BOAN Venter revelled in one of the best victories of his career last month when he was part of the Edinburgh team that shocked Saracens in the Challenge Cup. Now the prop forward is anxious to play his part again as Mike Blair’s squad return south for their second Pool C game, this time to take on London Irish tomorrow.
“The Saracens win was big for us,” Venter said. “It instilled a bit of belief and confidence and it meant a great deal.
“To kick the competition off in that manner was really something special. In my career, apart from the Currie Cup final back in South Africa, that is the biggest win I’ve ever been part of.”
The 24-year-old, who joined Edinburgh from the Cheetahs last February, came off the bench in last week’s win over Cardiff. The victory took them four points clear at the top of the United Rugby Championship, and according to Venter their status as league leaders has done wonders for morale.
“It is massive for us,” he continued. “We have a bit of momentum at the moment and confidence-wise it is a lot better. I won't say it will make us comfortable in any sense, because there has not been anything said in meetings about us being first on the log. We take every game as the next challenge and we try not to look too far ahead.”
Venter has largely been used as back-up to Scotland loosehead Pierre Schoeman since joining Edinburgh, but an element of rotation is expected in the team to be announced by Blair at lunchtime. The top three from each pool plus the best fourth-placed side go through to the knockout stages, so a win tomorrow would take Edinburgh very close to qualification.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here