Stormers scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies is not the biggest player on a rugby field, but when it comes to heart, he is a giant of the game.
Standing only 1.67 in his socks, the 23-year-old says he makes a point of putting in a big hit at the start of the match, so his opponents know not to target him for the rest of the encounter.
Jantjies has proven his big heart throughout the season for the Stormers, whether it’s on defence or attack.
HUGE TEST: NZ ace Aaron Smith. Photo: Supplied.
And he believes that if they continue to show the character they showed in last weekend’s Super Rugby draw against the Crusaders, the Highlanders will be in for a tough afternoon when the two teams clash at Newlands on Saturday.
Jantjies says of his attitude on defence: “I don’t want to be seen as the small guy, because I’m always the smallest guy on the field.
“I don’t want to be targeted, because then it’s going to become a long 80 minutes for me on the rugby field.
“That’s why I like to make myself known in the beginning of the match - my first tackle.
“If I can stop a big guy, he’s not going to come at me the whole day.”
Of the heart in the team, he adds: “We never, as a team, lacked heart.
“We have big guys like Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
“It’s one thing I feel I will never not bring to the team - somewhere I have to be big and I feel if I have heart on the field, nothing can stop me.”
BRUTE: Stormer Eben Etzebeth. Photo: Backpagepix.
Having spent time with coach Rassie Erasmus' recent national team camps, there is talk of Jantjies bursting on to the international scene with the World Cup coming up in Japan later this year.
He is not focused on that, though, and says he is only trying to improve his own game.
Against the Highlanders he will be up against the best scrumhalf in New Zealand in Aaron Smith.
A good performance in that encounter will see his stock rise even higher.
But Jantjies says: “I still have a long to go to get to where Aaron Smith and Faf [de Klerk] and those guys are [on attack].
“But if I am willing to learn. What I want to achieve, I will achieve with more game time.”