Jordan Chait: a crisp definition of sporting youth

LUKE ALFRED

“We’ll have home advantage against Shimlas in the semifinal,” says Chait. “After that it’s either Tukkies or Pukke in the final if we win against Shimlas.”

Maties have galloped through autumn like a thoroughbred side of old, so much so that if Danie Craven is watching from somewhere up above, you feel that he might allow himself the pleasure of a rare smile.

Perhaps he’s even reaching down to pat his beloved dog, Bliksem.

On the face of it, Chait’s Maties haven’t been overly extended in the Varsity Cup. They beat UCT Ikeys (at UCT) 66-5 in the second round, and more recently slapped down Shimlas by putting a casual 45 points on them in a comprehensive 59-14 away victory.

Monday night’s romp against UWC was similarly impressive.

They’re the only side in the competition who haven’t lost, and are one of only three sides who have picked up five bonus points (prior to the final round of matches) alongside Ikeys and Shimlas.

The win against UCT was particularly satisfying for Chait because after matriculating in 2016, he wrestled with whether he wanted to stay close to home and go to UCT with some of his mates, or whether he wanted to experience student life in all its glory at an Afrikaans university some distance away. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” he says. “Finally, though, I wanted to experience what life was like outside of the family.”

Chait is the son of former Western Province flyhalf, Anton, with the rugby-playing family going back four generations to SACS in Cape Town. Jordan says his earliest memories involve kicking a rugby ball to dad (“I was always right-footed”) in the garden of the family home, and although he played good water polo at school, there was never any question about whether the rugby road was the one he would pound.

“It’s in my genes – I was born to play rugby,” he says. “My dad and I play rugby, and my mom and brother go horse-riding – that’s just how it works.”

Not that any pressure was placed on him to play. He was allowed to get on and discover his love of the game for himself without too much heavy-handed parental interference. “Dad’s pretty direct. If I’ve had a bad game he tells me, but it’s not as though there’s been major pressure.”

While at SACS, Chait was part of a school first XV that beat Affies 13-10, probably his most cherished moment as a schoolboy rugby player, and slowly, he’s climbed the ranks to a point where people outside of the Western Cape are beginning to talk about him and whether he might have a long-term future in the game.

He remains relatively unfazed by the chatter, saying that he hasn’t decided what he’ll do in 2020 when asked if he’s considered making rugby a full-time career. He might do honours, he says, but he’s yet to make up his mind one way or another.

Such laissez faire sentiments square with his response to a question about naming one important thing that he’s learned at university in the last while. “That’s quite a difficult question,” he laughs. “I think what I’ve probably taken away most is that you shouldn’t be afraid to take risks. You should go with your instincts. I’ve also learned about discipline, I guess, and the importance of living a balanced life.”

As in life, then, so in rugby. You wouldn’t think in listening to him talk that Maties are about to embark on probably the most important two weeks of their rugby lives so far. Indeed, Chait seems to be taking it stride for stride, day by day, not getting too bothered about whether he’s about to play against UWC in a game of no consequence, or against Shimlas in a semifinal in a week’s time.

Indeed, listening to him talk suggests that Maties are a side high on confidence, with defeat the furthest thing from their collective mind. Knockout rugby brings with it its own anxieties but for the moment at least, those anxieties seem an awfully long way away for the third year BCom Innovation and Entrepreneurship student.

He’s just enjoying the ride, trusting his instinct and not thinking too much about the future. It sounds like a crisp definition of a sporting youth – and a good one at that.