TWICE DURING OUR interview, team-mates of Chris Cloete’s pass and call out reminders that this is a man who loves a turnover at the breakdown.
“He’s a fetcher!” shouts the first, mimicking a South African accent.
Minutes later, we’re interrupted by another jesting call: “I love to fetch!”
We’re sitting in Munster’s high performance centre at the University of Limerick and Cloete smiles as he explains that turnovers are, indeed, his favourite part of the game.
“That’s my best attribute on the field,” says the openside flanker. “If the other team puts 20 phases together and you can turn the ball over, it’s a big moment. It’s a very good feeling.”
The South African, who turns 28 today, has loved the breakdown contest as far back as he can remember, having taken up the sport at the age of seven in his native East London, a city of just under 300,000 people on the Eastern Cape.
Marked out as a promising talent from early on, Cloete laughs as he admits that “the last place I thought I’d end up playing was in Ireland!”
But he has settled happily into life in Limerick since arriving in 2017, sharing a house in Castletroy with team-mates Sammy Arnold and Ciaran Parker, as well as his dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer named Sage, and Arnold’s Doberman.
Cloete – who extended his Munster contract through to 2022 last October – has a strong ambition to play for Ireland when he qualifies in 2020 under the residency rule.
“I won’t be going back to South Africa at all,” he says.
“I’m here to hopefully qualify and play for Ireland. I won’t be going back, I’m here now and I’m going to make the best of this opportunity. I’d love to play for Ireland one day.”
Many rugby supporters have issues with ‘project players’ and World Rugby has changed the residency requirement [that change won't affect Cloete], but he says he’s simply an ambitious rugby player.
Cloete explains that he wouldn’t have played for South Africa ‘A’ in June 2017 against the French Barbarians – a game in which he scored two tries – if it had resulted in disqualifying him for a possible Ireland cap in the future.
“At the end of the day, you have to look after yourself and what’s best for you as a player,” he says. “It’s a short career and you have to make the best of it.
“I came here as a development player to qualify for Ireland, so I always knew that was the plan.”
There have been many times in Cloete’s rugby-playing days where the notion of playing Test rugby was far from his mind.
He shone as a schoolboy with the well-regarded Selborne College – the same East London institution that produced World Cup-winning Springbok Mark Andrews, as well as France-capped Rory Kockott and several other South Africa internationals.
Cloete earned selection for the prestigious Craven Week at several age grades, impressing for the Border Bulldogs, his provincial side, and playing for South Africa Schools in 2009.
When he was still 17, the Sharks offered him a contract and he moved 650km up the coast to join them in Durban straight after leaving school. A cruel run of injuries followed.
2010 saw him shatter the tibia and fibula in one of his legs. Upon his return, he tore the MCL in his knee.
The hope was that a move to the Cape Town-based Western Province in 2013 would mark an upturn in his fortunes but, out of nowhere, he was struck with glandular fever and missed eight months of rugby.
“I lost 8kgs,” he recalls with a shake of his head. “You have a fever, your glands are all swollen, you don’t want to eat.
“Your body aches and I got chronic fatigue syndrome because at the start I was actually playing with it, not knowing I had it. It really got me good.”
Sick of the frustration of being sidelined, Cloete decided he was finished with the sport.
“I basically quit rugby, I didn’t want to play anymore. I fell out of the system. I was just out injured for too long and you don’t have a name for yourself and you’re not looked after.
“When I was young I was this ‘next best openside flanker’ and I just fell off the radar, no one wanted me. Why would you want to keep playing? Just for fun, really. I was 22 and I thought I needed to get another career.”
Cloete did regain his health, however, and one of his old Craven Week coaches asked him to play for Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth in 2014.
He impressed in the Varsity Cup, then returned to Durban to play for club side College Rovers. Resigned to moving on with life and not focusing on chasing professional rugby, Cloete suddenly got an offer to move to Sri Lanka and play for a club called Kandy.
Johan Taylor – who is a co-founder of Rugby Academy Ireland but also had a spell in charge of the Sri Lankan national team – was the man to link Cloete and Kandy.
“I didn’t know much about rugby in Sri Lanka,” admits Cloete. “I said I wouldn’t mind, I’ve got nothing to lose, said I’d go travel.
“I ended up playing there for seven months. There’s about 15,000 people at the games, people hanging off rooves, all sorts of stuff. It’s crazy, they’re very supportive of their local teams.
“A lot of the teams had Fijian 7s guys who are playing on the circuit now, a couple of ITM Cup players from New Zealand, a lot of Tongans.”
