Trevor Nyakane has opened up on the brutal reality of Test rugby, admitting he was “humbled so bad” during his Springboks debut in 2013.
The double Rugby World Cup winner has been one of the stalwarts of South Africa’s juggernaut forward pack which has been dominating most of their Test matches in recent years.
Apart from being part of the Springboks’ victorious campaigns at back-to-back World Cups, in Japan in 2019 and France in 2023, Nyakane, who is currently sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury, was also in the world champions’ squad when they clinched a 2-1 series triumph over the British & Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021.
Despite all those accolades which he has achieved in the international arena, the 36-year-old has vivid memories of how he was brought down to size when he made his debut against Italy in a mid-year Test in Durban 13 years ago.
Nyakane, who came off the bench as a replacement for Boks legend Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira during the latter stages of the encounter, revealed how his confidence was shattered in the first scrum which he packed down against legendary Azzurri tighthead prop Martin Castrogiovanni.
“I started my first Springbok game against that guy in Italy,” he told the For The Love Of Rugby podcast. “People used to call me Pumba there. Like, you know Timon and Pumba? So I was Pumba. And there was an article written, okay, it’s Gio versus Pumba.
“I’m a young South African. I’m like, ‘You’re a Springbok. You’ve got this. They can’t do anything to you’.
“I get onto the pitch, Adrian Strauss, if you remember him, he was the (Springboks) hooker.ts
“I get my own setup properly. I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to make my name today. This is the time and the moment’. I get a massive hit. I’m in the pound seat.
“I’m feeling like, ‘You know what? There’s nothing you can do. Let’s get this ball in. Let me pick this man up and kill it’.
“As soon as the ball came in, I lifted my one foot (and then) I was sitting on top of my lock after that! That’s how hard he (Castrogiovanni) punished me.”
After that rude awakening, Nyakane heeded the advice which his front-row partner Strauss gave him on how to approach his direct battle at the set-piece with Castrogiovanni.
“Adrian Strauss gets out of the scrum and he looks at me,” said Nyakane. “He goes, ‘Just hit and stay. You’ll be fine. That guy, there’s a reason they say he’s the best in the world. Did you feel it?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah’.
“I was humbled so bad and after that, I just sat (in the scrum) and I had a lovely game after that.
“And I told myself never again will I feel like that and think I’ve got all of this because I was really in a good place. And next thing, as I’m going forward, brother, he just (put me) back there.
“And then I’m like, ‘Okay, respect’.”
