Van Schalkwyk recalls his part in Springboks’ defeat
IT WAS one of the biggest upsets in international rugby history, and powerful Southern Kings No 8 Dries van Schalkwyk was leading the Italian charge on the day the Azzurri shocked the Springboks last year.
If the World Cup loss to Japan in Brighton was the lowest point in Springbok rugby, then the defeat in Florence last year must rank as close second.
Bloemfontein-born Van Schalkwyk was at the heart of the Italian win and his driving runs and try piled on the agony for the Boks as they crashed to a 20-18 defeat at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
After playing 97 times for Italian team Zebre, Van Schalkwyk is back home in South Africa where he is hoping to help the Southern Kings find their feet in the PRO14.
“That win over South Africa will stay with the Italians for a long time,” Van Schalkwyk said.
“It was also a big moment for me in terms of my performance. I can’t describe how it feels to play against your own country.
“I always wanted to be a Springbok and to have my own Springbok jersey. After the game I was fortunate to swap my Italian jersey with Lood de Jager, so now I have one. But it does not have my name on it.”
Van Schalkwyk said current Springbok assistant coach Brendan Venter had played a big role in plotting the downfall of the South Africans.
Apart from Van Schalkwyk and Venter, the other South African in the Italian side was Quinton Geldenhuys, who started on the bench.
“It was my first November Test series with our coach Conor O’Shea. One of the staff consulting with him was Brendan Venter, before he got involved with the Springboks.
“Brendan really knew the Springbok setup well and the players well because he spent a lot of time in South Africa and he dissected them.
“The Boks could not score one lineout drive and they kicked for the corner all day long. Once again we were able to get in between the lifters and jumpers in the lineout and the maul stops.
“Italy attacked them in the right places and Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies could not get the ball out wide. A guy who was playing well at that stage for the Boks was Damien de Allende. We had two guys on him every time he got the ball and Damien could not go anywhere. In the scrums we stood our man.
“It was a great day for Italian rugby and it was very satisfactory for them to beat the Boks because South Africa is a revered rugby nation.
“After the game I took a picture of Quinton, Brendan and myself. Quinton played 67 Tests for Italy.
“When I got to Italy Quinton took me under his wing and mentored me. That picture of the three of us now has pride of place in my bar.”
Van Scalkwyk was also involved in another famous Italian match when the Azurri came close to beating England in front of 81 000 fans at Twickenham last year.
It was a day when the Azzurri’s ruck tactics baffled England.
England were stumped by the Italian strategy of not competing at the ruck, allowing the Azzurri to swarm on the waiting backs.
O'Shea nicknamed it “The Fox” and revealed that Venter, the defence coach, was the mastermind. It was an entirely legitimate tactic, despite England's protestations. England eventually won 36-15. “Italy had England down 17-15 with 13 minutes to play, and it could have gone either way if our guys had been sharper. It was a very interesting day on the rugby field.”
Van Schalkwyk did not travel to Scotland for the Kings’ match against Glasgow last night because of personal reasons but he will be back in contention for next Saturday’s game against Ulster at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele.