He is seen as a future Springbok captain, and could have led South Africa to a cricket World Cup as well. And now, as he was preparing to lead the SA under-20s into battle in defence of their Junior World Championship crown, Riley Norton has the world at his feet after being called up to the Bok squad for the Nations Championship.
Few players have such pedigree and expectation surrounding them, but Norton has thus far exceeded expectations and impressed the Springbok coaching team to a degree that they felt it was right to withdraw him from the Junior World Championship for Springbok honours.
Think about that - making the decision to move the captain of the under-20s into senior rugby a few hours before they were due to leave. A coach like Rassie doesn’t make a decision like that unless there is a reason, and it seems Norton has given him more than enough food for thought.
Consider his performance against the Barbarians - sometimes it is hard to remember Norton is just 20, and will still bulk up some more, but the youngster stood firm against “men” as Rassie put it afterwards, and when Franco Mostert got injured, stayed on for a full 80 minute workload.
The SA under-20 captain never took a backward step and if there is anything that impresses a coach, it is a young player who rises to the occasion.
NUMBERS DONT LIE
So Norton’s contribution is even more when it is put into numbers.
He put in the work and more. A full 80 minute performance against a heavy pack full of internationals saw him score a try - bludgeoning his way over from a ruck in the 24th minute. Norton made the very first tackle of the game and made 11 in total, for a 100 per cent success rate.
Add to that eight ball carries, all with intent and 13 metres gained for a tight forward isn’t shabby.
His primary work in the lineouts saw him win four balls, while six passes at an 86 per cent passing accuracy isn’t too shabby either. And on top of that he beat one defender as well.
While these would be decent figures for a seasoned player, they were very good for a youngster, and it gave him the nod over JJ van der Mescht and a few others for the Bok squad.
Eventually Norton is tipped to be more of a hybrid five-seven like Franco Mostert and Pieter-Steph du Toit, and there is no doubt time in the Bok camp is going to do him well.
But while Erasmus was forced to answer Norton’s inclusion ahead of Van der Mescht when they aren’t a like for like comparison, it was clear that the Junior Bok captain is very much part of the Boks’ plans now.
HORSES FOR COURSES
“Yeah, I think if I'm going to go into players' strengths and weaknesses there's another platform to do that,” Erasmus said, “Obviously our interactions with JJ were virtual or contacting the club and monitoring his stats. Obviously Riley is totally different in our system.
“At the end of the day we look at what we need in the team. One is a line-out caller, very athletic over the park. The other one is a bruiser who plays very direct and it depends on what you need for a certain test match.
“We all think JJ is a wonderful player and there's not to say that JJ is not going to play for us in the future but what we feel we need at this stage is probably more what Riley gives us if you look at where we have injuries.
“I know if you look at RG (Snyman) you'll think JJ is an immediate good replacement for that but there's in the team some other guys like Cobus Wiese and many others who can scrum at No 4.
“So we don't want to get somebody in and then we don't utilise him so hopefully in the future. We do need somebody like that and we can press on his number and get him into the squad but it's totally two different types of player and Riley is obviously somebody that knows our systems really well because he came through our structures.”
NOT WINDGAT
Before he was selected Rassie was asked why he came into contention, and the answer was also clear.
“I don’t want to single out a player because he’s standing out more than the others but he’s definitely a guy who’s got maturity about him, coming into the Springbok set-up as a young guy.
“He’s definitely not at all windgat [ show-off], he’s confident, and there’s an aura around him.”
And Riley knows the value of wearing the green and gold. And wants to earn every second of it. As he told SA Rugby’s own official channel earlier this year, he wants the opportunity to earn his place.
"I always had a thing when I was young that I don't wanna wear something until I make it, until I earn it. And that's always been my thing since then, no matter what team I'm going to, that I wanna wait for the first time after I work for it...
"You are never satisfied because you know there's a lot of people only able to wear it once, some twice. There's not many. It's easy to get the first one, it's hard to stay there."
PSDT HIS HERO
And Norton has high goals, citing his hero and now teammate Pieter-Steph du Toit as his inspiration.
“We had a coffee together, which was super special. He was always my hero. Just the presence he has on the field, the work-rate. And he’s a double World Cup winner and World Player of the Year,” Norton told Rugby World mag.
And if he comes anywhere close to Du Toit’s workrate, his talent or his achievements, South Africa can only be better off because of it.