The Sharks (and formerly Natal) have known a few formidable props over the years. Lood Muller, Guy Kebble, Mort Mortassagne and the late DSH Old Boys prop Graham “Basher” Downes used to pull up trees for fun.

For all their excellence, I’d put Beast Mtawarira at the top of the meaty pile. On saturday, the big man played his 81^st Test for South Africa to become the Springboks’ most capped prop forward.

The player he overtook, Os du Randt, rates as one of the greatest looseheads to have drawn breath. To have reeled him in gives you some idea of Mtawarira’s formidable standing.

Since his first Test in 2008, Mtawarira has made the number one jersey his own for South Africa. There have been a few upstarts along the way, but the Sharks totem has always prevailed.

Given that he is a loosehead, he doesn’t get as mangled as a tighthead, which has helped his longevity. But he’s also uncommonly big for the loosehead side and has huge strength which helps enormously when the opposition tighthead is trying his best to dominate.

Mtawarira has had some good tussles over the years, but it is hard to recall a time when he was completely worked over. He was never better than in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in 2009.

Phil Vickery had a reputation for feasting on passive looseheads, but he hadn’t reckoned on Mtawarira bucking the trend. The Springbok forced his head upwards and inwards, providing graphic proof of his wiles at the scrum by forcing three penalties. The hysterical British press squawked that Mtawarira’s action had been unlawful, but Graham Rowntree, the Lions’ forwards coach, admitted they were hammered. End of story.

The real standing of a player in South Africa is how they are viewed by the public at large. Given that Mtawarira is an uitlander – Zimbabwean by birth – his status as a much adored Springbok is remarkable. Fans across the world chant his name whenever he gets the ball and he is among the most popular when children seek out autographs. He’s every inch the alpha male, his baritone voice and quiet manner lending him the sort of mystique you expect of a man who plays in the front row.

His journey from Sharks aspirant to Springbok super-hero has known a few twists and turns. First came his conversion from No 8 to prop, where Balie Swart was such an influence. Swart knows a thing or two and helped Mtawarira settle in, no doubt also teaching him some of the dark arts employed by frontrankers.

In 2010 the player found himself at the centre of a nasty row over his citizenship, suffice to say that he was little more than a pawn in a political power play. Mtawarira stayed dignified and although the imbroglio cost him a few Springbok starts, he soon found himself back where he belonged.

In late 2012 he was forced out of the Boks’ tour of the United Kingdom suffering from heart palpitations. Later, he had corrective surgery to correct an irregular heart rhythm. Thankfully, it was only a temporary setback and had no demonstrable impact on his subsequent career where he has only ever been all heart.

The challenge now is to continue his standing as South Africa’s number one No 1. Now in his eighth year of Test rugby, the years have begun to take their toll. He’s not as prominent as he once was, trading in his old explosiveness for cunning. Props, you see, not only get older, they get smarter.

Aged 31, his next ambition is to make it to a century of caps. That would require another two years of international rugby, something entirely possible given his fitness and attitude.

Like Bryan Habana, there has never been a suggestion that his presence owed as much to political machinations as to pure rugby reasons. Mtawarira has knocked back all pretenders and continues to be rock solid even as the Springboks endure a difficult transition under Allister Coetzee.

He’s become one of the elder statesmen of Bok rugby. He’s universally loved and perfectly reflects the potential of SA rugby to become a game for all.

Bravo to the Beast. – © Sunday Tribune