Ethan Hooker thriving in Springboks' environment built on hunger and humility

For Ethan Hooker, every day inside the Springbok camp feels like an education, a fast-tracked rugby degree delivered under the eye of world-champion coach Rassie Erasmus.

The young Sharks back has developed rapidly since making his Test debut this year, but he insists the acceleration has less to do with natural talent and far more to do with the demands of the environment he now calls home.

“I'm very privileged to be in the situation I am now,” Hooker said ahead of the Springboks’ Test against Italy at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Saturday. “Just being in such an environment with such good players and such quality coaches, it automatically ups your game. I just try to take away as much as I can every single day and build on myself every single day with the players I have around me.

“I think what's special about this environment is that everyone’s so eager to always better themselves. No one ever gets complacent with how they're performing.”

That mindset will be examined again this weekend against a fast-improving Italian side, especially after the Boks’ energy-sapping win against France, where they played the majority of the match with 14 men following Lood de Jager’s red card.

Italy, meanwhile, arrive with momentum after their statement victory over Australia last week, a result Hooker believes will inject belief into the hosts as they return to home soil, having lost their two meetings with South Africa in July.

“They’re going to take huge confidence from that win,” he said. “Australia are a quality team and to go out there and beat Australia is going to give them huge amounts of confidence and energy. “They're going to use the good things they took out from that game and they're going to use it against us.”

Italy’s backline, in particular, has Hooker’s attention. “They do have really good backs, nice and physical, good playmakers,” he said. “I think it's going to be a very good test for our backline. But sure, just manning up, fronting up and just taking whatever comes our way, and then obviously just doing our best, taking in our systems and performing as we’d like to.”

The Springboks have lost to Italy only once, in 2016, and remain heavy favourites as the world’s No 1-ranked side facing the team currently in 10th. But Hooker insists that neither rankings nor past meetings will determine anything on Saturday.

“World rankings don't really mean anything,” he said. “It's all about on the day, how our team pitches, our prep during the week. They've beaten us before. “They're another team coming out to give their best against us, and we've got to match that and be better than that if we want to come out with a win.”

One of the Springboks’ greatest strengths in recent years has been their pool of multi-positional players — and Hooker fits the mould perfectly. Versatility, he says, is something he embraces rather than tolerates.

“I wouldn't say there's a preference for me,” he said. “I love being able to play multiple positions. I think it widens my game and I'd want to be as versatile as I can and give the coaches as much of an opportunity to play me wherever they feel is fit. “So yeah, no preference for me, as long as I'm on the field, that's what matters.”

As for the venue, the iconic home of Juventus, Hooker admits he is relishing the prospect.

“No, I've never been there, but I'm very excited,” he said with a smile. “I always loved Juventus as a team, so yeah, I'll be very excited to play there.”