Saracens talisman Schalk Brits is hooked on helping talented young guns
George has long been talked about as a future Saracens captain and England international, but has found his path to first-team rugby blocked by Brits, who has had a phenomenal impact on English rugby since his arrival in 2009.
In his maiden season the South African won the players’ player of the year and his all-action style has caused chaos throughout Premiership defences.
But at 31, Brits no longer believes he will be an automatic first choice and his role may evolve into a mentoring responsibility to a pair of hookers he describes as ‘the future of England rugby‘.
Brits said: “It’s going to be a great battle for the younger guys like Jamie George and Scott Spurling coming through and seeing them develop as individuals.
“For me, over the next couple years that means giving them some freedom to play.
“I may take a backseat because they are the future of England. They can be in the squad pretty soon in my opinion.
“Jamie has been working really hard and it’s going to be great to see him progress.
“I’m at an age where I just want to enjoy my game.
“The way I can help the young hookers coming through at Saracens would be to teach them my outlook.
“John Smit has a different outlook to me and hopefully they can take the best from what I can do and what he can do and combine our philosophies with their own and ultimately become what they want to be.”
Brits has come back well from a shoulder operation this summer to boost a Saracens side which lost their Premiership crown and fell in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.
He added: “I had a shoulder reconstruction and I am ahead of schedule. I’m in the gym twice a day and doing all the fitness.
“The first week of pre-season I threw up every day, luckily that has stopped and I am getting better. I am very happy being ahead of where I wanted to be.
“I’m hoping to be fully fit a week before the season starts. The aim was to be ready for the first or second game of the season.
“As a side I’m hoping we can be more successful in the Heineken Cup, we did ok but as a club that is not where we want to be.
“We want to be competing in the final and having a shot at that, and then following that with the Premiership.
“The new guys like Chris Ashton are settling in well, he is in my changing room and I’m trying to make him feel at home.
“All the boys have been amazing. It’s really good having the new boys in.
“To be fair the atmosphere Saracens create means it is easy for new player to settle.
“The only way you won’t settle in is if you don’t want to.”
