'Kamp Daandraad': How Springboks' Asenathi Ntlabakanye lost 18kg a few weeks
Image: Backpagepix
The legend of Springboks' assistant coach Daan Human continues to grow after it was revealed this week that the new edition to the Springboks, prop Asenathi Ntlabkanye, lost about 18kg in a couple of weeks after training with the scrum coach on his farm.
Human has become a cult figure in South African rugby for his bucket hats and his brutal scrum training sessions during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which was showcased in fly-on-the-wall documentary Chasing The Sun 2.
During those videos, Human, who doesn't believe in scrum machines because 'it doesn't push back' the Bok climb into each other with massive impacts during scrum training.
It looks like mere mortals would simply fold in half if they had to experience that force - almost two tons of prime South African beef colliding. It's almost a case of an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force.
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It's one of the reasons the Bok scrum bailed them out on many occasions during those World Cup playoffs, with those one-point victories in the knockout stages coming down to fine margins and a scrum, which generated penalties.
Ntlabakanye was this week included in the Springboks' starting team for Saturday's match against the Barbarians at Cape Town's DHL Stadium. Before the camp, he tipped the scales at about 160kg, one of the biggest players in the country
However, Erasmus on Tuesday said that Ntlabakanye shed between 15 and 18 kilograms after spending time with Human in Bloemfontein when the Lions were knocked out of the United Rugby Championship. There the two worked on his fitness and scrum technique, with Erasmus calling it 'Kamp Daandraad', which is a play on word with the infamous Kamp Staaldraad.
Kamp Staaldraad was supposed to be a team bonding exercise for the Boks ahead of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, with an emphasis on fitness and team building. But it ended up being a brutal training camp, with players having to shave their heads, spend time on their own in the bush while being naked.
Erasmus put videos and pictures of Ntlabakanye, as well as Jan-Hendrik Wessels, training with Human on his farm, which has a gym with what looks like a lot of scrum equipment.
In true Human style, the training was brutal, but clearly effective.
'He (Ntlabakanye) went a few times to Daan's farm and stayed for a week and Daan worked with him,' Erasmus said about Ntlabakanye's commitment.
'It was with the blessing of Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen and CEO Rudolf Streauli. Whenever there was a break, he drove to the farm. When we started looking at him two years ago and started tracking his actual battle stats, it was up there with the other guys. We told the Lions we've got to get this right when we roped him in.
Jan Hendrik taste Kamp Staal Daan pic.twitter.com/UPI2PhZpes — Johan Erasmus (@RassieRugby) June 25, 2025
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