Team goals always come first with Boks — Wiese

Team goals always come first in the Springbok camp and everything else follows a distant second, loose forward Jasper Wiese says.

Wiese’s powerful display when the Boks beat Argentina in Gqeberha on Saturday earned him the man of the match award at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

With first choice Duane Vermeulen sidelined by an ankle injury, Wiese acknowledges he has big boots to fill.

“The first thing for me is that you have to put the team first and then, as an individual, to know your role and to do everything to the best of your ability for the team,” Wiese said.

“At the Springboks you are playing for something much bigger than yourself.

“It’s been amazing for me to experience how unbelievable the guys are; how positive they are around one another and how we get each other ready for big days.

“I’ve learnt to put myself behind the team and to give everything for them.

“Even though I got the man-of-the-match performance, it was a team effort and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve that without the guys next to me.

“No-one can replace Duane.

“He has a presence about him, and ever since he joined the camp he has been actively talking to the guys and guiding everyone at training.

“It is big boots to fill, and I don’t know if I will, and I know that he will be massive when he comes back.

“So, I don’t think anyone can fill his boots, I can only try my best.”

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber said Wiese was living up to the high expectations everyone had for him.

“Jasper has played four Tests now and I’d say it’s easier in the beginning,” he said.

“People don’t know him that well and he could almost fly under the radar.

“But when they start taking notice of him and start analysing and profiling him, things will get a little bit tougher.

“And he is probably there now, where people will take notice of him.

“Jasper had a good performance against Argentina on the weekend.

“He is still in the early bit of his international career, and there’s still a long way and a lot of years to go to build up Test caps and gain experience.

“But he is exactly where he should be.

“He is doing for us what he delivered when we started doing performance reports on him when he was playing for Leicester.

“And that’s why we selected him — to deliver what he delivered over there.

“Jasper is a student of the game — he’s a like a sponge, absorbing everything that gets thrown his way.

“He is not an egoistic guy that doesn’t want to learn from other people.

“He learns and that’s the beauty of our current squad.

“We have Duane Vermeulen here in the squad and he can pour his 50-odd Test match experience into Jasper.

“Jasper doesn’t have to play 20 Test matches to get the knowledge, because he is getting it from Duane, so hats off to Duane for being open and willing to share.

“That’s pretty much where the squad is currently — they are willing to share their knowledge with the younger, less experienced players as they come through.”

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