From factories to injuries, find out more about the Springboks star
Who is Lood de Jager: Ten things you should know about the South Africa lock
A brilliant maul defender, with a suprising turn of pace, Lood de Jager has been involved in South Africa squads since 2014.
He joined English club Sale Sharks in 2019 – and here are more facts about the second-row.
Ten things you should know about Lood de Jager
1. Lood de Jager was born on 17 December 1992 in Alberton, a city in Gauteng. His full first name is Lodewyk.
2. He is 6ft 9in and 125kg (19st 10lb) – making him an inch taller than second-row partner Eben Etzebeth.
3. De Jager came through the youth ranks of the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs, first appearing for them in the 2013 Super Rugby season.
4. Both of his parents worked in manufacturing – his father building trains and his mother for Kimberly-Clark, making tissues and nappies.
5. He has two children, Elijah and Anna, with his wife Constance, who is a qualified clinical psychologist.
6. South Africa’s 34-32 loss to Japan at the 2015 Rugby World Cup was a nadir for the national side – but it’s often forgotten that de Jager scored a brilliant try during the match, which had put the Springboks in control.
7. Four years later, he was a member of the World Cup squad that lifted the Webb Ellis trophy in Japan.
8. De Jager played in the World Cup final, but was forced off after dislocating his shoulder in the 22nd minute. He was replaced by Franco Mostert.
9. In April 2021, de Jager broke his leg in a freak accident at the Sale training ground – on his wife’s Constance’s birthday! He snapped his tibia and tore the meniscus in his knee off the bone.
Remarkably, de Jager recovered from the injury in three months and was among the replacements for the first Test of the British & Irish Lions 2021 series that July.
What is it with these lock forwards? First @lionsofficial AWJ makes it back when most people would still have their shoulder in a sling and now Lood de Jager makes it onto the @Springboks bench for the first test after the kind of leg injury that warrants 10 months on the sofa
— chris jones (@chrisjonespress) July 20, 2021
10. The previous September he had another long-term shoulder injury.
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