Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen struggled to keep his emotions in check while speaking of his absence from the squad in 2016. It was a different side to a player known mostly for his white-knuckle exploits. Twelve months ago he was called up as a replacement in the squad that played Ireland, but did not do active duty due to injury and a resultant lack of fist-thumping form. Although he was spared the 2016 heartbreak of his struggling teammates, he still ached to be in the thick of it. "I was out of the Bok squad for a year. It was a very bad time in my life," he said in a quivering voice. "Just realising what you are missing in the Bok environment is something special. Even if we didn’t do well I still felt the hurt of not being here and not being selected. It is a real disappointment when you are not selected. It makes you work so much harder," said the player who also missed chunks of the 2014 season with a serious neck injury. The last Test in which he featured before he made his re...
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