Johannesburg – With the 2023 World Cup building a head of steam in the background this year, there will be some fierce competition around to snaffle up any chance to play for the Springboks and stake a claim for the showpiece event to be held in France next year.
For the most part, the usual suspects that will be selected by head coach Jacques Nienaber are known, but that doesn’t exclude the possibility that a player here or there can insert themselves into the picture with consistent showings in the next few months.
One of those players that might be on the fringes of the Bok think-tank, is Lions prop Carlu Sadie. Make no mistake, if he is to break into the senior national team, the tighthead is going to have to graft hard in the coming months. After all, he has some stiff competition to overcome if he is to even get a sniff of the No 3 jumper in a year where experimentation within the Bok squad could be the name of the game.
Lest we forget, tighthead has such luminaries as Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Trevor Nyakanye and Thomas du Toit within the Bok setup. Sadie has been one of the standout performers for the Lions in recent seasons with powerful scumming performances that have outclassed more fancied opponents, so while he could be forgiven if he is aiming for higher honours, the former Baby Bok has only one team on his mind.
“My mindset is just to do my best for the Lions at this moment,” Sadie said in an interview with IOL on Wednesday.
“When it comes to the Springboks, I know that there are a lot of quality tightheads out there. For me, it is being focused on what is in front of me now.
“For the Bok role to be filled at tighthead prop, you need an overall game. It comes down to scrumming, tackling, carrying the ball, and stealing ball. I think tighthead is becoming a position where you have to tick all those boxes.
"Personally, I just want to keep on grinding and make sure that my scrumming is good – that is the key function of the tighthead: to dominate the scrum.
“I need to work on all those areas above: carrying the ball, tackling, stealing the ball. I want to become an overall player and not only a guy that can scrum. I want to be the one that stands out amongst the rest.”
In spite of their dominance at scrum-time – the Lions have only lost two of the 44 scrums in the United Rugby Championship this season – their supremacy at the set-piece has not always translated into control and eventual victory. And although Sadie inferred that it was somewhat irritating to enjoy such ascendency on matchday without comeuppance, he also explained that getting reward from the scrum was a marathon and not a sprint.
Said Sadie: “Any pack will feel that they are not getting the rewards they deserve because it is a massive thing in the game.
“If you can scrum a penalty, you can get three points, and it can win you the game. Obviously, every single pack out there will go and review the clips and go and see where the referee was quite harsh. Sometimes, you can feel it but you can do nothing because the refs’ opinion is the refs’ opinion.
“You can’t change their opinion on the game,” the 24-year-old said pragmatically, “the only thing you can do is give them a clear picture and keep scrumming straight ... you’ve got to be honest, you don’t want to come with any tricks and when you start showing dominance.
"It’s maybe not in the first or second game, but rather the third game and onwards, that they will see that you are the dominant pack and then maybe the 50/50 calls go your way.”
The Lions face the Bulls this weekend in the URC at Loftus Versveld after a 34-10 drubbing to the same side this past weekend at home. Sadie, if fit, will be the vanguard again in the scrums, and there is every reason to believe that he will continue the rich vein of form he currently finds himself in.
For more of Independent Media's interview with Carlu Sadie, purchase the Thursday edition of The Star.
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IOL Sport