{"id":12177,"date":"2021-06-15T16:27:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T16:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=12177"},"modified":"2021-06-15T15:36:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:36:41","slug":"can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum","title":{"rendered":"Can Steven Kitshoff do a \u2018Beast\u2019 against Lions scrum?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>CAPE TOWN – When Tendai \u2018Beast\u2019 Mtawarira destroyed Phil Vickery in the scrums in the 2009 first Test between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions, Steven Kitshoff was still at school.<\/p>\n

Now, 12 years later, the Stormers captain is set to don the same Green and Gold No 1 jersey against the Lions on July 24 at Cape Town Stadium.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: No one can argue that Steven Kitshoff is first choice for the Springboks against the Lions<\/p>\n

So, can the 29-year-old emulate Mtawarira when he squares up against the likes of Tadhg Furlong and Kyle Sinckler in the first Test?<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in 2009, I was still in Grade 11 at school, and it was awesome as a kid watching Beast perform like that,\u201d Kitshoff said with a smile yesterday from the Bok camp in Bloemfontein.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely try my best, if I get selected for the Springboks, to represent and uphold that jersey as best as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: \u2019My great grandfather played for the Lions\u2019: Jesse Kriel says tour will be a \u2019personal one<\/p>\n

The ginger-haired front-rower is now one of the best loosehead props in the world, but will have to do his talking on the pitch in the scrums, as he knows exactly how tough an opponent Irishman Furlong can be. He first encountered the tighthead prop at the Junior World Championships in Cape Town in 2012.<\/p>\n

In a massive upset, the Junior Boks lost 23-19 in Stellenbosch, with Furlong leading the Irish scrum to victory in his battle with Kitshoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a very good tighthead, which he has shown over the last couple of years. He has represented Ireland very well, and previously for the British and Irish Lions, he played really well,\u201d Kitshoff said.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Bongi Mbonambi the favourite at hooker for Springboks but is Malcolm Marx a better candidate?<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Tadgh \u2013 I played SA Under-20 against him, and in my Springbok debut, I scrummed against Tadgh. So, I\u2019ve had a couple of games against him. He is a world-class player, but I\u2019m not taking anything away from our tightheads at the Springboks \u2013 it\u2019s world-class players who can rock up any day and outscrum anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Mtawarira\u2019s retirement following the 2019 World Cup, Kitshoff will front the Bok scrum against the Lions, but before that, they will also have to contend with a highly competitive Georgia pack in the first Test on July 2. He doesn\u2019t feel that he will have a different mindset now that he is the firstchoice No 1, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say, playing behind or with Beast for a couple of years was a massive honour and privilege \u2026 to learn from him and to help out where I can. We all know he\u2019s a great legend in the game and in South African rugby,\u201d Kitshoff said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to my mental approach, it\u2019s going to be similar \u2013 doing my job as good as I can for the team and sacrificing myself for the Springboks and the greater good of the team. My preparation will stay similar, and the hard work that goes in preparing for the game will stay consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bok assistant coach Deon Davids said that the \u201cexcitement is growing\u201d after most of the locally-based players from the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions joined the camp in Bloemfontein on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the bulk of the players in this week, you could see the excitement growing. With today\u2019s session, there were some good things we saw,\u201d Davids said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive honour to be here, to be in such a dynamic environment and working with players with so much experienced. That collective approach \u2013 not about the individual, but doing what\u2019s best for the whole team \u2013 is very important.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys have won a World Cup and there are good systems in place, so it\u2019s about building on that and making adjustments where necessary. It\u2019s quite good to sit with the players and having chats about what worked and what didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

@AshfakMohamed<\/b><\/p>\n

IOL Sport<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. CAPE TOWN – When Tendai \u2018Beast\u2019 Mtawarira destroyed Phil Vickery in the scrums in the 2009 first Test between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions, Steven Kitshoff was still at school. Now, 12 years later, the Stormers captain is set to don the same Green and Gold No 1 jersey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-12177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nCan Steven Kitshoff do a \u2018Beast\u2019 against Lions scrum? - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CAPE TOWN - When Tendai \u2018Beast\u2019 Mtawarira destroyed Phil Vickery in the scrums in the 2009 first Test between the Spring ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Steven Kitshoff do a \u2018Beast\u2019 against Lions scrum?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CAPE TOWN - When Tendai \u2018Beast\u2019 Mtawarira destroyed Phil Vickery in the scrums in the 2009 first Test between the Spring ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-15T16:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/06\/img-60c8c8ea5bb76.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Can Steven Kitshoff do a \u2018Beast\u2019 against Lions scrum?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-15T16:27:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\"},\"wordCount\":689,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/06\/img-60c8c8ea5bb76.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/can-steven-kitshoff-do-a-beast-against-lions-scrum\",\"name\":\"Can Steven Kitshoff do a \u2018Beast\u2019 against Lions scrum? 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