The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 83
SPORT
I’ve had a bad training session or
a bad day, I’ll go home and reflect
on it, and think, what would they
think about how I trained today?
That’s the standard I’m chasing.
And to do that throughout the
season, I had to be consistent.
Consistent in everything I do.”
He seems to have crossed a key
threshold – the point at which a
sportsman’s psychology becomes
a weapon in his armoury rather
than a chink in his armour. “I’ve
learnt a lot in my career now,
so I get over things quite quickly.
If I lose it in a game mentally,
in about 10 seconds I’m back
to normal… I’ve been doing a lot
of self-work, introspective work,
to see how I can become better
as a human and a rugby player.”
Physically, too, he’s the fittest
and strongest he’s ever been.
Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan
Jobb are the two fastest players
in the current squad, he explains,
but he works hard to ensure that
he – along with “a couple of the
youngsters” – is only a fraction
of a second behind. He ran 11.4s
to win the 100m on Sports Day
in 2015, and reckons he’s quicker
now. Meanwhile, Blitzbok coaches
Philip Snyman and Renfred Dazel
have given him the personal
attention that has sharpened his
defence, kicking and tactical play.
Tristan now has a central
contract with SARU, with
designated windows to explore
professional tournaments,
depending on his workload
and injuries. This September,
for instance, he was contracted to
play for Albion Athletic in Ultimate
Sevens – a new, privately backed
professional championship due
to run over three weeks in Cardiff,
Biarritz and London.
Ultimately, Tristan would like to
return to the 15s game, possibly to
play in France or Japan. But when
he first joined the Blitzboks, he set
his sights high. He wanted to
achieve things that the golden
generation of the mid-2010s –
the likes of Seabelo Senatla, Cecil
Afrika and Kwagga Smith – hadn’t.
“I’ve ticked a lot of the boxes, but
not everything!” he says. “The goal
is the next Olympics in 2028.”
THE SEVENS CIRCUIT
IN A PHRASE
Dubai: Hot!
Singapore: Humid
Cape Town: The party
Perth: Relaxed
Vancouver: Cold – our least
favourite…
New York: City lights
Hong Kong: The best – five stars!
Valladolid: Dragging…
Bordeaux: Special, where we
were crowned World Champs!
ABOVE Tristan with his family and plenty of medals after the season-ending
Bordeaux tournament in June. His wife Amy, a civil engineer, is front right, and
parents Gershwin and Erika are in the back, either side of Dillyn. TOP Dillyn and
Tristan on the Piley Rees in 2015. Dillyn would play 10 Tests for the Springboks
before signing for La Rochelle in 2020. He has become a stalwart for the French
club, with two European Champions Cups and 150 appearances under his belt.
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 79
