Kriel keeping a level head

Jesse Kriel says it is way too premature to speak of him and Bok legend Danie Gerber in the same sentence.

|||

Eastbourne – The puppy in the Springbok squad, Jesse Kriel would only have seen video clips of the great Springbok centre Danie Gerber but he knows enough about rugby to know that any comparison with the ‘80s legend is a massive honour.

Kriel, shy and seeming a touch overwhelmed by the growing occasion of the Rugby World Cup, says he has heard it said that he can be “the next Danie Gerber”.

“I have heard it and, yes, I know all about Gerber – any South African rugby follower knows what a fine centre he was,” the 21-year-old said yesterday after being picked at 13 for Saturday’s Pool match against Japan.To his credit, Kriel says it is way too premature to speak of him and Gerber in the same sentence.

“I will do everything possible to live up to expectations but right now I have big eyes and am really just trying to learn as much as possible from the senior guys,” he said.

“Being at a World Cup is an incredible experience for me and I am grateful to have the older guys to look up to and to take their advice.”

Kriel, like most of the Boks, has never played against a Japanese team but he has been warned by Fourie du Preez to expect the “chop tackle”, the old fashioned way of tackling around the ankles.

“The thing with that style of tacking is you need another player to come to attack the ball, it is gang tackling, and the down side to it is that it means gaps can open up elsewhere because more than one player is committed to the tackle,” he said. “We will just play our normal way.” - The Star