With a 120kg giant barrelling towards you, you’ve got two options: fight or flight. It’s tempting to sidestep the human bulldozer, but on the rugby field – where victory is a story told in centimetres – you have to dig in your heels and take the hit. “When you grow up like we did, you get used to the hard knocks,” says Herschel Jantjies. “My environment made me fearless.”
The Stormers scrumhalf’s trademark grin falters and his features settle into an expression of quiet contemplation. It’s a brief window into the relentless drive and unwavering focus that fuels his predatorial instinct on the pitch. While he’s got a reputation for being one of the jokesters in both the Stormers and Springboks squads, he’s also built a brand around his ability to sniff out gaps in the defense and leverage his speed and athleticism to put digits on the scoreboard.
We’re sitting at a café at Balmoral Battery Park, a concrete enclave at the entrance to the V&A Waterfront. Herschel is in the midst of pre-season training, with a big match against the Hurricanes just more than a week away. While he may have lifted the Rugby World Cup last year – a moment he’s still struggling to describe – he feels like he’s got a lot to prove as part of the Stormers.
“We didn’t have a great season last year,” he says. While the club netted a few wins, they finished 10th overall in the 2019 Super Rugby tournament. A poor showing for the oft-dominant franchise. But Herschel is confident about their chances in 2020.
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