Emirates Lions loose forward Ruan Venter is stamping his authority in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in a breakthrough year for the teenager.
Venter grabbed the headlines when, during the Emirates Lions’ win over Edinburgh, he rocked Scotland veteran Hamish Watson with a big tackle, and later bounced the British & Irish Lions flanker to send him sprawling to the turf.
Given his performances over the past few months, it is easy to forget that Venter was only preparing to write his final school exams at this time last year.
A little over a month after finishing school at Paarl Boys High in the Western Cape, he was packing his bags for Johannesburg and was thrown in at the deep end in South Africa’s provincial U20 tournament.
It has since been a case of Venter showing he is more than capable of mixing it with top senior professionals, making his Currie Cup debut in the first-round match against DHL Western Province before playing an extensive role in the latter stages of the Emirates Lions’ Vodacom URC campaign.
This included a magnificent performance against Leinster in Dublin followed by a noteworthy contribution to help the Emirates Lions win four of their final seven matches of the season.
A place in the Junior Springbok squad was just reward and Venter was one of the leading loose forwards at the U20 Six Nations Summer Series.
The 19-year-old, who turns 20 at the end of November, started all but one game as South Africa went unbeaten through the series. Destructive with ball-in-hand, he totalled 241m from 46 carries, at an average of 5.2m per carry.
Venter’s excellent start to his professional career has resulted in a new contract at the Emirates Lions and he has carried his form into the new season, helping the Lions win all three games on tour.
“You can see on the field what his worth is,” Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said. “He is a physically dominant player.
“His repeated efforts are picking up nicely. He has huge potential going forward.
“Ruan is one of those quiet players in the changeroom, but when he gets out there between the four lines, he is something special. I am very happy with where he is currently and very excited about his potential.”
With loose-forward Vincent Tshituka having left The Pride for the Cell C Sharks in the off-season, Venter is just getting warmed up to play a big role for the Emirates Lions this season.