SOUTH AFRICA’S LOSS is proving to be Ireland’s gain as Wilhelm de Klerk looks to continue his blossoming centre partnership with Hugh Gavin in the U20 Six Nations Championship.
At Stade Maurice David in Aix-en-Provence last Saturday night, both de Klerk and Gavin lasted the full 80 minutes as Richie Murphy’s Ireland U20s began the latest bid for an underage spring success with a hard-earned 37-31 victory over France.
The pair will link up once again in midfield tomorrow evening as Italy arrive in Virgin Media Park for the second round of this year’s tournament.
Whereas Gavin was born and raised in Galway, de Klerk spent the first 10 years of his life in South Africa. However, he moved with his family when his father’s job brought him over to this part of the world and it was then that his journey towards the Ireland U20s began in earnest.
“We were originally just going to stay here for two years. We ended up really liking Ireland and we’ve just been here ever since,” de Klerk explained in a video call to the Irish media yesterday.
“As a rugby career, I started in Malahide for a year or two and then played in Clontarf for a few years. Going into school, I was first in St Andrew’s College and then in fourth year I got an opportunity to move to St Michael’s.
“I think that is where I learned most of my rugby and really progressed as a player. Played senior cup in fifth and sixth year. Leaving school, I’m now in UCD playing under the same head coach, Emmet MacMahon. I think that helped me get into the team a little bit.”
While Gavin was a virtual ever-present (albeit he was deployed on the wing) throughout last year’s Six Nations campaign, de Klerk is one of the newcomers to this grade in 2024. Even though he featured against several of the French squad with the Ireland U19s last year, he admitted that last weekend’s aforementioned Championship opener was a daunting affair.
Yet with someone of Gavin’s experience at inside centre, he managed to play a significant part in an important triumph.
“It was probably the biggest game I was involved in. Having those games last year in France at U19 helped me. That was my first taste of what a big crowd in France can be, hostile.
“AIL [with UCD] has been a massive step for us, it has helped us come up against bigger guys and find a way to deal with that.
“It was one of the toughest games I have been a part of and with the crowd, if you make a mistake you will definitely hear it. It was kind of tough.
“I think he [Gavin] showed how good he is as a 12 at the weekend. Absolutely incredible performance from him, really stepped up as a leader. Honestly, I think we have figured out the partnership and I think it is working really well. His experience from last year has helped me so much. He has taught me a lot about the shape [of the attack].”
Despite the fact that there are only a handful of survivors from last year’s squad (and none from the class of 2022), there has naturally been some talk from the outside about the current crop of hopefuls claiming a third consecutive U20 Six Nations Grand Slam for Ireland.
Given France finished second in the previous two Championships at this grade, last weekend’s win at Stade Maurice David will have Irish supporters believing that another clean sweep of honours could be on the cards for 2024.
Yet while the successes of recent years could potentially add pressure onto the shoulders of de Klerk and his international colleagues, he prefers to look at it from a different perspective.
“I don’t think it’s a good way to look at it where it puts pressure on you. How I have handled it is that it’s our shot. It’s our year to do it.
“You might lose a game, but the best way to handle it is to just come back stronger,” de Klerk added.
“You never know, a team might just have a really good game and that could be it. I think taking inspiration from the last few years is a good way to look at it as well.”