Stormers scrum-half Herschel Jantjies rates Conor Murray as "one of the best" and is looking forward to taking on the Munster man in Saturday's BKT URC final.
Provided both are selected on Friday lunch-time, the Springbok and Ireland internationals will go head-to-head in Cape Town with a URC title on the line - a second in two seasons for the South Africans or a first trophy in 12 years for the Irish side.
It may also serve as a teaser for a potential World Cup match-up with Andy Farrell's Six Nations champs facing the Webb Ellis holders in Paris on 23 September in Pool B.
After losing his place in the Munster team earlier this season, 34-year-old Murray, who has 105 Ireland and nine Lions caps, has returned to form over the past three months and played a huge role in Ireland's Grand Slam.
"It is going to be a nice challenge playing against Conor Murray, as you want to play against the best and he is one of the best," said Jantjies, who made his international debut in the summer of 2019 and has won 22 South Africa caps.
"You don't really play one on one in your positions, so sometimes it is wrong to say it is you against him.
"He's played more than 100 games for his country. He's an experienced player and he's definitely someone I can learn from."
Like Murray, Jantjies has enjoyed a stellar end of season, starring in their play-off wins against the Bulls and Connacht, and a return to form following an inconsistent spell after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"You don’t wake up one morning and decide 'Okay now I am going to have a bad season'," said the 27-year-old.
"It is something that just happens, but hard work gets that right and that is what I have done.
"A professional player has to constantly work on his game in order to improve and you need to target your weaknesses for extra attention. I have worked hard on my kicking game and the kicking coach Gareth Wright has been a big help in that regard."
Jantjies' partner in crime, as witnessed first-hand by Connacht in the semi-final when he scored 23 points in the 43-25 win, out-half Manie Libbok is a man with plenty of admirers, among them Munster defence coach Denis Leamy.
"Yeah, what a player," enthused the double Heineken Cup winner about the 25-year-old, who has three international caps.
"We've been watching him very closely over the last while, he's such a talent that boy, you could watch reels of him. Just his ability to pass balls, his kick-passing is just world class, his ability to put the ball on a lower trajectory and put it through the air really, really quickly, that's really special.
"So he's a really special player, is Libbok, and he's a guy that we have to try and take time and space away from.
"We will go back to our fundamentals and our framework in terms of how we want to control the speed of ball and to try to nullify him a little bit in terms of how we defend together. So a huge task, he's definitely a massive player for the Stormers but he's a guy that we will try to curtail through our framework."
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