Our hero sits quietly at his locker. His boots laced up and strapped. His knees, taped up with strips of bandage, they are weary from all the battles, but up for one more fight. He sits, shirt-less, and ponders his every move, anticipating what the enemy might bring to his defensive line. His jersey hangs there, like a gold medallion ready to be pulled over his head. There are many like his, but this Jersey is his. He has put in countless hours on the practice fields, Super Rugby Games, Currie Cup appearances, made so many sacrifices both physical and mental to come to this point. He has earned his Jersey and will claim his right to wear it today.

The locker room is quiet… his teammates all going through their own pre-game rituals. The door opens and in walks his leader, his mentor… his coach…

“yes yes boys….” rings out with a small echo and hint of base. Authority has entered and will be respected…

Heyneke : “I was lying in bed last night… and drifted off and had a dream we were beating the Kiwi’s 15 – 10… but I woke up kind of sad… But then I realized it was only a dream cause.. We’ll beat the kiwi’s by way more than that…

I’d like to, I’d like to say something that I’ve prepared tonight… Hello. How ’bout that ride in? I guess that’s why they call it Soccer City. You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when I got this job, knew you guys were one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by 22. So – there were twenty two of us in the wolf pack. I was alone first in the pack, and then you guys joined in later. And six months ago, when Saru introduced me to you guys, I thought, ‘Wait a second, could it be?’ And now I know for sure, I just added twenty two more guys to my wolf pack. twenty two of us wolves, running around the training fields together…

It’s all right. We’re in a fight. You boys are doing all that you can do. Anybody can see that. Win or lose… We gonna walk out of this stadium tonight with our heads held high. Do your best. That’s all anybody can ask for”

Jean : ” No, it’s not Coach. With all due respect, you demanded more of us. You demanded perfection. Now, I’m not saying that I’m perfect, ’cause I’m not. And I’m not gonna ever be. None of us are. But we have battled every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We’re gonna step out on that field that way today. And, uh, if it’s all the same to you, Coach, that’s how we want to leave it. ”

Heyneke : ” When you take that field today, you’ve gotta lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game but if you play like that we cannot be defeated… ”

Heyneke walks slowly to the door, stops, turns to face his men… with the slightest of pauses… he looks down and then up…

“You have bled with PDIVVY!! Now I ask you… Bleed with me !!”