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Werner Kok and Newcastle Red Bulls players cheered Christian Wade as the first England the winger is trying to overtake Chris Ashton as the greatest try scorer in rugby history Gallagher PREM.
Wade’s 101st try in a 17-3 win Sale leveled him with Ashton heading into this weekend’s clash at Saracens before the league takes a break during November’s international competition.
Kok and his teammates are desperate for Wade to become a leading try-scorer, but that hasn’t stopped them taking the mickey out of the 35-year-old who left rugby to play American football before returning to the sport.
Kok is a livewire former star of the week with slick locks, who works on the second wing of the Red Bulls.
“We’re actually giving Cristian a bit of grief and told him he’s going to have to work for this record-breaking attempt. Even if he intercepts, both teams will be after him!” said Kok.
“But really, we can’t wait for the moment when he breaks the record. He’s earned it to be gone from Prem for four years, come back and do it in eight seasons of rugby league which is so impressive.”
“He’s so physical and he’s the ultimate professional in the way he takes care of himself and shows that age is just a number. He’s still competing with younger players at 35 and he’s one of those guys who can go on and play until he’s 40.”
Newcastle boast two uniquely talented wings as Koko’s stellar career as a member of the Springbok squad helped them win Man vs car challenge against Top Gear star James May, who was in a Nissan GT-R that can do 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 293mph.
The stunt took place in South Africa in 2015, shortly after Kok was named Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.
Kok, a member of South Africa’s bronze medalist Sevens team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, explained: “The race was in an indoor arena where the Clarkson, Hammond & May Live world tour was taking place. It was over 100m and James May was in the race running a Nissan GT-R and I was then running around the second shuttle 5. 50m.
“The problem for James was that the Nissan was hard to get into reverse and they gave him so much grief and I got him in line. I did six races and beat him every time over three days and it was cool to be able to do that.”
“It was only after I was named World Player of the Week in 2015 and I got tickets to shows for all my friends and family who loved it.”
Kok, 33, who played for the Stormers, Toulouse and Sharks (Durban) arrived at Kingston Park with his wife Zanyika this season on a one-year deal from Ulster as part of a large contingent of new players funded by Red Bull’s investment designed to turn the club into title contenders after years of languishing at the bottom of the league.
It’s a world away from Nelspruit where Kok grew up near the Kruger National Park in the far north-east of South Africa. The rough and tumble of life in the South African veld and a household where both parents were personal trainers prepared Kok, whose muscular build earned him the nickname Tarzan, for a life in sport and a career in a week that took him around the world.
Kok has very few mementos from his career seven years on from a warehouse break-in in Cape Town during the Covid lockdown period, but he hasn’t given up hope of finding them again.
“We were moving from Cape Town to Durban and the jerseys I collected during my seven-year career were in storage, but because of the pandemic the place wasn’t checked that often and someone broke in and stole all the jerseys and we’re still looking for them,” he explained.
“The 2016 Olympic medal is in a safe, but the Rio jersey and my 50th Blitzboks jersey are somewhere in Cape Town and they all have my number 5 on the back. So if anyone comes across a team with a number 5 on the back of all the jerseys, they’ll know they’re mine!”
He is now in the north-east of England with a move to Saracens for his next assignment and a potential clash with Noah Caluori, one of English rugby’s rising stars.
The 6ft 4in Saracens winger has already earned a reputation as one of the sport’s best high ball catchers, so how will 5ft 10in Kok deal with this threat?
“I know he’s big, but I also know I can bring something different on the edge and I like to be really physical, so even if I let him catch the ball, then I can beat him on the breakdown. That’s something that’s my superpower.”
“The Blitzboks haven’t been the biggest team in weeks and we’ve had to work on being really physical at the breakdown and jacking, and the work we’ve done has made us better on the floor. It’s about scoring and coming back to compete at the breakdown.”
The triumph in stormy conditions over Sale heralded a Premier League victory for a revamped squad and while they have a long way to go to become title contenders, Kok believes it was a key moment for the club.
“The win against Sale was really important and we have this exciting style of rugby that we are implementing,” he added.
“The win was exactly what we needed and we showed that this is the way we will play that we will score tries, while our defense against Sale was also important and something the team can be proud of.”
Having fallen in love with the North East, Kok hopes to extend his stay in Newcastle and said: “There’s always the hope of another year and it all depends on how things go, but I can see myself living here for three or four years because the people and the city are fantastic and we’ve got on really well.”