Terblanche not fazed by challenge
November 29, 2000
Stefan Terblanche's banishment from Test rugby came to a surprising end on Tuesday when he was named at fullback in the Springbok side to take on England at Twickenham on Saturday. Coach Harry Viljoen made this move after regular No 15 Thinus Delport sustained concussion in the Test against Wales on Sunday. The 25-year-old started out his provincial career for Boland in 1994 at fullback, but after "10 to 15 games there" moved to the wing. The Sharks used him mostly at outside centre this season and Terblanche (pictured) admitted on Tuesday to being a bit taken aback by his sudden shift to the fullback. "Yes, I haven't played there for quite a while, so I was surprised, but pleasantly so," he said after the team announcement. "It went well in our first training session as a team today. Communication is very important between the back three, but Pieter (Rossouw) and Breyton (Paulse) are used to supporting Percy (Montgomery) at the Stormers and Western Province and also Thinus in the Springbok team, so they will know what to do." The wing with the proud record of 15 tries in 21 Tests is not daunted at all by the prospect of facing the English in the No 15 jersey in the Twickenham cauldron. "It helps if you have played wing, because there are a lot of similarities between the two positions. The wings can help you a lot," he said. Terblanche made a stunning impact on his Bok debut against Ireland in June 1998. He tormented the Irish defence and scored a record four tries on debut - three of them coming in a 15-minute period in the second half. Now he's just glad to be back in the Test side again. "For a year I haven't been in the mix, now I get a chance to play again - even if it's at fullback. I regard this as a huge challenge. "This is the third time I will play at Twickenham and I haven't won there yet, so hopefully it will be third time lucky. They are a good side and Jonny Wilkinson's left boot is a threat. "I think they will probably test me with tactical kicks, especially because I haven't played there for quite a while. They will try to catch me out of position, but I'm ready." Terblanche said he has been happy with his form thus far on tour. He is the leading try-scorer with four in three outings. "I had two reasonably good games and I was happy with them, but the one against Ireland A was definitely not a performance I'm proud of. I know have the chance to make amends on Saturday, though." And Viljoen's ball-in-hand approach fits him perfectly, he reckons. "It suits the way I play, because I like to round movements off and I like to be involved." If his return to the Bok jersey is anywhere close to his debut, Springbok supporters will have a lot to cheer about on Saturday. |
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