Springbok and DHL Stormers No.8 Evan Roos has found himself the focus of scrutiny after a "dangerous" clearout on Glasgow Warriors’ back row, Matt Fagerson.
The incident occurred during the URC Round 3 clash between the Stormers and Glasgow at Scotstoun, where Glasgow was leading 15-6 at the time of Roos’s sending-off. However, Roos was targeted by the Glasgow Warriors on several occasions during the match, while Matt Fagerson held Roos' head down which caused Roos' reaction.
This was not the first time Roos was singled out for "special" attention. The "horrible croc roll" by Duane Vermeulen helped on by illegal play by Nick Timoney almost ended Roos’ Stormers season. "Amazingly" Roos was singled out by the South African public as being "soft" while Vermeulen and Timoney were praised.
Roos was "credited" for the loss to Glasgow Warriors as haters publicly vented their hate of Roos. However, against Glasgow he was everywhere, one can’t fault his general play, or his ability to take the ball forward and over the gain line. His 24 carries on the night highlights just how involved he was and was it not for the yellow card, his 3rd in three URC seasons, he would have easily been the star of the evening.
Taking his URC 2023/24 statistics into account one can easily judge his importance to the DHL Stormers. He made 5 offloads which was the 3rd most of the season, he carried the ball 38 times which is the 5th most with Marcell Theunissen having the second most carries by Stormers' forwards with 20 carries. He made 23 tackles which is the third most of the Stormers' forwards and won four turnovers which is the most of all South African based players.
One can not understand the hate from certain parts of the South African public and the biased media towards Roos. Yes, he has to work on his reaction to being targeted by the opposition, but so did the younger Jasper Wiese, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Pieter-Steph du Toit who are hailed as Springbok heroes at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Evan Roos will "grow up" and learn to manage the "red mist", however, one can just hope that the South African rugby public will treat this super-talent as one of their own and treat him with respect as he develops into a well-rounded superstar. We must accept that he will represent the Springboks for many years to come, playing an unforgiving battle-hardened game that reminds us of heroes from the past, a player that will only stop giving 120% when the final whistle sounds.