"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" would be an excellent way to describe Johan Grobbelaar’s conduct during and after Varsity Cup clashes.

 The UP-Tuks hooker gives as good as he gets during a game and has the reputation as someone not to mess with between the four lines. When the final whistle blows though, there are no hard feelings. He abides by the motto that what happens on the field, stays on the field.

  It is guaranteed that the aspirant farmer will be in the thick of things in Monday’s all-important semi-final clash at home against North West.

 During their first Varsity Cup-encounter in Potchefstroom, UP-Tuks “demolished” Northwest to win 28-0. Grobbelaar is quick to point out that what happened, happened. That result is a mere statistic now though. As far as he is concerned Monday is a new game with its own unique challenges.

 “It should be remembered that North West beat us in a home friendly before the Varsity Cup Tournament. They will have that in the back of their minds and come at us with all guns blazing. Underestimating them would be foolish. The challenge will be to duplicate the intensity we displayed when we beat them in the round robin stages.”

 Through his no-nonsense approach to playing rugby, Grobbelaar has established himself as one of the best hookers in this year’s Varsity Cup Tournament. His line-out throws are immaculate, and he’s been solid in the scrums. Somehow he still has energy left to fulfil the role as an extra loose forward putting in the hard tackles as well as testing any opposition’s defensive skills with brute force whenever he has the ball in hand.

 Grobbelaar got the “Player of the Match-award” in the game against North West as well as Shimlas. He has scored three tries in the season so far. He refuses to take credit for any of his heroic on-field exploits though, reiterating that any player is only as good as what his teammates allow him to be.

“All three tries I have scored were created by strong mauling moves. I was fortunate to be the one holding the ball at the time. My role each time was limited to be the one falling across the try line which led to me to be credited with scoring. In reality, it was an all-around team effort,” explained Grobbelaar who has one Super Rugby-cap for the Bulls to his name. He has also represented the Bulls in Currie Cup rugby.

 Grobbelaar admits that he never thought that he would be playing for the Bulls. He matriculated at Paarl Gimnasium which meant he grew up being an avid Western Province supporter, hardly missing a game at Newlands. He also represented the Western Province High School Craven Week-team.

 Luckily for Tuks, the Bulls talent scouts spotted his talent and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. The clincher was getting the opportunity to study BCom Agri-Business Management. The day his rugby career finishes he plans to help his dad on their family farm outside Paarl.