Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk is fully aware of the criticism he is getting from fans back home in South Africa.
But the 28-year-old is taking it all in his stride ahead of Sunday’s World Cup quarterfinal showdown with Wales in Yokohama.
Despite a Man of the Match performance in South Africa’s quarterfinal win over Japan last weekend, fans still took to social media to slam their No.9 for kicking the ball too much.
Faf, though, can see the funny side of it and doesn’t take it personal.
He even has a favourite meme.
PERSONAL: Faf won't take things shared on social media personally.. Picture: Facebook.
De Klerk explains: “Players always say you try and stay away from it [social media] and you do try.
“But it’s impossible not to see most of the stuff that is out there.
“Some things are really funny and I do enjoy some of the stuff.
“Also some guys get a bit personal, but it’s not on you personally. People just love the Springboks and they’re very invested in the team.
“And if they see something going wrong or something they don’t agree with, it’s not because they are negative.
“It’s just because they are invested and we appreciate that as players, we know we’ve got a lot of South African support behind us - negative or positive.
MEME: Faf de Klerk says he takes criticism with a pinch of salt. Picture: Facebook.
“At the end of the day when we win, they will still be happy that we got the job done.
“We know in the camp what works for us and what doesn’t.
“We try and listen to the coaching staff and the players around us. That’s probably the main thing.
“There’s a nice funny picture which says I can spin a ball and kick, so is it a spinnekop?
“That was pretty funny for me to see but if you get caught up in that stuff, you lose focus.”
SPINNEKOP: Faf says the kicking game is part of the plan. Picture: Darren England/EPA.
Of his kicking game, he adds: “We can’t go into depth about it.
“We do kick a lot, we try and read the game and try to get momentum.
“We kicked a lot against Japan. After that we managed to get so much territory with our defence it was a very positive outcome when we kicked.
“They [Japan] rarely managed to do anything with the possession.
“It’s going to be a different challenge this weekend [against Wales]. It’s all about seeing the space and I feel our wings last two years, have been competing well in the air.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/fafdeklerk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fafdeklerktalks about the social media memes doing the rounds in the wake of the quarter-final against Japan. #RWC2019 #RSAvWAL pic.twitter.com/1Ohm917IbW
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag)
“If we can do that again this week, it’s going to be a massive battle in the air.
“It is going to be up to No.9, 10 and 15 to decide which type of kick we’re going to use.
“We don’t always go out with a set plan of me kicking the ball - we do read the game, I listen a lot to what [flyhalf] Handre [Pollard] is telling me.”