Makhaza's rags-to-riches tale from 'nobody' to Bok camp

IKEYS coach and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck had the pleasure of telling Ntokozo Makhaza that Rassie Erasmus was making enquires about him, but the young wing thought Fleck was winding him up.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

"Rassie called me and asked me questions about 'Makky'. He wanted his number," Fleck told Independent Media.

"When I told Makky that the Springbok coach would call him, he thought I was joking.

"I had to convince him he was getting a call, and to relax and enjoy the experience."

Makhaza is the bolter who was called up to the Springbok alignment camp, which was held in Cape Town this week.

The 23-year-old is a third-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, specialising in psychology.

Last month, Fleck's Ikeys side won the Varsity Cup, and Makhaza was the Player of the Tournament, as he was last year too.

Erasmus has been watching, and was so impressed with the wing's performance statistics - yes, Big Brother Rassie watches everything - that he called up Fleck to find out more.

"I was surprised when Rassie called in the sense that it is not often a player gets called up straight out of the varsity system," Fleck said.

"Rassie wanted to know about the person: who the guy is, is he hard-working and coachable? Those are the first questions Rassie asked me," the former Stormers coach said.