When Hacjivah Dayimani stepped out of the plane on Wednesday morning that took him and his DHL Stormers teammates to Paris ahead of Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 clash with Toulon, he was stepping back onto familiar territory. He spent more than a season and a half with Racing 92 before returning to the Cape two months ago.
He will also be stepping back onto the soil of a country where he spent the last months of his stint there playing on the wing. Not that wing is a completely new position for Dayimani, who played there years ago at the Lions under the coaching of Swys de Bruyn. In many senses, the 27-year-old was this country’s first hybrid player, and not Andre Esterhuizen, who was the first to do it for the Springboks.
But while Esterhuizen plays most of his rugby at his initial position of centre, and he only moonlights as a flanker at international level when he is needed, Dayimani sensed that at Racing, he was starting to be seen primarily as a winger. Which wasn’t really what he’d signed up for when former England coach Stuart Lancaster recruited him.
'GUY WHO HIRED ME GOT FIRED'
Dayimani told journalists at the time that he was hoping that under Lancaster he would develop the aspects of forward play that perhaps he’d neglected before, but Lancaster didn’t last long in Paris, and his departure played a role in hastening Dayimani’s own premature exit from Racing 92 a little over a year later.
“Okay, so the first factor that saw me come home to Cape Town and leave France was that the guy who signed me to play in France got fired,” said Dayimani, who was a key figure in the Stormers’ title-winning season in the first year of the Vodacom URC.
“I was then injured and out for seven months with an Achilles problem. When I came back to playing, I played two or three months on the wing, and then it became clear that the coach wanted me to stay there for the rest of the season. By that stage, I was playing 80 per cent at wing and 20 per cent at flank.
“The family wanted to come home to South Africa, and with me not getting as much game time as I was supposed to as a loose-forward, and because of the injuries, and with the Stormers also battling with injuries, I spoke to the coach. Initially, he wasn’t keen to let me go, but then after a week or two, he relented. He made it clear he just didn’t want me to go to another Top 14 team.”
HAPPY TO PLAY WING IF REQUIRED
Dayimani made it clear that he wasn’t saying he didn’t want to play wing, it was just that he still sees himself as a loose-forward with hybrid potential, and he will play wing for the Stormers if coach John Dobson decides he needs him there.
“So obviously when I started out in South Africa, back in the Swys days at the Lions, I was moved occasionally to centre and to wing. I can remember playing a Currie Cup game at centre, and coming on in a Super Rugby game as a wing in the second half. But before I went to France, that was the extent of it, and it used to be more a conversation than a reality.
“Then, when I went to France, my coaches, among them Frederic Michalak, decided it would be a complete waste if I did not double as a wing. So I spent a few months training at wing, specifically at wing, working on kicking and fielding kicks. And that helped me because coming back now, I feel I have significantly added to my arsenal. If I am needed on the wing, I definitely wouldn’t be uncomfortable there.”
NOT MAKING THE BOKS WASN’T WHAT SENT HIM TO FRANCE
With Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus a pioneer at international level when it comes to the hybrid concept, Dayimani’s past experience of playing at wing and the time he has spent training with the backs should make him more of a contender for a place in the national squad. His failure to break through into the Bok setup was assumed to be why he left for France, but Dayimani corrects that perception.
“To be clear, when I left it wasn’t because I wasn’t making the Bok team,” said Dayimani.
“Even in my first few seasons when I was seen as one of the form flankers, I knew I wasn’t the best. Yes, I knew when I was in form and playing well, but I didn’t see myself as the best. If you had to choose between me and some other guys, they had attributes I didn’t have.
“I was very real about that. The media played it (the Bok issue) because I was winning Man of the Match awards, but that was their narrative and not mine. I just got to a point where I felt I had reached a ceiling (here), there were places where my game could change and improve. There were tighter edges (to a loose-forward’s game) that I needed to work on.
“I saw France as a good place to go and work on those aspects of my play and improve myself, and I had an agreement with Dobbo (Stormers director of rugby John Dobson) that I could always come back if I wanted to or needed to. Dobbo said that Cape Town was my home.
“Now I am more of a realist. I would say I am more relaxed, and I know what my job is and what I am capable of. I am just willing to do whatever it will take for me to add to the team in general. If it (a Bok callup) happens it happens, but I just want to do whatever I can for the Stormers and make the people where I come from proud.”
MORE OF A LEADERSHIP ROLE NOW
He is revelling in being back and has already made a big contribution to the Stormers’ turnaround from a three-game sequence of defeats that at one stage looked like it could derail the team’s strong challenge for a home knock-out game in the URC, with the standout moment being the try he scored against the Bulls running onto a Damian Willemse kick that showed off his pace.
“It is good to be back,” said Dayimani before the team departed for France and Sunday’s clash with Toulon.
“It seems the more things change the more they stay the same, but roles have changed for me. I want to be there more for the team and to serve more. It is good to be back home and I am excited to be back at the Stormers, and I am in more of a leadership role than I was before. Two years ago, before I left, Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) was one of the youngsters; now he is a leader in the team.
“Zach (Zachary Porthen) was still at school. They were very young then, but they too are now in more of a leadership role. For me, it is about trying to get into a space where I can help them. I am taking on more of a leadership responsibility, and it is something very different and very fresh.”
After his time spent in France, Dayimani’s familiarity with the opponents and venue in Saturday’s game should prove useful to the coaches and team as they plot a path to a Champions Cup quarterfinal.
“I’ve got a couple of mates at Toulon who were with me at Racing and obviously I know them well. I also played a good few games against them so know what to expect and how they play. It is always a big challenge playing in Toulon, with the stadium there and the atmosphere that is generated in it. But I am looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to playing in France again.”