World Cup Heroes: Victor Matfield

The South African vice-captain is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and has formed glory laden partnerships wherever he has played. Not only that, Victor is adored and feared in equal measure thanks to a superhuman ability to win his own line-out ball everytime (*slight embellishment*), as well as a canny knack of disrupting the opposition thanks to his size, power and anticipation. He has huge nuisance value and it was this skill in particular that helped his country win the ball on numerous occasions back in 2007 as they returned home victorious.

When he’s not bench pressing small houses, Big Vic clocks in at a whopping two metres tall and can be found running rings around the opposition with his electrifying pace. So fast is Victor, former Aussie coach Eddie Jones once remarked he should be an Olympic sprinter!

Another little known fact about Victor Matfield is that he grew up playing both rugby and cricket, and if it wasn’t for injury Victor could be swapping his scrum cap for a batting helmet. Either way, it seems his flowing locks were destined to end up on a sports field with something covering them!

Success seems to follow Victor around and in 2008 he became the first international captain to beat the Kiwis in New Zealand since 2003. Not a bad little achievement even if we do say so ourselves. With a record like this, we’re expecting Victor to enjoy another successful tournament.

Will Victor return victorious from New Zealand?

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