It was a wild time in Cloete’s life but he relished the rugby aspect of his stint on the island nation off the coast of India.
“The government was really corrupt so they were paying all these major 7s guys to come and play for them. There were talks of kidnappings and all sorts of stuff. You’d be driving down the road with porcupines running across the road, it’s very rural there.
“But I enjoyed myself. That’s where I started wanting to play rugby again. I wasn’t playing for any expectations, just enjoying myself.”
Cloete shone on the pitch for Kandy in the 2014/15 season and was top try-scorer as they claimed the Sri Lankan league title.
He was due to return for another campaign but flew home to South Africa during the off-season, staying in Cape Town and being convinced by a cousin to play a few games with club side Hamilton RFC.
Then a drunken night out with some of his friends who had played in the South Africa v World XV fixture at Newlands Stadium in July 2015 once again changed the trajectory of his rugby life.
“I had a good couple of pints and we went out,” Cloete recalls. “I bumped into the coach that had coached me in Western Province when I had glandular fever, John Dobson.
“It was drunk talk but he asked me if I wanted to come to training! I told him, ‘Email me in the morning and I’ll come, if you remember.’
“I woke up in the morning with a huge hangover and saw an email to come to training on the Monday. I arrived and played the whole season for Western Province.”
Cloete impressed in the Currie Cup and earned a move to join the Pumas in Nelspruit but they immediately agreed to loan him to the Southern Kings as the Port Elizabeth franchise made their return to Super Rugby.
Despite the Kings’ struggles, as well as an ACL and meniscus injury, Cloete managed to shine over two seasons in Super Rugby and, out of the blue, Rassie Erasmus called his agent to manufacture a move to Munster.
“It was a big step up coming here from where I’d been,” says Cloete, who hadn’t ever met Erasmus before the transfer.
Erasmus was gone back to South Africa only a month-and-a-half after Cloete’s Munster debut in November 2017, but he was pleased to see Johann van Graan arriving as his successor. Van Graan had often been at the Kings as part of the South African Rugby Union’s ‘mobile coaching unit,’ visiting to provide specialist coaching.
While Cloete has had injury travails in Munster – a broken forearm last season was frustrating – he believes he’s become a better, more disciplined player.
There was disappointment and frustration over the last month or so as a badly-timed neck injury meant he missed out on the Champions Cup wins over Gloucester and Exeter, with Tommy O’Donnell earning the number seven shirt.
The last time Cloete played was against Leinster in December, when his game was ended by an illegal clearout from Tadhg Furlong, who was yellow-carded.
“When it happened, I didn’t even know what happened or who hit me,” says Cloete. “I knew when I went off the field on a stretcher and he apologised. He was already standing on the side. That’s rugby, I guess.”
With the luckless O’Donnell now on the sidelines again through injury, Cloete finally returns for Munster against the Kings at Musgrave Park in the Guinness Pro14 tonight [KO 7.35pm, eir Sport/Premier Sports] eager to make up for lost time and get back winning turnovers.
It’s the clear strength to his game, with few players possessing the ability to release from a tackle and then clamp back onto the ball as quickly as Cloete can.
While he does analyse his performances at the breakdown, he says much of his best ‘fetching’ work is not quite a conscious thing.
“It’s something I’ve always done – it comes to me naturally,” Cloete explains. “I don’t have to think – if it happens, it happens. It’s second nature, if you can say that.
“Some guys can step – you can’t teach someone to step like Cheslin Kolbe. It happens, one of those things.”
Cloete’s physique has been a point of interest for supporters too, with his thick, defined arms and legs – as well as his explosive power – aiding his work in the breakdown, tackle and carry.
While with the Kings he managed 28 reps on the 100kg bench press test, which essentially means bench-pressing 100kg continuously for as many reps as possible.
He also cranked out 44 wide-grip pull-ups but jokes that “my shoulders haven’t been in that condition for a while!”
Getting into the gym has been a way of life for the flanker from a young age.
“I’ve trained hard since I was about 16. I remember at school, I’d wake up at 4.30 in the morning and go to the gym every day.
“That was from the end of Grade 10, so my last two years in school I trained really hard.
“Even when I was 14, I’d go to the gym, not that serious at that stage, and then I just wanted to be stronger and faster. I enjoy pushing myself.”
Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Andrew Conway
13. Chris Farrell
12. Rory Scannell
11. Darren Sweetnam
10. Tyler Bleyendaal (captain)
9. Neil Cronin
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Billy Holland
6. Fineen Wycherley
7. Chris Cloete
8. Arno Botha
Replacements:
16. Rhys Marshall
17. Liam O’Connor
18. Stephen Archer
19. Darren O’Shea
20. Gavin Coombes
21. Alby Mathewson
22. JJ Hanrahan
23. Dan Goggin
Southern Kings:
15. Masixole Banda
14. Yaw Penxe
13. Meli Rokoua
12. Berton Klaasen
11. Bjorn Basson
10. Bader Pretorius
9. Stefan Ungerer
1. Schalk Ferreira
2. Michael Willemse
3. De-Jay Terblanche
4. Andries Van Schalkwyk
5. John-Charles Astle (captain)
6. Stephan De Wit
7. Martinus Burger
8. Ruaan Lerm
Replacements:
16. Alandre Van Rooyen
17. Alulutho Tshakweni
18. Pieter Scholtz
19. Stephan Greeff
20. Andisa Ntsila
21. Sarel Pretorius
22. Tertius Kruger
23. Ulrich Beyers
Referee: Andrea Piardi [Italy].
Murray Kinsella, Andy Dunne and Gavan Casey break down Ireland’s dogged win against Scotland in Murrayfield, and look at the room for improvement, in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
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Nothing against the guy but we’re higher ranked than South Africa and we’ve a heap of great Irish born backrowers so maybe he should focus on playing for his homeland and not us.
@Aidan Prior: I’m totally against the Project Player rule, and there are no exceptions. CJ and Aki, for example, are already capped and integral parts of the national team squad, so you can’t just turf them out. They’ve both emptied themselves on the field for the jersey. But for Cloete and James Lowe and many more, I hope we don’t have to cap them. I admire Cloete’s honesty and appreciate his determination to play for Ireland, but hopefully Andy Farrell and his coaches have enough homegrown options themselves. However, I’d still prefer a PP guy who has spent 3+ years living in Ireland, playing for a team than a player with one granny who gets picked up in England, signs with a province, and is immediately brought into an Irish camp.
@grandslamkbo: why would you mind the granny rule? That person would have grown up all their life knowing they were Irish and knowing this was an option, i’d much prefer that to someone who moves here for money and then plays with Ireland to advance their career
@Fergus Sheahan: having an Irish granny doesn’t make you Irish. your comment makes no sense. Isn’t everyone perfectly entitled to advance their career? And what is Ireland exactly. It’s a construct like every other nationality
@PScald: it means you have Irish Heritage and you grew up knowing this, if you take the a nationality is construct argument then there is no point in having international teams, boarders or anything like that.
@Fergus Sheahan: what difference does that make? They would also have whatever heritage they are and their parents are and whatever heritage their grandfather was.. theres a border in Ireland and Ireland doesn’t really exist as a nation per se. It’s two countries playing as one. Ireland as a rugby nation is a construct in every sense of the word. Anyway I’d prefer to see someone earning in the country and paying taxes to the state represent whatever it is we think Ireland is.
@PScald: consult the UN charter for countries if you want to know what “Ireland is per se” then maybe you can play a drum in your hippy circle and try to reach out to the spirit of John Lennon
@Fergus Sheahan: so you’re telling me their isn’t two irelands with two different governments, flags, health care systems, tax laws currencies and anthems? Even the hippies and John Lennon know that
@PScald: but its still defined and to have it defined by the IRB as one country is not a bad thing at all, so if someone has heritage from the IRB island than i’m happy to have them…now you better get back to the poetry circle before your kelp burgers get cold
@Fergus Sheahan: there are plenty of guys who played under the granny rule in football who didn’t know they had any Irish heritage, didn’t know they had an Irish great great grandfather and stayed in the country longer than a week for a training camp. The world has moved on and society is now a multicultural one.
@Jim Demps: never stayed *
@Jim Demps: so you would be ok for Russian Billionaire buying 80 of the best under 20′s in the world at the junior world cup and winning Russia the Webb Ellis in 2027?
@Fergus Sheahan: The granny rule can also be exploited to further a career and earn more money. A player with a distant relative can just declare for Ireland even if he had very little ‘Irish’ in his upbringing. Being an international player for Ireland looks good at contract negotiation time. I didn’t say I’m against the granny rule, but I like the idea of anyone who plays for Ireland having to play in Ireland. For example, a mid-20s hooker at Newcastle who spent underage rugby in the English set up decides he has a better chance of making it with Ireland and he has a granny born in Donegal. He notifies the IRFU, signs a provincial contract and is brought into the Irish squad immediately. Is that really much better?
