Strauss: complacency not an option

SARACENS come to Dublin this week marooned at the bottom of pool four, eight points behind Leinster, but Richardt Strauss has reason enough to approach Saturday’s Heineken Cup encounter with due care.

The English Premiership club’s umbilical ties with South Africa on and off the field are many and Strauss knows enough about his fellow countrymen to believe they will not treat their trip to the Irish capital as some sort of jolly.

Educated at the famed rugby nursery that is Grey’s College in Bloemfontein, the 23-year old knows the national mindset and feels the English club’s Bok contingent will be eager to atone for their defeat by Leinster in Wembley three months ago.

“The people I know there won’t lie down. I know that for a fact. I know the South African boys, I don’t really know the other lads, but I know it is not in the club’s culture to relax and they will have a point to prove after going down to us at home.

“They will really like to put in a good performance against us and see what they can do, get us knocked over, so they are going to try and play the game, prove they can throw the ball around. We really have to be sharp this weekend.”

Saracens’ win away to Racing Metro in round four backs that up. Mathematically, the visitors are still in with a shout of navigating a path through to the last eight, but common sense would say differently. No, if they are to perform this weekend, they will do so fired by other ambitions.

Leinster took four points from that first meeting in London and left for home with the furious words of then Sarries coach Brendan Venter — who raged at the Irish side’s tactics and the refereeing — ringing in their ears.

Venter has since returned to Cape Town, where he has resurrected his career in the medical profession. But some of his former charges may well be of a mind to administer some belated pain relief at the RDS.

Given the Springbok link, it would be understandable if Strauss had a few personal motivations of his own this week as it is 18 months since he decided to cash in his chips at home and spread his wings.

A back row until the age of 20, his lack of size and bulk necessitated the migration to hooker and he was fortunate to make the switch at a time when the Cheetahs were so blessed with men of real calibre in that spot.

CJ van der Linde, Ollie Le Roux — both of whom preceded him in making the move to Leinster — as well as Os du Randt, Munster’s Wian du Preez and Jannie du Plessis were all knocking around the Super 14 franchise when Strauss was there.

Quite a school for him to learn the new trade but his career began to sour after an impressive 2007 season when he picked up a hamstring injury and returned only to find another, more frustrating queue in front of him.

South Africa was ripe with top-class hookers and Strauss decided to take his chances in Europe rather than stand behind the likes of John Smit and Bismarck Du Plessis for what could have been years to come.

All that is old news to him now.

“I don’t want to be negative and there is nothing for me to prove to them. It is more about me trying to prove myself in Ireland and get the respect of the people over here. I have made the change. It is something I have committed to.”

That commitment may yet extend to wearing the green of Ireland rather than his native land. He becomes eligible under the residency rules after three years here and admits such an opportunity would be “awesome”.

He is making the right strides.

After a frustrating first season in which he made only six appearances and one start, Strauss has wedged himself into the middle of the front row playing in 15 of the side’s 17 games in the current campaign.

With John Fogarty and Bernard Jackman having retired and the inexperienced Jason Harris-Wright as his only back-up, he has started 14 of those and picked up the club’s player of the month award for September/October.

His form of late has, by his own admission, been less impressive but a daunting barometer of his capabilities lies in wait this week should he end up hunkering down opposite the excellent Schalk Brits.

“I think every player in the squad feels the need and the pressure to perform. I need to pick up my game or otherwise I’ll be kicked out of the side. The pressure is felt by every single player in the squad so you just have to try and perform every weekend.”