Pierre Schoeman: 'I was bracing... No-one preps you for that moment'

Pierre Schoeman had already started dreaming of a British and Irish Lions tour even before he won his first Scotland cap.

The barrel-chested prop had been in Edinburgh for three seasons and was poised to qualify for his adopted country in the autumn of 2021.

But watching club-mate Duhan van der Merwe, at the end of the wing’s first season of Test rugby, get the nod for that summer’s Lions trek to South Africa convinced the loosehead that maybe he, too, could set his sights higher than just playing for Scotland.

Van der Merwe started all three Tests against the Springboks while a prop rival Rory Sutherland, now at Glasgow – “a good friend of mine” – also featured in two Tests with another Edinburgh player, Hamish Watson, a replacement in the Lions’ first Test win.

“Four years ago when it was Duhan’s first time, and Suz [Sutherland] as well, I just thought, ‘go for Scotland but surely this has to be a dream too’,” he recalled after being named as one of eight Scotland players in Andy Farrell’s 38-man squad.
“If you don’t have a dream, then I don’t think you will give your best every day to get better and add any value you can in abundance.

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“Even as a young lad and lassie playing sport, in rugby this is the pinnacle of the dream you can achieve in the UK – not as a team winning trophies, but personally pushing up, up and up to reach the highest level you can get to. We know the sacrifices and it’s much better with the reward.”

Schoeman, who turned 31 this week, went home after Edinburgh training to watch the Lions squad announcement with his wife Charissa, who is already planning to travel to Australia to support him, “even if she has to sell the caravan in Midlothian.”

“I was bracing for the moment, but it was exceptional and we shared some tears,” he revealed. “No-one preps you for that moment. All the sacrifice, then you get that reward – but this is not the final destination.

“There’s a few mountains still to climb and the hard work starts now. You want to play in as many games and Tests as you can and represent yourself well on and off the pitch.

“It’s an amazing moment. For me personally, my faith has carried me through the whole time – faith and a great wife. My wife is my rock, as well as God, and it was a dream that we believed in. We prayed and we hoped, and we worked every day. And if you have hope then you can inspire action and make it happen.”

As a 15-year-old at high school in Pretoria, a year before he first represented the Bulls age-group teams, Schoeman had his first initiation into what the Lions were all about, watching the Springboks triumph in an epic second Test at Loftus Versfeld.

“I have a very fond memory of when they toured South Africa and Ugo Monye scored that great interception try in the third Test, but it had all come down to the second Test – when Jaque Fourie scored in the corner and Morne Steyn luckily slotted the [winning penalty] kick over,” he recalled.

“It was a brilliant moment for South Africa but the red army, the sea of fans, the way the Lions stepped up and were not afraid – fearless Lions, that’s what came to mind.

“You could just see everything in their lives didn’t matter, just that moment. And I think that’s what supporters, friends and families want to see – moments where everything is aligned and there has to be a winner. It’s quite amazing to be a part of that now.”

Schoeman has become a mainstay for Scotland over the past four years, playing in 42 of their 47 Tests since his debut against Tonga in the autumn of 2021, starting 35 of them.

But his business partner Van der Merwe – the two own a whisky brand together – has already primed Schoeman to expect a step up in standards in the rarified environment of a Lions tour.

“He told me about the intensity, the accuracy, the pressure of getting it right in training – you compete for everything,” Schoeman said. “But then off the field as well, the camaraderie and the personal connections – I think that’s what is key in this as well.

“You have the least amount of time, you’re from four different nations. It doesn’t matter who or what you are, or your beliefs or where you come from, you have to be pulling in the same direction. It’s a pride of hungry lions and there’s only one option really.”

Schoeman is particularly looking forward to getting to know his direct rivals for a Test spot, England’s Ellis Genge and Andrew Porter of Ireland.

“I think loosehead is a special kind of breed,” he added. “We’re all weird and different animals. I especially look forward to spending a lot of time with Ellis Genge and Andrew Porter. It will be amazing on and off the pitch.”