There are a few things you notice the first time you meet Daan Human.
The Bok scrum coach is the no-nonsense sort of guy - the type that lets you know straight away he is serious.
No 1 is the handshake. An iron grip and a look in the eye. This is non-negotiable. Human’s steely grip and demeanor ensures that you know he is focusing solely on you and you alone.
Secondly - and especially in the Bok camp - there is the trademark bucket hat. While many others have donned them before, and a number in the Bok camp are favourable to the bucket hat, Human never seems to leave without it. It is his trademark - and like his rugby coaching - is understated, unique and a bit quirky at times.
It may have worried some that when he took over the scrum coaching duties from Matt Proudfoot, who left the Boks after the last World Cup that there may have been a dip in form, and a new approach to scrumming in the World Champions’ outlook.
But far from that, Human has built on the success of the previous work and has ensured the Boks stay a force to be contended with - and stay the most feared pack in World Rugby at the moment at the setpiece.
HUMAN TOUCH
But it hasn’t been a “magical touch” or some kind of sorcery from Human. He is just an old fashioned prop who loves the scrum and knows that it takes loads of hard work to get it to where you need it.
After 20-odd caps for the Stormers and almost 170 for Toulouse in France as a player - where he won the Champions’ Cup twice as a player - Human turned his passion to coaching. And after some impressive early form became the Cheetahs Currie Cup coach before heading to the Bulls as their scrum coach.
It was here where he managed to transform Trevor Nyakane into a world class tighthead.
Nyakane’s smile when talking about Human widens and he praises his influence so much in the way he developed as a prop, but when it comes to the “Human touch” the scrum coach has an interesting way of describing things.
PACKING THE LUNCH BOX
His favourite saying - and one he has employed multiple times since arriving in Pretoria - is a metaphor about the lunchbox.
While it might sound strange - in Human-talk it makes a lot of sense.
“It’s all about packing your lunch box for work,” Human would tell us on the sidelines at Loftus Versfeld.
“It’s simple. When you pack your lunchbox in a way that you know what you’re going to eat at lunch, you look forward to it. It brightens up your day and you know at lunch you will have something good to eat,” he smiles.
“That’s all I did with Trevor. I sat with him and made him realise he has to pack his lunchbox right. And now that he has, he can look forward to opening it when on the field.”
In so many ways that is the philosophy of the Bok pack. Do the hard work beforehand, do the preparation right so that it is something to relish when the pack goes down in a game to scrum.
Human’s philosophy has paid dividends, and every team at the Rugby World Cup knows it.
BELIEF
“You just need to make a guy believe in themselves, and if you know someone is behind you, you will give your best,” he reminds us.
And the players believe it too. It isn’t difficult to hear them talk about passion for the setpiece when you mention his name.
“Coach Daan is just really passionate about scrums," said tighthead prop Frans Malherbe.
"I liked it when a coach is like that, a guy that wants to get everyone involved. He just makes us all excited about scrumming again. I've learned a lot from him."
There was a moment in the opening World Cup match where the Boks lost two scrums to Scotland and were in danger of letting the momentum shift. But after halftime they emerged with a vengence and took total control of the setpiece.
It wasn’t surprising to hear Human play down his influence or try and shift the focus. There may have been some hard words that fell, but he wasn’t about to tell them when he was asked what he said at halftime.
HARD WORDS
“That is quite a personal question. Obviously we lost that scrum just before halftime. It was the right thing happening at the right time in the game.Just after halftime the momentum swung towards us,” he said.
“We never want to give away a penalty and that halftime talk in the dressing room was very important. I can’t repeat what I said in there.
“We all know what we are capable of doing, but we must work at it.We should not think it will just happen by itself. The moment we start thinking like that, it will be time for me to move on.”
Human will guide the Boks through the rest of the World Cup and will continue to get them to pack their lunchboxes in the right way. And he knows where his heart is. Asked what would be better - winning a crucial scrum penalty on the Bok tryline or a pushover try, it was an easy question for him to answer this week.
“One hundred per cent a pushover try. I’m not going to say what it really does to me, but anyway. For a scrum coach that’s the thing you dream about.
“For the team as well, because they deserve it, especially the way the guys are working and grafting week in and week out. They never complain, they never say ‘no, not one more’, because they know it’s working. It’s been working for us in the past and I’m sure it will work for us going forward.
“It’s awesome the way the guys train. They can handle it. They’re built for this - this is what we do.”
And doing it the right way. Packing that lunchbox right so that you can look forward to scrumming is what it is all about.
And the Bok scrum is testament to this approach.