A journey to remember for Joubert

ERNST JOUBERT shouldn’t be a rugby player. He should be an accountant, or a full-time traveller. And it is as much to his surprise as anyone else’s that he will be lining up for Saracens against Leinster at Wembley this afternoon.

The South African didn’t make his professional debut until the age of 25, and has spent more time playing for Stellenbosch University than he has for any club. Armed with an accountancy and management degree, few noticed when he signed up for Brendan Venter’s Saracens revolution at the start of last season, but they have now.

Nominated for last season’s Premiership Player of the Year Award, the No.8, who weighs in at 6ft 4in and 16st, this week signed a contract extension that will keep him in London until the end of next season. To say it is well deserved is an understatement.

He ended his first season with Saracens as captain in the absence of the injured Steve Borthwick, and almost dragged them to Premiership glory, scoring twice as they lost 33-27 to Leicester in the final at Twickenham. The former Golden Lions captain also acts as the sounding board for some of the younger members in Sarries’ side, for the good reason that he has more genuine life experience than any 30-year-old rugby player has any right to.

That was demonstrated when the club went on a team-bonding trip to Munich’s Oktoberfest this month, where Joubert was able to regale his team-mates with his stories from visiting the same venue exactly a decade before, while on his gap year. He played rugby for Cheltenham during that trip, but it was while playing for Stellenbosch University that Joubert got a break that he had wondered would ever come.

“I had finished my degree but stuck around for a year to carry on playing with Stellenbosch,” he explains. “Then a coach at the Lions saw me and offered me a year-long contract when I was 23, almost 24. If you think of the 19-year-olds coming through now that’s pretty late.

“Then I had a groin injury and couldn’t play for 18 months, but I finally made my professional debut aged 25. A year later I was playing in the Super 14, and when I was 28 I decided to come to England.”

With a relatively short playing career in front of him due to starting so late, you might expect Joubert to be bitter that his talent wasn’t spotted earlier, but you’d be wrong.

“I am so glad I didn’t get my first contract at 19,” he smiles. “I had the student life and got that out of my system. Then I realised I had done the partying scene and wanted to be a rugby player. I got the opportunity, went for it and it has worked.

“It has to be terrible to be 19, playing professional rugby and not have that life experience. It’s the way the professional game is now. It’s all: ‘You’ve just finished school, have a contract and live and breathe rugby 24/7 for the next 15 years – unless you burn out by 25’.

“I wouldn’t have been ready to be a pro at 19. I am now, and if all goes well I can push myself to the age of 35, which would give me a ten-year career – that would be great.”

Joubert is a lively and intelligent character, fully appreciative of what he has. That includes one of the most talented group of team-mates in England, one which is sure to push Leinster all the way today. Sarries are built in the image of Venter; fully committed, confrontational and never quite sure when they are beaten. They lost 25-10 to Clermont Auvergne in their Heineken Cup opener, and are well aware that defeat to Leinster would virtually end their chances.

“We know that you have to win your home games to do well, and even though this is at Wembley it’s still a home game for us,” says Joubert. “Leinster are a brilliant side and you want to measure yourself against the best. Our attitude is just to win every game. We aren’t in any competition simply to be competitive. The only reason we are in the Heineken Cup is to win it – you won’t be successful with any other attitude.”

But Leinster won’t make the mistake that Joubert did by underestimating Saracens when he first arrived.

“I admit I came to England and didn’t know what to expect – I thought it would be a step back in class, a great place to stay for a couple of years to earn some retirement money. For me to think that was an absolute joke,” he says.

“The rugby here is fantastic, and I believe the English and Irish sides could beat any of the southern hemisphere teams. And when we get a few days off, I can go to Spain or Greece and continue ticking off the parts of the world I haven’t seen yet. To be paid in pounds makes it even easier.”

That sums Joubert up – an accountant and a traveller, masquerading as one of the best rugby players in Europe.