The role of the loosehead prop from initially only having to be a solid scrummager and sturdy lineout lifter has evolved dramatically over the years. The modern day No.1 now needs to be able to run with the ball, make pop passes, score tries and even take the odd gap!
Os du Randt for many years was the rock in the Springbok tight five. He was a great scrummager, fantastic lineout support and carried the ball up strongly. Although Os had age against him near the end of his career, he still maintained good fitness and got around the park to hit rucks with good effect.
When Os retired many looked to a young Gurthro Steenkamp as the perfect replacement. Young Gurthro was big, scrummed well and was handy with ball in hand too. Unfortunately, a series of injuries and lack of form saw him fall out of the Bok fold while Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira took the opportunity with both hands.
One man’s loss is another one’s gain and when the South African government decided to turn the tables and not allow the Beast to be selected for the Springboks on grounds that he was not a South African National, the door opened once again for Steenkamp.
After a stellar Super 14 for the Bulls, the massive front ranker had some people wondering if he could transfer those same performances onto the Test arena. He did. Steenkamp is by far this season’s Springbok player of the year. This year he proved to the world that he is an outstanding scrummager, defends extremely well for a man his size and runs like a buffalo with ball in hand.
This season saw Steenkamp establish himself as a World Class loosehead. With the Beast also a top class No.1, one sometimes wishes that one of them was a tighthead.
The maturity shown by Steenkamp this season is one shining light in all the gloom produced by the Springbok performances this year.
Keep up the good work Gurthro!
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