match, but Wales were forced to do the same and have made wholesale changes, as the match falls outside of the Test window.

Despite the Boks having the favourites tag, Grobbelaar believes that the Welsh have more than enough talent to give them a run for their money on the day.

“They have some great rugby players. As we saw against the All Blacks, they scored some beautiful tries. They have a good skillset at the back, good attacking shape, and they’re always a threat under the high ball,” explained Grobbelaar.

“On paper, we might be the favourites. But knowing the Welsh from playing them in the URC, they’re a proud nation. They won’t go away. It’s going to be a full-on battle for 80 minutes. The guys who replace the missing players will still be quality players.”