HOOK ME UP

THE Springboks’ Test against Wales on Saturday marks another step in hooker Johan Grobbelaar’s personal resurgence in the green and gold.

After falling out of the Bok setup earlier in the year, he has fought his way back, featuring regularly on the November tour and re-establishing himself in the national conversation following Bulls teammate Jan-Hendrik Wessels’ ban and veteran Bongi Mbonambi’s dip in selection.

Grobbelaar has sat behind World Player of the Year Malcolm Marx over the last few weeks, but is likely to start in the No 2 jersey against Wales.

He also started the Test against Italy in Turin and impressed after being forced to play almost the full 80 minutes following Franco Mostert’s red card. He will again be in the middle of the Bok scrum on Saturday.

Grobbelaar wysed: “It’s been great being in the Springboks mix again. Earlier this year, I was out of it and then coming back in now, getting opportunities to play four games – it’s been great putting on the green jersey again.”

Grobbelaar insists there will be “no lack of motivation” when a reworked Bok span attempt to close out their season with a November tour clean sweep against Wales.

After the bruising win over Ireland, the Boks will go into their tour finale without many first-choice stars, with Saturday’s Test falling outside the international window.

However, Grobbelaar believes the squad’s mindset remains as sharp as ever, regardless of rotation, fatigue or the temptation to view the fixture as a formality.

He added: “There have been a few big games the last couple of weeks, and earlier this year we had big away games that we won, so I think the team’s done really well.

“This is the last one for the year for us against Wales, and I don’t think there will be any lack of motivation from the guys. We’ll handle it with the same intensity as any other Test week.”