Schalk Brits was reclining in Ibiza when the text message came through. He had a cocktail in hand as the sun began to set on the Spanish island.
It’s clear in retrospect that Erasmus was after a leader. Perhaps not an outspoken figurehead — he already had Siya Kolisi for that — but someone to lead by example in the background, a veteran willing to put in the gritty extra hours on the training ground that promised no accolades or public praise.
“Then after I finished my studies I said I’ll give rugby one go before I try the business world and 15 or 16 years later I’ve just finished. It’s been an amazing ride. There’s so many people I’ve met along the way that have had a significant impact in my life, both as a rugby player and as a person.”
Yet success found in the Northern Hemisphere didn’t equally translate to Springbok recognition. Peter de Villiers and Heyneke Meyer would both offer run-outs here and there but they were often of minimal consequence — a handful of largely substitute appearances spread over nearly a decade. Brits’s action on the pitch saw him captain the “B-team”, essentially the backup portion of the squad sent to do battle with the likes of Namibia and Canada. In the former he began as eighth man, a position he had seemingly added to his repertoire to bolster the versatility factor he offered.
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