@Fergus Sheahan: sure thing. Let him go for it. In fact the French teams have tried it with academies in Fiji and bringing lads over when they are 12 years old and it hasn’t worked out so well for them so far. Real life isn’t one of extremes, it’s a balancing act and for now these guys will be selected when needed and I’m all for it. This year you’ll have Kleyn, Cloete and Marshall all qualifying.
@Fergus Sheahan: so weve gone from the UN chapter to the international rugby board..
But the IRB also says he can play for Ireland after he serves his time here. At least try and be consistent man. Have you ever had warm kelp burgers? And I cant hear the poems over the drums
@Fergus Sheahan: The cynicism of the PP rule is the part that I hate. The IRFU sending a rep down to South Africa and approaching a young pro at the start of his career sitting on the bench of a Currie Cup game. This player was educated and developed by a different country. He might have played a few U20 games in a position Ireland is not strong and there’s a backlog of talent in SA. The Union essentially bribes the player with the chance of an international cap in 3 (now 5) years if he signs for a province. A country he has no links to. However, in saying that, the player takes that plunge, moves 14,000km, settles down and starts over. Spends 3 years here. Is he less deserving than another pro who couldn’t make it with England and then decides to tell eveyone he has 1 granny from Donegal?
@PScald: not getting laid eh?
@Ivan Connolly: only someone with blue balls would make that comment
@grandslamkbo: i would think so, i don’t like the PP rule for tier one nations, i would like to see lesser teams having a max if 3 project players to bring on the national teams, a good hooker, 8, and outhalf, that would really help a team along
@grandslamkbo: Well said
@Fergus Sheahan: Fair enough. As I said, my main issue is with the IRFU, not the player. It doesn’t matter if everyone else is doing it, it is depressing thinking the Union has/had reps in countries bribing players to play for Ireland.
@grandslamkbo: ya I agree, also we don’t need need any of the project players, we wouldn’t be that much worse off without them.
@PScald: the Irish border is called the sea
@Chris Mc: talk to me after march
@PScald: you’re wife doesn’t have blue balls.
@Ivan Connolly: and technically it was a question not a comment. Pedantic blue balls? That’s another question by the way, you can tell by the little swirly symbol at the end.
@Aidan Prior: he wouldn’t get his game for SA
@grandslamkbo: go back to bed ya moron hahaha
@Fergus Sheahan: You may not grow up knowing this, or you do but you don’t really care, one grandad moved from Mayo to Canterbury for job opportunities long long before said player was born. Players name is obviously Irish and starts making a name for himself so the IRFU player finder team give him a call to see if he’s interested, not chance of an AB call up so says yes as he’d like to progress his career… it doesn’t sound massively different to the project player really… not every descendant grows up learning Irish dancing, the tin whistle and knows who Michael Collins is….
@Liam Flague: I’ll probably find you with your sister in bed
Seems like a decent lad. But in the same breath he’s saying he never expected to end up in Ireland and then he’s saying he’d love to play for them. That’s my issue with a lot of these guys, honest player for sure, but didn’t exactly grow up dreaming of an Irish jersey, and he was obviously hedging his bets up until recently enough if he was putting the darker green for South Africa A
@Pete McEvoy: I don’t think you read the article clearly. He said he wouldn’t play for the South African A team if it put his Irish position at risk. He also mentioned that he came to Ireland as a development player with the goal of playing for Ireland.
@Con Cussed: which is hedging his bets no? He represented South Africa A as means of keeping a toe in that pond, while plying his trade here with an Irish jersey in mind. I read his point regarding not taking the SA a cap if it had endangered his Ireland chances, but you’d have to imagine that if he’d been well received by them then his graw for an Irish jersey would have suddenly disappeared
Super player and really important for munster given Tommy’s run of bad luck. After Beirne he’s probably the best ground hog in the country and once o brien is gone to Irish Cloete will be there or there abouts for an Irish squad. For me he’s not better than Leavy but he’s every bit as good as Van der Flier, albeit a different type of 7.
@Jim Demps: I really like his style of play he’s a bulldog on the pitch. Having said that I would have Josh, Leavy and Murphy ahead of him. With the likes of Oliver and more so Penny coming through I think we’re covered at 7 for the immediate and long term future.
@Jim Demps: I think leavy is a better ground hog to be honest.
@Jim Demps: on a par with VDF, don’t think so Jim. I’d hate to see him being capped and blocking the development of the likes of Penny or Oliver who have massive potential
@Aidan Prior: If those lads fulfil their massive potential then they will make it. The project players have only made us stronger as a team. I don’t have any issue with it.
