With a vengeance, Springbok Lood de Jager is back in action!
The 31-year-old de Jager last competed for the Springboks in July of last year in New Zealand during the second round of the 2023 Rugby Championship, which ended in a 35-20 loss to the All Blacks.
De Jager was forced to miss time soon after due to a “chest issue,” which was subsequently determined to be pericarditis an enlargement of the tissue around the heart. He was not selected for the Springbok World Cup as a result of it. His playing career had been in doubt for months, but in December a cardiac expert gave him the all-clear to resume his training with Saitama Wild Knights, his Japanese club team.
Additionally, De Jager and fellow Springbok Damian de Allende were selected to start for the Wild Knights on Saturday in their Japanese League One game against the Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars.
The Wild Knights won 81–21, with De Jager scoring one of their 12 tries and De Allende adding another.