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Feature: Hard-working Wiese has a big future

rugby22 May 2019 06:40| © Cycle Lab
By:JJ Harmse
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Cobus Wiese © Gallo Images
When you watch him dominating opponents on the field it is hard to think of Cobus Wiese as a 21-year-old who was still at school in Upington when he watched current DHL Stormers teammates such as Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit playing at the last World Cup.

Such is the influence he brings to a game, and such is his massive contribution - a phenomenal 33 tackles in the last match - that somehow he seems a whole lot older. It feels like he has been playing senior rugby for more than just two years. And he certainly appears to fit alongside the likes of Etzebeth, Du Toit, Steven Kitshoff and Springbok captain Siya Etzebeth too comfortably to be a mere apprentice.

Yet talk to him off the field and you get a different impression. He is an imposing presence with his big square jaw and powerful shoulders as he towers above the mottled group of Cape journalists pressing in to interview a guy that one fellow hack describes as “My favourite rugby player”. But when he speaks, politely suggesting at the start that perhaps he should speak English, you can also detect the callow youth in him, the youngster who is eager to learn and is just so happy to be rubbing shoulders with some of his heroes.

“From the start I have always said that Juan Smith, the former Cheetahs and Springbok flank, is my ultimate player, the guy I really looked up to and admired as a kid,” said Wiese during a break in the preparations for Saturday’s clash with the Highlanders at Newlands.

“But in this team we have guys like Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit. From when I was at school I was watching them on television and watching them play, and now they are world class players and I am playing with them. If that’s not motivation for you as a young player then there is something wrong.

“It has happened very quickly for me, quicker than I expected. I was a bit fortunate in a way in that two years ago there were one or two injuries that offered me opportunities. There was an injury to Rynhardt Elstadt that gave me a gap. It is always great when coaches back you even at a very young age and you get a chance to prove yourself.

“In our set-up there are so many other guys sticking up their hands, so you know if you do not play well there is someone else who is as good as you, if not better, ready to step in and take their opportunity. It creates healthy pressure in the team and a lot of healthy competition,” he added.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH KOBUS

A question that maybe should have been asked of Wiese but wasn't was one that could have related to his first name. He was born less than two years after a legendary Bok by the name of Kobus Wiese was an influential member of the 1995 World Cup winning team. Did that influence his parents when they named him?

There's a K in Kobus' name of course, which is helpful for purposes of differentiation. Somehow 'Cobus junior', which is how an ex-Springbok referred to him in conversation the other day, just doesn't work in this instance. Which is saying something if you think of the presence that Kobus brings to any room he is in.

But in time this Wiese, the Cobus with a C, could become as well known and as revered as Kobus with a K.He has the pedigree to go far in the game. It takes some doing to be noticed when you are coming out of the Northern Cape, in other words not one of the fashionable unions at Craven Week, and Wiese played two years of South African Schools (2014 and 2015) before playing for the SA under-20 team in 2016.

It was as a lock that Wiese first turned in a notable performance at senior level when he came on as a replacement in a pre-season friendly game against the Lions at Newlands in 2017. But until recently he had played most of his games on the blindside flank, with just some untimely injuries preventing him from perhaps making better progress in that position.

In the meantime Du Toit was switched from the second row to the flank by the Springboks, and has developed into perhaps the best blindside flank currently playing international rugby. That is no matter to Wiese, who made a big impression in the second row in the last game of the 2018 Super Rugby season against the Sharks, and has continued to do so into 2019 even though at the start of the year he would have been considered possibly as low as fourth or fifth choice for the position.

The injuries to JD Schickerling, Salmaan Moerat and Chris van Zyl have opened a path for him, and as he says, he is making the most of his opportunity to play. He also appears ambivalent, taking on that apprenticeship personality again, when asked which position he prefers.

“At the moment I am happy just filtering in where I can,” says Wiese. “We have world class flanks so I can’t just expect to play there. Pieter-Steph and Siya are Springboks and both are world class players. Lock is essentially the same role as blindside flank.

“You’re just scrumming at lock but otherwise fulfilling the same role. I am just glad to make the team when I do, and when I do I know I must just work really hard to justify my place.”

CONSISTENTLY IMPRESSIVE STATISTICS

Wiese does work hard and his statistics are consistently good. Excellent enough in fact for him to make a Super Rugby team of the week in most weeks.

“It’s just a case of getting back off the deck and working on, and keeping doing that,” said Wiese when asked about those 33 tackles in one match. “If you can meet that standard every week then you will make your mark and stick up your hand. It says you have something to prove and something to say.”

But Wiese always knows there’s something to work on, and that he can get even better.

“Tackle completion is my personal work on this week and also working a bit smarter in play, getting the balls to the backs. I think the plan from the coaches was spot on last week, and it has been every week. We just need to go out and execute it,” he said.

A STORMER UNTIL AT LEAST THE END OF 2021

The good news for Western Province fans is that Wiese doesn’t appear to have any plan to leave the Cape and join the exodus overseas. At least not in the foreseeable future.

“I am definitely staying at WP until 2021 and I hope to stay on after that. There are very few youngsters who can have the privilege of having so much talent and experience around them. Jaco Coetzee and myself were very fortunate to come from under-19s and come into a team with guys like Dillyn (Leyds), Damian (de Allende), JL at No 10 and Jano Vermaak.

“It’s almost like there are too many leaders so you just have to do what they say to you. It is a perfect situation for a youngster as you are learning from the best. It means when you become a senior player yourself you will just slot in.”

UP FOR HIGHLANDERS CHALLENGE

Wiese’s most pressing and immediate concern though is the challenge that will be mounted to the Stormers’ challenge for local conference honours by the Highlanders. Although the two log points they clutched onto by drawing with the Crusaders was two points most wouldn’t have expected them to get, the wins by the Jaguares, Bulls and Lions last weekend have effectively turned this match into a knock-out fixture. At least in terms of the conference victory (they could probably lose and still sneak into the play-offs through wild card qualification).

“The Crusaders game was a good performance from us and the morale of the team is good. We had to prove ourselves again after losing in Argentina,” said the 1.98 metre tall and 117 kilogram product of Hoerskool Upington and the Griqualand West Country Districts schools system.

“But while the spirits are up and we are glad about that game, we are focused on next week from now on. There have been a few times this season where we have had a good game and then come short the next week, then a good game again before coming short again. It has happened on more than one occasion. Mentally that is in the back of our minds. We are being managed very well this week so there are no excuses.”

KEEPING HIS FEET ON THE GROUND

Keep playing like he is and Wiese will surely creep into Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ World Cup plans, or at least you’d think so. Wiese though, like his teammate Herschel Jantjies, the Stormers scrumhalf, is keeping his feet firmly rooted to the ground and refuses to let his mind drift too far from his current aim of gaining experience by playing as much as he can for the Stormers.

“For every young South African that (playing for the Boks) is a goal so it is a given that I would love to play for my country. But I am trying to focus not too much on what is going on around me outside. It’s not that complicated. I am privileged to be part fo the Stormers squad and if I keep working hard and keep contributing to the team performances then I will give myself a chance.”

Regardless of whether he is at this World Cup, for to be fair that event is now only a matter of months away and the Bok coach will want to work mostly with the players he got to know in his first year in charge, you can bet your house on Wiese being a regular for the Boks in the next World Cup cycle. In fact he is that good that you can bet your world possessions on him becoming one of the great Springboks if he remains injury free. And when he does we won't be needing to point out he is Cobus with a C...

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