Required skills: Loose forwards need to be good ‘all rounders’ to pursue and gain possession of the ball. They should possess both speed and strength, as they must stay close to the ball and generally make more tackles than the other players. The eighthman is usually faster and lighter than the flanks, as this is an advantage in effectively performing his role: he is expected to watch out for dangerous moves from the opposition, and must often win the ball and drive it forward to set up play for his side.

Required fitness levels: Loose forwards should be able to manage 1.72 seconds in the 10 metres, 5.3 seconds in the 40 metres, 130 kilograms in the bench press, 160 kilograms in the squat and 62 cm in the vertical jump. Body fat should be no more than 10%. For playing lock position, forwards like Britz and Venter should ideally do even better on their vertical jump and bench press, but speed and body fat are somewhat lesser concerns.

Injuries to watch out for: Loose forwards are prone to head, neck, shoulder, back, trunk, knee and ankle injuries. One common injury is to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The ACL, situated behind the kneecap, stabilises the knee joint and connects the thigh bone to the lower leg bone. The ACL can be sprained or ruptured if the knee gets a direct blow during a tackle or the lower leg rotates excessively while the foot stays relatively stationary. The result is a painful, unstable knee, that can put the player out of action for months - as happened to Joe van Niekerk. A recent South African study showed, in fact, that eighthmen (such as Van Niekerk) tend to have the highest frequency of injuries of all rugby player positions.