he line of questioning when Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje went in front of a posse of media interviewers after the Springbok team announcement gave the impression that Heyneke Meyer has been guilty of delaying an obvious selection, but when the flanker spoke it became clear the opposite is true.

“Oupa, did you start wondering if you would ever get a chance to play?” was one of the early questions of the 24 year old, who played as a replacement against Scotland in Port Elizabeth in June and now makes his first start against Australia here in Cape Town on Saturday.

The Free Stater left little doubt there was no impatience on his part, and put it all in perspective with his answer: “I was only playing in the Varsity Cup at the start of the year, so for me just to be part of the Springboks squad was very special,” he said.

Indeed, not only was Mohoje, who had only played a few games for the Griffons in the secondary domestic competitions before this season, still a relative unknown to everyone except those who closely follow the Varsity Cup before he made his Cheetahs debut, you could argue he is still far from being an established Super Rugby player. He wasn’t a member of the Cheetahs playing squad in all the games, and even when he was, he often played off the bench.

“I got my chance because of injuries to some of the other players in the Cheetahs team. I wouldn’t have been thinking at that stage that I would be part of the Springbok set-up so quickly. I just wanted to establish myself with the Cheetahs and take my chance at Super Rugby level,” he says.

“I’ve played 10 Super Rugby matches for the Cheetahs, and five of those were as members of the starting team.”

Mohoje agreed that those figures reveal that he is still somewhat green as a professional rugby player.

“Saturday’s test match will be my sixth start as a (high level) professional rugby player,” he said.

Mohoje is so new to the higher level of professional rugby that he hasn’t even played yet against any of the Australian loose-forwards he will be up against at Newlands.

“The Cheetahs never played against the Waratahs this season so I never got to play against Michael Hooper, and I don’t recall playing against any of their other loose-forwards either. This will be the first time I am coming up against them,” said Mohoje.

When you look at Mohoje’s lack of experience, any suggestion that Bok coach Meyer somehow erred in keeping him sidelined until now suddenly appears laughable. You have to go back to 2005, when the then Bok coach Jake White shocked critics by selecting Meyer Bosman, who had only played a handful of games for the Cheetahs, as his starting flyhalf for test matches against Wales and France, for when last a Bok player started an international match boasting so little experience.

So it was understandable that some of the Australian journalists were prepared to ask Mohoje the questions the South Africans present wouldn’t dare: Was he irritated that there would be people who would consider his selection to be about the colour of his skin and what did he think about the controversy about race quotas?

Of course, the second part of that question has nothing to do with Mohoje and is something that could only be answered by politicians and rugby administrators, but on the first point he was clear on what he had been told by Meyer.

“I think I was selected here on merit, the coach has told me that. He said when he sat me down to talk about his plans with me that I am in the squad on merit. So the quota thing is not something I have much to say about.”

It is true that in the Meyer era, fringe players not utilized in the matches do not just stand around holding tackling bags. So his coaching staff would have been working hard to get him up to speed with his conditioning and aspects of his specialized role as a blindside flanker.

“I’ve been working really hard, particularly on my conditioning. The fitness guys have really pushed me and I feel ready to play now,” said Mohoje.

With the capped loose-forward Siya Kolisi available to be selected at the time, Meyer would not have chosen Mohoje after so few games with the Cheetahs if he did not see something special in him. For his part, he told the media conference at the team announcement that the public controversy over Mohoje’s non-selection had nothing to do with Mohoje being elevated into the starting line-up now.

“Oupa’s selection definitely didn’t have anything to do with that. You can probably ask Oupa that. I have had a plan with Oupa since day one (of him being in the squad). I told him last week that he would probably start this game,” said Meyer.

Mohoje confirmed that Meyer had always kept him in the loop, and it was why he wasn’t irritated when veteran Juan Smith was brought into the squad to start ahead of him in the Rugby Championship test against Argentina in Salta last month.

“With coach Heyneke I always knew where I stood. We had lots of one-on-ones, and he told me what his plans were. He told me what I needed to work on, where I needed to improve. I was always going to play some role at some stage, whether it was off the bench or in the starting team, and that time is now.

“It is a big opportunity, and it’s a privilege to be here and I need to use this opportunity. Willem Alberts’ shoes are big ones to fill. I’ve had a lot of support from the other guys, and Francois Louw and Marcell Coetzee are two players in particular who have taught me a lot.”

Meyer was understandably reluctant to play Mohoje overseas, where the challenge would have been much greater, and you got the impression from what he said about the selection that it was always planned that Mohoje would play in the home leg of the Championship.

“I am really excited to see him go as I think he can add some value, particularly in the wider channels as a big ball carrier and he can do some great things there. He is also brilliant in the lineouts and we have worked on his defence and ball steals. This is the right time to let him loose. He deserves his start.”