'I was stunned, it was surreal... I couldn't have dreamed of it'

Ivan van Zyl has learned plenty of new tricks since he joined Saracens in 2021. By his own admission, he needed to sharpen his skills to meet the unique demands of European rugby. He has honed his kicking game and adapted to the wind at the StoneX Stadium which he said, “Never stops for a second”.

But in the two years that the South African has been at the English club, he has helped to educate his teammates on one important thing. At least he is trying to. “I’m still teaching them how to do a proper braai,” he told RugbyPass, using the Afrikaans word for a barbecue.

“I’m the one with the tongs. We had one at my place a few weeks ago and the boys all brought little sausages or smaller bits to nibble. I realised I’m the one who has to bring the steaks.”

That is not all van Zyl has contributed this season. After losing to an 80th-minute Freddie Burns drop goal in last year’s Gallagher Premiership final, Mark McCall and Owen Farrell encouraged their team to play a more expansive game.

“We played exactly how Leicester wanted us to play,” the Pretoria-born scrum-half said of that 15-12 defeat at Twickenham last June. “This season we have prepared to make smarter decisions and be more adaptable. That is what rugby is. The better we can make decisions the better it is for the team. But the team needs to get you in those positions.”

“I came here pretty raw. I had spent seven seasons with the Bulls, and you learn to play a certain way in South Africa. It was almost never wet, and the ground was hard. The only time I played in the wind was the odd time in Cape Town. I had this idea that I was sharp, but you come here and it’s a different game.

“I wanted to prove that I belonged in that changing room. Now my game is the best it has ever been. I’m so much better technically. I don’t make as many mistakes as I used to. Every part of my game has improved.”

Van Zyl added that he wants to leave a legacy with the club. Though he didn’t watch much northern hemisphere rugby when he was making his name in South Africa, Saracens’ reputation filtered through the fog and left a mark.

He name-checked Brendan Venter and lauded the foundations set before McCall took full control in 2011. He smiled when speaking of the all-conquering ‘Saffacens’ that included Schalk Brits, Schalk Burger, Vincent Koch, Petrus du Plessis and Neil de Kock.

“When I’d occasionally talk to those guys, they would all speak about Sarries as this incredible place,” van Zyl continued. “I always said that if I ever moved overseas this is the club where I would want to go.

 

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