Embrose Papier has finally moved from school prodigy to professional and wants a Bok jersey again

It says much for the rugby gifts bestowed on Embrose Papier that he became a Springbok without coming remotely close playing to his full potential.

The 24-year-old Bulls half-back played 7 Tests back in 2018 during Rassie Erasmus' first year as national coach on the back of some promising performances in Super Rugby and Bok management's initial plan to build local depth.

Yet Papier - along with former Bulls team-mate and fellow international debut that year Ivan van Zyl - then found himself in the wilderness as the two men lost almost all of their confidence the following year, predominantly because of a clumsy rotation policy under Pote Human.

Compounding that situation was the fact, revealed by Papier this week, that he has actually taken the best part of five years to truly make the transition from schoolboy legend to professional.

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"When I attended Garsfontein (in the East of Pretoria) and to a lesser extent at junior provincial level, I was basically just tasked with playing running rugby," said the man from Clanwilliam, who is indeed considered one of the finest scrumhalves to grace South African school fields in history.

"When you reach senior level, you're actually not all that used to playing in a system, where you are basically told what you need to do. So I came in and I just wanted to be full of running. I wanted to snipe and play expansively.

"But that meant I was making a lot of mistakes too. As I became a bit older, I learnt a lot about the game. I'm still realising how important coaches are and why game plans are important. Also, playing to a plan doesn't mean you can't still express yourself within it. 

"Once you've made