Bok Women star Danelle Lochner is inspired by Springboks Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman

The multi-talented Danelle Lochner is netball’s loss and rugby’s gain after the lanky lineout ace found a happy home with the Springbok Women’s team.

The 1.84m lock is loving life and will be a key member of the Women’s squad doing battle with Brazil in Sunday’s World Cup opener in Northampton.

Lochner is not too far from London, where she is a professional with the Harlequins team. Quins recently renewed her contract because of her stellar performances.

Lochner and her teammates are part of a special Springbok Women’s team that is probably the first to have a genuine professional identity and strong team culture.

Lochner says the players feel responsible for delivering on their potential. The Boks are ranked 12th on the world standings and are not expected to advance beyond the quarter-finals, but Lochner says they will do their utmost to make South Africa proud.

“If we do what we are supposed to very well — never mind if we win or lose — and put our heart and soul into the way that we play and portray ourselves, that will make people want to support us,” the 28-year-old said.

“We can’t just go to the World Cup thinking, ‘Oh, we are just going to walk away with a medal or a trophy... It is about keeping ourselves close to earth, doing the hard work, and grinding on to the best of our ability.”

Lochner played international netball matches against Fiji and New Zealand, but stopped a promising career because “Something died inside me.”

“I always told myself that if you stop enjoying something, you either have to stop for a while until the love comes back or you have to do something else in its place,” she explained.

“I was at that point with the netball where a lot was going on, including an injury that stopped me from going to the Commonwealth Games, and then I tore knee ligaments before a World Cup.

“There was politics, too. A lot of stuff was happening that did not gel with me, and I thought, ‘I am over it.’ I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. It felt like a job. I promised myself I would stop when that became the case.”

But it has been a different story with rugby.

“Since I started playing rugby, it hasn’t felt that way for even one day,” Lochner said.

She says her route to rugby began with watching the Blitzboks.

“Watching Sevens was inspirational for me. Some of my netball friends started playing rugby, then I started watching the 15s more.

“The men Boks were role models, not because I wanted to play rugby like them, but because they were just very good players. The way they did things gave me something to look up to.

“And now that I play rugby, it makes sense to me why I enjoy watching them and appreciating their standards.”

There are certain Springboks that stood out for Lochner.

“Steven Kitshoff was a very good prop, and now that he has retired, he keeps promoting the game in different ways. Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman, I enjoy it because I play the same position. RG has amazing handling skills — anyone would aspire to be like him.

“Eben also calls the lineout the same as me. I watch his games and see how much confidence he takes into match day, I can relate to that.”

Lochner also identifies with the physicality of the likes of Etzebeth and is renowned for enjoying the rough stuff.

“I come from a (supposed) non-contact sport in netball, but the reality is that there is a lot of contact, and you can’t dish out what you have taken. On the rugby field, if you hit me, I can hit you straight back. So it is a win-win,” she smiled.