In some countries, rising in rugby is more difficult than elsewhere. Then you have to create a second chance.
Juan Grobler
The Piloni Company tells you the story of Juan Grobler, a South African who immigrated to the United States when rugby could not secure a future in his country. He will be the only player to make an attempt at the 1999 Wallabies.
Have you ever believed in a second chance? Have you ever felt that you came close to your personal goal and stopped there, the people behind you in the rankings came and overtook you?
It happened to me. My name is Juan Grobler, I was born in South Africa in 1973 and at one point I played in the famous Craven Week. If you do not know what it is, Craven Week is a kind of youth club rugby championship. Many champions you like or see in the stadium or in front of the screen have passed that way. Called me from the Eastern Province, I was strong and well developed. A good South African center of tradition. Good tackler, good positioning, great influence, they said.
I was there, right next to the diving board, but I was not drowning. Because soon, they said, my maturity was already over. There is little room for improvement. I was destined to be one of many, yes, of course, one of those who can try in the lower classes, but a few more. A bench for some important club, in some large groups if you really like that ury. But there is nothing more to it.
Not in South Africa, at least not in a country where my characteristic centers are born like mushrooms. I went to America in 1994 on the advice of one of my old coaches. Not just rugby, but more than anything else, because it is still very difficult to conceive a professional rugby player in the country of apple pie. I start playing with the Denver Barbarians, and then I move on to another team, the Aspen Gentlemen, from Colorado. He made his debut with the American national team in 1996.
The team is very diverse and has a lot of natural people (Dolce and I are South Africans and coach Viljoin) and a lot of young people. Physically we should not be jealous of anyone, here sports are taken very seriously, and schools exploit finished sports every year, but the scrambles and touches are not only established by muscle, it requires time, history, tradition and patience. One day we can make it, and now we can.
We qualified for the 1999 World Cup and finished in groups with Australia, Ireland and Romania. We aim to win against the second, and the team that comes closest to our level. Irish, right from the start, it ends at 53 to 8 for us to realize that the road is still long, with Dolcele scores as placer for us. The “arms race”, that is, the search for some level player with some ties to the country, has included him in the midfield, with David New, an Australian player who also played in the league and the first World Cup in Oval history a step away from playing in 1987. David arrived in the United States after meeting his current wife at a Hawaiian airport. He’s a complete player, he gives us progress, and some of his plays allow us to be even more dangerous. However, our strongest player is second line Luke Gross. Big, tireless, he will have a good career in Europe. We kept our distance against the Romanians and lost by two points, Dalsl failed to equalize. Twenty-seven to twenty-five, we went up to twelve points.
We are left with one of our favorite teams, Australia, for the final victory. They have not conceded any effort to the Romanians or the Irish, but they leave many of their champions to rest against us. Remember, we have no chance to stay in the game, but none of us have already failed. We include everything in it: soul, muscles, heart. By the end of the first half we were 17 to 3 down, which was not even a bad score and we were getting a touch of their 22nd line. Dalsall and Niue take us forward, and we win two collisions. Australians resist, struggle, but resist. A year ago they hired former rugby league player Joe Nuggilton and taught Wallabies to defend like no other code. He was one of the first people in the world to take this step, and his people reap all the benefits of the world.
Only Dolce is faster than them this time. Ball to New, pick me up, then me. Our midfielder’s time was blocked by Stanyforth’s legs, the winger on his debut, and I ran into the break. I run and follow the first and most useful rule of rugby: If you do not know the speed of your opponent, run on the flag. Staniford approaches, but never catches me, I smash the target.
Have you ever believed in a second chance? Have you ever felt that you came close to your personal goal and stopped there, the people behind you in the rankings came and overtook you?
It happened to me. My name is Juan Grobler, and that day I crossed the Wallabies goal line. I still didn’t know, but from there to the finals no one else could do it. Welsh, for example, could not do that. Neither are the South Africans of Johnny de Beer, the author of Five Drops Against the English. In the semifinals, a monster like the real New Zealand cryptonite, the Frenchman, Jonah Lomu, came out. He didn’t even win in the final, a match that could not be digested by the muscles of Magan and his teammates, with Burke’s foot and suffocating wall.
At that point I was able to go further. To forget the years I stopped when others were recovering, the years I was pursuing a dream in a country other than mine, in which one of the few things I knew how to do well was actually done in four cats. And to carry forward a ball that has existed in history. It doesn’t matter if it only counts for statistics, if the American Eagles are still far from world class, I went to pick up my train from several stations.
No one in the world will go during those months.
Not bad for a second chance, do you think?
Christian Loviceto – Anonymous Piloni
Video of Juan Grobler scoring against Australia at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the only video allowed by Wallabies throughout the event.
All previous episodes of Anonymous Piloni can be seen here.
You always want to be updated on our news Facebook page OnRugby and / or subscribe Our Telegram Channel. Click to learn, review or test the rules of the rugby game who.
onrugby.it © Reserve Reconstruction
Travel fan. Freelance analyst. Proud problem solver. Infuriatingly humble zombie junkie.
