Seabelo Senatla admits that he is in the middle of a tug of war over his services.
On one side you have the South African Sevens camp pulling hard to get back their leading try-scorer ahead of next year’s Olympic Games and on the other side you have the Stormers.
Senatla decided to focus solely on the XVs code last year, but has not had as much game time as he possibly would have wanted.
With regular starting wing Sergeal Petersen injured, Senatla has been given some more game time in recent weeks and proved how dangerous he can be on attack in their 34-22 win over the Highlanders last weekend.
Still, the transition from Sevens to XVs has not been an easy one for the 26-year-old.
And Senatla admits there are still areas that need attention, although he is improving all the time.
He says: “My focus on the smaller stuff is paying off.
“We did well under the high ball and on defence.
“The biggest thing for me now; I can attack, but I had to patch up on defence a bit.”
MENTOR: Wing king Bryan Habana. Photo: Andrew Boyers/Reuters.
Of his game time at the Stormers, Senatla says: “I have been fighting for game time for quite a while. But I’m glad he [coach Robbie Fleck] communicated to me that sort of thing [that it’s not just about making the switching and getting into the team] early.
“I got five minutes here, 10 minutes there... but then I leaned back on his word and realised I just have to keep on staying faithful in my work.
“Sergeal [Petersen] was also very good for us - I just had to make sure that I was okay when my chance came.”
In a perfect world, Senatla would help the Sevens guys win gold at the Olympic Games and then return to the Stormers camp.
He says of the possible switch: “Nothing is finalised.
“There is huge interest from the Sevens guys as well, and they’re also keen to keep me here also.
“Playing the two actually works for me. It really does help me.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Here is your DHL Stormers team that will take on the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg. Kick-off at 17h15 on Saturday. #iamastormer pic.twitter.com/HkZe8ipAQZ
— DHL STORMERS (@THESTORMERS) May 30, 2019
For now his focus is on playing against he Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday where he will be up against Springbok wingers Courtnall Skosan and Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Senatla is excited at the prospect and says South African rugby is enjoying a fruitful season out wide after the days of Bryan Habana.
He says : “At one point it was kind of like a problem... you guys [the media] were trying to make Habana play for like 100 years.
BOK TALENT: Lions' Aphiwe Dyantyi. Photo: Backpagepix.
“It’s understandable because he’s such a legend I think for us he’s a huge mentor in the position.
“But I reckon the talent right now everybody is just upping their game and it forces all of us to lift our game.
“It’s good that we have that type of talent in the country, it’s amazing for the guys to measure themselves against each other.
“You want to play against the best in the country and there’s nothing better than playing the Lions at Ellis Park.”