@Jim Demps: so it’s fine when James Lowe replaces Earls next year?
@Bob Joe: if he’s better than him sure. Pick the best players available.
Residency rules a little clearer in rugby then soccer. At least the IRFU have limits on non Irish qualified players allowing local talent to develop and thrive alongside some marquee players they can learn from. I cringe at some of the team sheets in the top 14 in France where you might be lucky to have 3 or 4 French qualified players in a match day squad.
We really don’t need to keep doing this. Him Lowe etc are fantastic players and I’m happy for them to play in the clubs but come on let’s try keep the Irish shirt for as many Irish men as possible
@Chris Mc: Cloete challenging the existing Irish players for their places only makes us better. If they really want to wear the green shirt then they have to get to world class levels which is exactly where you want us to be at all through the team
@Chris Mc: Irish AND playing for one of the four teams in Ireland.
@thesaltyurchin: Irish and playing at home. Totally agree. I love bringing my boys to Leinster matches and they can watch Irish internationals play live. They also get the chance to watch some future stars too. I don’t want the Irish team spread all over Europe
Munster resembles a mini South Africa as it is with the amount of players on their books from there. Might as well go all the way and let play for Ireland too. I’m. It a fan of this at all. I prefer home grown players playing for Ireland and the Provence’s not imports.
I don’t think he’s at a strong enough level to play for Ireland. He does fine for Munster but Id say we’re more likely to see Penny and Jack O’Donoghue backup VDF and Leavy at 7 down the line.
@Donal Treacy: JOD is primarily a 6 or 8. Not a 7. He has played there, but it’s not his best position.
@Donal Treacy: Penney is a potential superstar but there’s a problem there for Leinster. Josh VDF is 25, Dan Leavy is 24 and Scott Penney is 19. Penney is absolutely going to be a multi-capped Irish international. Unless one of them can shift to 6 full time and challenge Ruddock, there’ll be a photo soon of Joe Schmidt, a player and an anonymous third male having coffee in South Dublin. Leavy is out of contract in the summer.
@grandslamkbo: with SOB gone and the fact that one of dan or josh seem to be injured at any given time I’d say penny is ok where he is for the next 2 or 3 seasons.
He’ll be, what, 29/30 when he qualifies? Not much of a long term option and with so many incredible young back rows in the country I can’t see him being a great option going forward. In saying that players like Reidy have picked up a couple of caps so we may well see him in green.
The best groundhog 7 in the country and would be a real asset for Ireland
Whatever supplements he used in SA and Still Lanka they seem to be have worked
There should be one simple rule:
If they hold an Irish passport then they are eligible to play for Ireland, no matter what spprt. END OF.
Of course he’d like to play for Ireland, it would be a huge pay packet for him. I don’t think he’d get in the side, or even the 2nd XV side. In terms of the Project Player rule; don’t particularly like it but as long as it’s a World Rugby rule we have to pick these guys. If we’re to be as competitive as we possibly can we need the likes of CJ, Aki and down the line Lowe.
This has to stop. Please let it stop.
I’ve nothing against these lads but its beginning to devalue the integrity of the jersey. I’m not saying they wont give their all for the jersey but I’d rather lose with a full Irish team than win with 50/50.
It’s beconing a joke at this stage.
Unless you have an Irish parent or grandparent then you shouldn’t be eligible.
Who is more deserving of an Irish cap – Tonmy O’Donnell/Jack O’Donoghue or Stander/Cloete?
Sad fact is that these guys are declaring for the IRFU team for economic reasons.
You’re not Irish full stop
I have no issues with “project players” because it’s the same rules for all countries. Should the rule change to make it an even longer residency rule? I think so, but we are taking advantage of a rule that is in place for all countries, not just irela. I would welcome him when he’s Irish qualified, he is a very different kind of openside than we have. But the backrow is an area where we have strength in depth and where we have always produced top quality players. It’s unlikely he will win many caps in green at all.
@Ger: The rule already changed in extending to 5 years. Cloete, Lowe, Kleyn and Gibson-Park are just among the last batch of players who had already arrived before it kicked in.
@Rochelle: I know it did. I’d argue it could be extended even more or perhaps have a maximum age beyond which a player becomes ineligible for the residency path. For example example you’d have to be playing and living in that country from the age of 22 to be allowed to be considered, eventually.
Tell him he’s dreaming
What a farce
I work with a Brazilian, he was surprised to find out that the IRFU consider him Irish