ULSTER: STEFAN TERBLANCHE: GERRY THORNLEYon how the South African fullback has embraced Belfast, immersing himself in its culture, history and rugby feel-good environment
HE’S A big hit in Ulster, on and off the pitch. Team-mates and management have been taken by Stefan Terblanche’s pleasant, easy-going manner and, under three months shy of his 37th birthday, his condition and performances. Thus they were only too happy to extend his original three-month contract until the end of the season, and, as a final swan song to his stellar 15-year career, he is only too happy to enjoy the ride.
Terblanche is, indeed, in encore territory.
When the Sharks decided not to renew his contract at the end of last season, he was resigned to retirement. Not a bad thing in itself. He has plans to take over as chief executive officer of the South African Rugby Legends, “basically a massive old boys’ club” for former players and referees.
Whereupon, preparing for the Currie Cup final, former Sharks’ team-mate Johann Muller rang to ask if he might be available as a short-term replacement for the injured Jarrod Payne and was put in touch with David Humprheys.
“He didn’t really have to sell it,” admits Terblanche, who had stayed in touch with Muller and had spent four years at the Ospreys.
He says it’s been more than he expected, with fitness levels and playing standards having improved since he left the Ospreys in 2007.
Not that his arrival went smoothly. His visa came through in three days, but tougher immigration rules obliged him to take an English exam, for which there was a one-month waiting list, and a further three weeks for his results.
Terblanche laughs at the memory of the three-part examine, first an aural test, then writing a fictional story about renovating his house (“it was like being back at school”) and on day two an oral test with a South African teacher. “Luckily he was a rugby supporter so I had a good chance, although he was from Western Province,” he says.
After a while, his wife Jacqui and children Tia (six), Matthew (four) and Cai (eight months) joined him but Tia’s schooling meant they returned home, though Jacqui is rejoining him this weekend in time for the Leinster game tomorrow night and the Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium.
Living on his own, he has consumed himself in Belfast culture. “In South Africa you don’t always get that opportunity to live in the centre of town because it’s quite dangerous and people move out of town. That’s why I love it so much. Where I live now I jump on the bus and in five minutes I’m in the centre of town and go and have a look at the local art exhibition, go to the Titanic museum,” says Terblanche.
“I’m reading a lot about Belfast and the Troubles and Northern Ireland and everything, and it just makes the city so much more interesting when you know a little bit about what’s happened there in the past.”
The rugby itself has been so good that he hasn’t had time to contemplate that this will probably be the last few weeks of his career.
“You have to make the right decisions in life sometimes. I’ve been very fortunate in my career with the decisions I’ve made whether through my own knowledge of the game or pure luck, whatever you want to call it. But making the decision to come to Ulster at this time is wonderful,” he explains.
“There’s just a good feeling about the team and people in Belfast and Northern Ireland and great support for the team. If you saw the amount of support we had down in Limerick at Thomond Park and I believe there’s a lot of Ulster supporters coming to this game next weekend. It’s great to be part of something like that.”
Exuding calm authority at the back much like, say, former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel in his pomp, Terblanche has long since reinvented himself from the winger who scored four tries on his Springboks’ debut against Ireland fully 14 years ago to the classy fullback he is today.
“I can’t really remember it, it is so long ago,” he says of his debut, and instead recalls Denis Hickie giving him his green jersey – the Springboks wore white that day.
“He said ‘congratulations, it is your first cap, here is my jersey, I don’t want yours because I know you will want to keep it’. That was great. Then in the end-of-year tour in ‘98, Girvan Dempsey made his debut and I went to him and said ‘Denis Hickie did it for me so here is my shirt and I don’t want yours’. That was something that stood out for me more than the game itself, the gesture.”
