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Cobus Wiese finally made his long awaited Springbok debut, after first making the national team squad back in 2018.
Springbok utility forward Cobus Wiese tries to bust through the Italian defence during their match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha over the past weekend. Picture: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
It has been a long and difficult road, but new Springbok utility forward Cobus Wiese finally managed to make his debut for the national team, when he came on in the second half of the second Test against Italy in Gqeberha over the past weekend.
It was a debut seven years in the making, after he was originally called into a wider Springbok squad back in 2018, only to suffer a serious neck injury that scuppered his early Bok aspirations.
At that time Wiese was a 21-year-old at the Stormers, and he has since suffered a few more big injuries that have stunted his career, which included a four year stint with Sale Sharks in England, and a fantastic past season with the Bulls that earned him another call-up into the Bok mix.
“I don’t want to say it makes it more special, because obviously it’s a massive privilege. But to have that many operations and long term injuries, the biggest one was in the (Bok) squad in 2018, when I broke my neck. And to now, seven years later, be getting that cap, it’s amazing,” said Wiese.
“It was worth the wait. It’s that old cliché of don’t give up and keep on going, and it’s true. It would have been a massive honour (to make my debut) back then, and even now it’s an incredible honour.
“But the hard work starts now, to kind of stay here and solidify my place. I have always said I want one Test, and after that I want one more. So I think I will stick to that principle. Every week I will work hard, like it’s my first one (appearance), just to get one more.”
Bok brothers
During the Boks’ entertaining win over Italy, Wiese was supposed to play alongside his older brother Jasper for the first time in their professional careers, but was unable to after the older Wiese received a red card in the first half for a headbutt on an opposition player.
Although they will now have to wait to feature together for the first time, they still added their names to a historic list of brothers who have represented the Springboks over the years, and Wiese admitted that he would support Jasper after his transgression, but would soon be giving him stick for it.
“I don’t think you can really put it into words (how special it is). We are the 37th pair of brothers in the history of Springbok rugby. So it’s an overwhelming sense of pride. When your brother is on the field or in the same team as you, it’s easy to get yourself up for it,” explained Wiese.
“Jasper started and went and cancelled himself for 60 minutes. If he had stayed on the pitch we probably would have played together for four or five minutes (before he would have been replaced).
“So I will probably support him tonight (Saturday). Tell him to keep his head up and try bring some positivity into his mind. But then from Monday onwards he’s going to hear about it.”
