While the news of Springbok and Stormers prop, Steven Kitshoff’s retirement may have shocked thousands of fans, the reality may have been a bitter pill to swallow for those closest to him.
This week fans and teammates of the 33-year-old streamed to social media platforms to honour the double World Cup winner on what has been an outstanding career for the former Paul Roos high pupil who is best identified by his flaming red hair.
Steven announced his retirement earlier this week after much consideration of the impact that the game will have on his health following a devastating neck injury that nearly cost him his life.
As the news penetrated through the rugby community, Neethling Fouche, a man who Steven mentored during his earlier years at the Stormers took to Instagram, expressing just how much his mentorship and advice meant to him during their time together on the field.
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In a lengthy post which contained pictures of some of their greatest memories, Neethling who currently finds himself on the brink of making a Springbok debut this year, reflected on the first time the two met.
“It was at Craven week 2010. The evening before the final everyone told me that I would be scrumming against a very big guy with red hair. While the word ‘Big” intimidated me, the word ‘red hair’ did even more […] I could not sleep much that night, and when we met in that first scrum, I quickly realised that this was a different kind of strength,” he wrote.
“I knew from that moment on that you would make big strides in SA Rugby.”
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Neethling highlighted that when he joined the Cape Town team the Stormers in 2017, it was Steven who made him feel welcome. He was also the one responsible for pushing him beyond his limits in scrumming sessions but later offered advice on how he could improve.
“This is who you are, incredibly competitive but also a teddy bear that cares. You had a direct input on my development.”
He concluded: “I’m going to miss seeing that red hair at HPC. I’m going to miss scrumming next to you. I’m going to miss you stealing the ball for us so that we could all just get a break. Thank you for the memories. I feel grateful that I got to play in the same era as Steven Kitshoff, and even more so that I got to be your teammate.”
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The “Spicy Plum” later entered the comments expressing his love towards his former teammate in the form of a GIF.
Also see: Bok announces retirement: End of an era for Steven ‘The Spicey Plum’ Kitshoff
