Natal Sharks prop Etienne Fynn is not fazed by the prospect of becoming the first black forward to play a Test for the Springboks when they take on the French on Saturday.
The 28-year-old says that he is about to make a bit of history doesn't bother him at all. All he wants to do is have some fun. "I only realised that on Tuesday," he said on Wednesday when facing the media in Johannesburg, "but I would like to believe that I was picked because I am good enough. I'll just go out there and give it my best shot.
"It is all about having fun. You are not going to put your body through all that torture if you are not having fun." He had enough fun in this year's Super 12, finishing with a bang in the final against the Brumbies.
Springbok coach Harry Viljoen has no doubts about Fynn's abilities to make it at Test level. "Etienne had a great Super 12 for the Sharks," said Viljoen. "He is a promising player whose all-round game and option-taking is very good and I also believe that he deserves to play."
Fynn made his Springbok debut last year, when he was called up to join the Springboks in the United Kingdom after Toks van der Linde sustained a neck injury and was sent home. However, he was never a contender for a Test berth.
The former Kearsney College boy credits Sharks coach Rudolf Straeuli for the change in his fortunes this year. Fynn wasn't an automatic choice for the Sharks at the start of the season and was rotated with Brent Moyle in the starting line-up.
But Fynn, who is 1.76m tall and weighs in at 115kg, surprised rugby followers with his mobility and ball skills and at the end of the season was firmly entrenched in the Sharks XV.
"Rudolf has played a big role in my career, but there were a host of other gentlemen too," said Fynn. But it was Straeuli's influence that elevated Fynn from being just another player to a full-blooded Springbok. "Rudolf knows what he is doing, and with the trust he put in me, I knew I could do it.
"It is all about getting opportunities, and with that opportunity came renewed confidence in myself," he explained, but added he had to put in a lot of hard work to improve his game.
He says there won't be any bad blood between him and Willie Meyer, the man he ousted from the No 3 jersey. "I have the utmost respect for Willie so there will be no tension between us," he assured.
Fynn's big hero is Jean-Pierre Garuet-Lempirou, who played for France between 1983 and 1990. "That guy was an animal. He was mean," the Sharks star said. And that prompted the question whether he thinks he is mean enough to face the French. "We'll just have to wait for Saturday," was the friendly Fynn's response.
Fortunately for Fynn he has experience of playing against one of his front row opponents on Saturday, Pieter de Villiers, the former Stellenbosch University prop. "I remember playing against Pieter at under-21 level, he for Western Province and I for Natal," said Fynn.
And no, he is not nervous about packing down against an experienced French front row. "I have been playing in the front row my whole life, and I'm not nervous about scrumming against the French."
Fynn made his debut for Natal in 1998 after representing the SA Schools team way back in 1990. He also represented the SA Students (1996), Emerging Springboks (1998), SA Barbarians (2000) and after a stint playing for a team in Chicago in America he played for the Golden Lions President side before returning to Natal.
Now his big chance has arrived and the stocky prop fully intents grabbing it with both hands.