Five months after his last match with the MHR, Jan Serfontein will finally return to the pitches of the Top 14 against Pau this Saturday. The first match of the rest of his career in Hérault.
The right is almost perfect. The left is still marked by a beautiful scar. In less than two months, Jan Serfontein (31) had surgery on both hands, depriving him of the first nine days of Top 14. “Too bad, I won’t sharpen it again”smiles the South African center (35 caps), who returns to the field this Saturday, against Pau.
An annoying absence for the Montpellier staff, deprived of one of their best elements in the center of the field. But a necessary absence which took longer than expected. At the beginning of July, he and the club's medical staff finally decided to operate on an injury to his right hand which dated from January. Bad luck, barely recovered from his convalescence, he broke the other one.
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But here he is on his feet, his head still as well shaped and ready to take things in hand. With Serfontein, manager Joan Caudullo offers himself a new asset in his three-quarter play: power. The Springbok with 35 caps is a significant launching pad, often used as a first attacker to break the opponent's first curtain.
A profile complementary to the style of play that Caudullo and his staff want to establish in the long term, more focused on possession of the ball. But for the moment, in a group looking for confidence and automatisms, the power and aerial qualities of the South African can reassure the troops, especially when it comes to pressing the opponent.
“We especially expect Jan to bring us his leadership and experience”assures the kicking coach, Jérémy Valls.
Return to the country
The team's “Mr. Gendre-Idéal” has experience in spades. Arriving in Hérault in 2017 for the start of the Vern Cotter era, he has experienced six staffs, won the Challenge in 2021 and the Bouclier de Brennus in 2022. The only thing that hasn't changed is that every coach – apart from Xavier Garbajosa, perhaps – has made Serfontein one of the centerpieces of their three-quarter line. In 125 appearances with Montpellier, he was only a substitute six times… Colossal.
But his time at MHR is numbered. The springbok wall borer will end its French adventure next June. After eight years in France, a return to the country is planned, a priori to the Bulls, his former club. “I want to enjoy as much as possible, have fun with the guys one last season, win matches”he assures. A sober, humble, discreet statement. Quite the opposite of his temperament on the pitch. His replacement next season, the Englishman Lennox Anyanwu (23 years old, 1.82m, 102kg), will have a heavy legacy to bear.
