New Tah goes from square Roodt to spare
GREG GROWDEN CHIEF RUGBY CORRESPONDENT
February 16, 2010
EVEN though the Waratahs' South African recruit Hendrik Roodt is a mere shadow of his former self, and has not played top-level football in 18 months, he is primed for his Super Rugby debut when he returns to his homeland this week.
When the Waratahs left for South Africa yesterday, there were enough hints that the 22-year-old Roodt, an Emerging Springboks representative, would make his first NSW appearance by taking over from the injured second-rower Cam Jowitt, when they play the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday night, and then against his old province, the Bulls, in Pretoria on February 27.
Roodt hails from the small rural town of Lichtenburg, 250 kilometres west of Pretoria, and believes that his many relatives who live on the veldt and are already chasing him for match tickets will have trouble recognising him. It all has to do with his dramatic weight loss since moving countries.
When Roodt came to Sydney last year to join the Waratahs, he was a massive 142 kilograms. Intense training and a special diet have trimmed him down to just 120kg.
''I'm quite excited about going back to my home country and getting some game time,'' Roodt said before yesterday's team flight. ''This is the first time back to South Africa for me, and my family probably won't be able to recognise me. I'm certainly a little skinnier than what I used to be.''
Roodt, nicknamed ''Dud'' by his teammates, added that the extra bulk was caused primarily by a season out of football. After being in the Blue Bulls Currie Cup squad in 2007-08, he had a year off to study and worked as a junior draughtsman in Johannesburg. A query from the Waratahs about whether he was interested in playing Super football lured him back to the game, and so he relocated to Sydney.
''Psychologically, that break from football helped me a lot, because I now know what I want and where I want to go,'' Roodt said. ''I'm now 100 per cent ready for football, and I know what I want to do afterwards.''
Waratahs coach Chris Hickey said Roodt would be vying with Kane Douglas and Dave Dennis for a second-row spot, while Ben Mowen was expected to take over the vacant blindside breakaway spot after Dean Mumm was suspended for two weeks for barging into a ruck during the Waratahs' two-point win over the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night. Mumm is a major loss, especially as NSW are about to confront two powerful South African packs.
Despite Roodt's limited amount of match time recently - he has been restricted to several trial appearances - Hickey said the South African was ready for Super rugby.
''I'm sure by going back to his homeland he will want to prove a point about making the move to Australia,'' Hickey said. ''I'm confident he'll perform well. He's worked really hard. His attitude has been fantastic, and he's played well when given the opportunity.''
While relieved that the Waratahs enjoyed a lucky victory against the Reds, Hickey warned the players they could not be complacent in South Africa.
''There were a lot of areas on Saturday night the players and coaching staff weren't happy about,'' he said. ''We're not kidding ourselves that it was a faultless performance against the Reds.
''A glaring area was the kick-offs, and that was really significant in keeping Queensland in the game in the second half.
''We also turned the ball over in contact many times, while our lineout accuracy wasn't as good as it needs to be. Still, our match control in the last 10 minutes was excellent.''
Bolded items:
• Square Roodt? - Ouch, some of the puns for a new bloke make you wince, but best to get them out of the way, I suppose.
• I was expecting to see a taller version of Os du Rant when I watched the Waratahs trial at Viking Park and I didn't recognise him at first. Didn't look very mobile though - let's see.
• I knew that the players called him "Dud" but thought it was an in-house thing.
• I know that I've bagged Daisy Dennis before even though he's a bloody good club player, has a high work rate around the park and can use the ball. But that bagging was in relation to his being talked about as a professional lock: a position where he plays his club rugby. Now it's mentioned again. Chris Hickey - don't think of using the 192cm 104kg Dennis as a lock against the likes of Andries Bekker who is 8ft tall. Think of him as Mowen's backup at 6.
• You can argue until the cows come home about whether or not Mumm should have been suspended, or even given a yellow card, or even penalised. We have all seen worse on most weekends of the S14 and they are not pinged. Consistency is the key and it should be consistent on the side of player safety - but it isn't. I think he deserved all of the above for stupidity - especially at that time of the game when the Tahs had a glimmer of hope.
• Yeah they were lucky to win but folks forget that they were also lucky to win against the Lions last year in the RSA. So - I doubt if they will be complacent, but if they play like they did at SunCorp they will be mentally and physically lethargic, which is even worse.
• Poor restarts - just like the Wallabies. People rabbit on about scrums and lineouts as important set pieces, and they are, but quasi-set pieces such as restarts (both kicking and receiving) and mauls are just as important in my eyes.
• Control at the end of the Reds game? Yeah it was great, and it showed the superiority of the Tahs bench on the night, but let's hope the Tahs don't have to rely on such things to win games against mentally tough teams, because they will lose.
