Aphelele Fassi (Photo by Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)
- Aphelele Fassi was one of the breakout players of the last couple of seasons and was poised for an influential Sharks Super Rugby campaign this year.
- It is believed Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus had him in his sights for the postponed July Tests against Scotland and Georgia.
- Sharks backline coach Dave Williams lauded the 22-year-old’s skill set and maturity.
The last sweet memory Sharks fans had before the 2020 Super Rugby season came to a wretched end was of fullback Aphelele Fassi slicing through the Stormers’ defence to score after receiving a delicious assist pass from flyhalf Curwin Bosch.
Fassi, who that late March afternoon in Durban scored his third try in seven matches, played the kind of game that cemented his place in Springbok reckoning for the July Tests against Scotland and Georgia.
An unstoppable global pandemic (or injury) was the only thing that could have prevented the 22-year-old from getting his green and gold blazer. But, by all accounts, Fassi’s dream of playing for his country is only deferred until borders reopen and life returns to the new normal.
But what makes the kid from King William’s Town who broke through in the 2018 Currie Cup, a year after high school, so good? Why can’t any rugby lover keep his name out their mouth?
Sharks backline coach Dave Williams sheds a bit of light into the Fassi mystique, saying the former Dale College pupil has the genius type of DNA, which allows him to grasp what sports scientists and coaches call “Perception-Action Coupling”.
“He’s got an unbelievable skill set and he’s a special talent,” Williams says.
“You watch him with the ball; he’s phenomenal. He’s got what I call ‘Perception-Action Coupling’. It’s what the great players have. Perception is what you see, and you couple it with the action.
“Having worked in a skills role, some players you watch when they do drills, they can kick and pass and they’ve got skills. But when you put them into a game, they can’t make the connection of what skill to use at the right time.
“What Aphelele’s got – probably from his school days at Dale – is that he sees pictures on the field and he’s got the skill set to carry out that action.
“When you watch Fassie in action, he’s got that ‘Perception-Action Coupling’ ability at the highest level – perhaps Springbok level. That’s what you try to create or sign in a player.
“When you get a lot of guys with great ‘Perception-Action Coupling’, you get good performances on the field.
“The model we play gives him a lot of counter-attacking opportunities and I think he’d be the first to praise the forwards who work so hard to create those moments for him in defence and on a turnover.”
It’s not that he’s all flash and no substance either. Purists will remember when he “fetched” Aphiwe Dyantyi in a match against the Golden Lions in 2018 after the Springbok winger thought he was clean through on goal.
Fassi showed deceptive defensive awareness, a frightening (for a 19-year-old) turn of speed, and positional nous of fullback that has done it for a dozen years.
His fundamentals are pure and rarely does he get caught out trying to be over-elaborate or neglecting his high-ball, clearance-kicking or cover defensive duties.
“We call it making the unseen, seen,” says Williams. “The things he does that the crowds don’t see – getting into position early, cross covering, making sure the ball lands in his hands when it would have bounced on the floor if it went to someone else – those things create the moments to step and beat someone.
“His ability to really engage in the game allows him to come alive once he gets to use the skill set that he has.”
Kicking consultant and former Springbok flyhalf/fullback Pat Lambie is also on the growing bandwagon of Fassi admirers, of which Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is believed to be a part.
Lambie, in his short time since re-joining the Sharks following his retirement last year, has been wildly impressed by Fassi’s all-round game and the mature head on his shoulders – something Lambie himself knows plenty about.
“He’s impressed me no end,” he said. “He’s got a very mature head on his shoulders. You can see he’s focused and determined and that he really wants to make the most of his rugby career.
“He’s got a superb work ethic and he’s gifted with a lot of talent, too. He’s already got a good rugby brain and that’s only gonna get better.
“We all see the electrifying pace he has and the X-factor ability to make something out of nothing. He’s been one of my favourite players to watch this year in Super Rugby and I love working with him.
“You can say he’s got it all: his high-ball skills are great, he’s got a monstrous left boot and he’s big and tall enough. As he grows and matures, he’s only going to get better, which is very exciting for the Sharks and for South African rugby.”
