Irnè Herbst, ex Bulls born near Pretoria, is in high spirits: “Where I come from everyone is still talking about our victory”
/ TREVISO
Nothing to do: the days go by but the long wave of enthusiasm caused by the Rainbow Cup won by an Italian team does not diminish. Above all, international circles still seem incredulous, as they never would have expected to see Benetton Rugby entered in the golden register of the competition as the first name. Yet it is so. Treviso pioneer of the Italian oval ball. And the positive repercussions at every level, commercial, image, technical, are yet to come. The credit will hopefully be collected in the next URC. In the meantime, our heroes have scattered: 18 will be in the national team until tomorrow, others have already left or are about to do so for their respective holiday or residential destinations, still others have remained in Treviso. Among these Irnè Herbst, “el barbon”, mighty South African second line, also a great protagonist of the season and above all, with Corny Els and Marius Goosen, a former Bulls player who also made himself heard on Saturday with his usual work on the pitch full of energy and vigor. We are talking about an authentic master in the static phases. «I played with the Bulls for six years – remembers Herbst, who has been in Treviso since 2017 – I gained experience and learned a lot with them, certainly a positive period for me. But now I play for Benetton and in the end I was extremely happy to have beaten them. Even now, after a few days, I have special sensations inside me: in Pro 14 it was a very difficult and tough season but then it changed and it ended well ».
Of course, if you compare your Pro 14 with the Rainbow, the leap in quality has been crazy.
«I think that the team learned from those defeats in Pro 14: we were never able to play all together due to the many absences due to the squads in the national team. Then the players came back and the results arrived ».
How important will having won the Cup for the future of Benetton Rugby?
«Rainbow has given us a lot of confidence, also in view of next season, we know that we will be able to face and overcome every team in the world. I realize I am optimistic but I know what I am saying ».
Yes, but now the expectations of you will multiply, everyone will expect great things.
“Undoubtedly. In South Africa many people are still talking about our victory, I think it is a positive aspect for the whole rugby movement. Nobody expected us to be the winners but that’s okay ».
Next season the South African teams will return to an URC that will now have an intercontinental dimension.
“Of course it will be an even more difficult championship, there will be teams that will have several Springboks (they are the reigning world champions, ed), but I am sure that they too will realize how European rugby is not so easy to face ».
And you will pass from Kieran Crowley to Marco Bortolami.
«I can say about Kieran that he was an excellent coach who communicated a lot with us players, I think Bortolami points more to take care of the technical details. But we’ll see that in a little while. Now I can say that I am very excited by the prospect of having a new coach and a new staff and to get to know the new players as soon as possible ». –