Cell C Sharks flanker Andisa Ntsila says the lockdown has disrupted all aspects of the training cycle of rugby players.
However he is determined to keep himself motivated amid the massive adjustment of training from home.
Ntsila, an Old Queenian, joined with the Sharks ahead of the Currie Cup season last year after being spotted in the Southern Kings, his former team.
Among his most cherished milestones was receiving his Springbok A cap in 2017 when he faced off against the French Barbarians in two games.
In an interview with The Rep from his Komani home, Ntsila said the transition from a gym setting of weights and running in a large surface area to a smaller space undoubtedly proved a major challenge.
The difficulty also lay in training without a physiotherapist to ensure the muscles were intact and the body in good form.
‘’Sometimes it feels as it I have not done enough for the day. However rest, recovery and keeping yourself injury-free are all part of the process,’’ he said.
Ntsila said before the lockdown came into effect the team was participating in the Vodacom Super League.
After the lockdown he was looking forward to getting back on to the field.
Chief among his goals is making it into the Springbok team and being consistent at that level. ‘’Staying on the field and giving a 100% motivates me. I have always believed in myself. I would not depend on other people to believe in me.’’
He added that he had never had aspirations of being a professional rugby player, but that rugby was a pastime in his varsity years and he later played for the Nelson Mandela University Varsity Cup side in the SWD Vodacom Cup.
The flanker said someone there had believed in him and he had never looked back.
He is grateful to his father, who he says has always supported him, especially if something was genuinely good.
‘’When I told my family about venturing into a rugby career, they told me if I could make it work I should go for it. The difficult part was in convincing them that I could.
‘’Since I started playing in the Currie Cup and the super league I don’t think my mother has missed a game,’’ Ntsila said.
