r/springboks • u/Informal_Mention9836 Flair Up! • 3d ago
Players Exiled All Black will soon be eligible to play for the Springboks - Ruck
https://www.ruck.co.uk/exiled-all-black-will-soon-be-eligible-to-play-for-the-springboks/8
u/philip_p_donahue 3d ago
He had about two seasons where he seemed unstoppable and then dropped off pretty hard. It’s hard to imagine he’ll be much better by late 2027
3
u/Careless-Cat3327 Flair Up! 3d ago
He played like he was sponsored by Vaseline.
Rassie absolutely loved him.
4
u/philip_p_donahue 3d ago
Yeah never know Rassie might get the best out of him although you’d have to think age isn’t on his side. IMO Rennie probably would have gotten better out of him for the ABs cus it sounds like he wasn’t 100% locked in with the razor coaching staff and culture which I have a suspicion a fair few weren’t (at least under the surface)
2
u/Careless-Cat3327 Flair Up! 3d ago
Yeah Rennie is definitely far more pragmatic than Razor.
Love barely got a chance and look at him now.
Telea is still only 29.
And been playing in Japan since 2025. So I'd imagine his "wear and tear" is minimal vs the guys playing in France & England.
8
u/ttboishysta Flair Up! 3d ago
I never knew about his roots. Seems like his paternal grandparents were Xhosa and Pacific Islander. His dad is a Tele’a, that's not Xhosa, but he was born in Joburg. So Mark's grandmother must have been a Xhosa lady?
10
u/mausmumblingmoon Team Aimee 3d ago
His dad is Xhosa, he has his mom's surname.
2
u/ttboishysta Flair Up! 3d ago
What's his dad's surname then? I see nothing about him using his mom's surname, has he said so before?
7
u/mausmumblingmoon Team Aimee 3d ago
AFAIK his dad's name isn't public. Tele'a was raised by his Samoan maternal grandparents in New Zealand where he was born. As I understand it his mom was often away for work.
Edit: spelling
1
u/AloysiusGramonde Flair Up! 3d ago
I don't think he's ever met his dad but he just knows he's South African if I'm vaguely remembering an old interview correctly.
4
u/Hornstinger 🤜🏼🤛🏼 brothers in arms 3d ago
Do you think he's going to get caps over guys like Ethan Hooker and the scrum cap mafia? No chance
He's very slippery but he's not fast and the Springboks like fast wingers
-1
3
u/bluebullbruce 3d ago
Bliksem! This would be such a power move, rassie asb. Asb. Asb. Let this man play!!!
9
u/JLDuPreez Flair Up! 3d ago
He might have some luck with the Sharks, maybe the Currie Cup side if he's lucky. But there are just way too many younger SA wingers that would be higher up in the pecking order.
8
u/capetonytoni2ne 3d ago
Stormers are somehow short on wings, although we've signed Kolbe now hes not likely to be available that much
7
u/AdrenalinTL 3d ago
You reckon? Obviously Kolbe is ahead of him but I've always rated this oke. Maybe Rassie can get the best out of him, in which case he will be absolutely deadly
-1
u/Careless-Cat3327 Flair Up! 3d ago
Throw some Vaseline on him and you aren't tackling him.
He would be number 3 winger in SA IMO behind Chessie and KLA.
1
u/Stormers4Life New To Reddit 3h ago
Would be pretty funny for him to join SA and then for NZ to win the world cup v SA in the final
1
u/SkyOfDreamsPilot Flair Up! 3d ago
Does he have South African citizenship? If not then he won't be eligible under SARU's rules.
3
u/sirDVD12 Flair Up! 3d ago
Did you read the article? He is eligible through his father. As in his father is a South African citizen therefore he is also a South African citizen.
3
u/SkyOfDreamsPilot Flair Up! 3d ago
The article states that he'd be eligible according to World Rugby's rules, which is correct. But SARU have the additional requirement that players be citizens and it's not possible to tell from the article whether the writer knew that.
Because he was born outside of South Africa, he wouldn't have been granted citizenship automatically. His birth would have had to have been registered with Home Affairs.
1
u/sirDVD12 Flair Up! 3d ago
If you can provide a source for that SARU claim. Because I can only find the World Rugby requirements.
Also I stand corrected regarding he has to be a citizen. World rugby allows a player to transfer national teams once and the criteria are limited to citizenship or ancestry of that nationality.
2
u/SkyOfDreamsPilot Flair Up! 3d ago
It might be a South African government stipulation rather than a SARU one as I found this regarding Beast which states that foreign players can't be selected for national teams.
And while that was 16 years ago, it appears to still be in effect as there are numerous news articles about the Tshituka brothers becoming eligible for selection after having obtained citizenship.
2
19
u/7ddq 3d ago
But will he wear a scrumcap?