SA Rugby
These were the words of the CEO of the Blue Bulls Company Edgar Rathbone following the disappearance of their contracted player and Springbok winger Sbu Nkosi.
Nkosi disappeared off the radar last month and a missing person report was opened by the Company.
Rathbone addressed the media at Loftus Versveld on Tuesday morning after Nkosi was found unharmed at a family member's house.
"We were confident that we could locate Sbu without causing public panic but this did not pan out that way, with the story breaking through the media over the weekend," he said.
He said they were thrilled to find Sbu alive, but were equally saddened to see him in the state he was in.
Rathbone urged the public to give Nkosi space and privacy to regain his confidence and get back to being the player they know and love.
He also stated that this incident was a wake-up call for them.
"We as the Vodacom Bulls will now be exploring, alongside our supportive partners, support mechanisms that we can introduce in our rugby community and this is hopefully the start of something great for South African rugby because we are lucky today but tomorrow, our intervention may be too late and that is not something we want to see become a reality," he said
He said although they have a team psychologist they acknowledge the fact players are human beings and not machines and that they are under enormous pressure to perform.
In August 2022, Wallabies captain Michael Hooper withdrew from a Rugby Championship Test against Argentina just 24 hours before kick-off, stating that he was not in the right mindset to lead or represent the country.
At the time Rugby Australia CEO Andy Marinos respected Hooper's decision calling him a brave and incredible leader as he had the best interest of the team at heart.
Hooper was given the Union's complete support.
Later in the same month, England cricketer Ben Stokes stepped away from the game temporarily, complaining of panic attacks and anxiety.
He stressed the importance of opening up about mental health and not pretending that things are not ok.
In May of 2022 former World Number 1 female tennis player, Naomi Osaka sparked an international debate about mental health in the sport when she declined to give post-match interviews due to her anxiety in dealing with journalists.
These past few weeks in Europe have been a real character test but I’m glad I came ???? overall just really happy this year I’m leaving with a completely different emotion than the previous one. Ty Paris ?? pic.twitter.com/5AbTZcD6ct
— NaomiOsaka????? (@naomiosaka) May 24, 2022
This resulted in Osaka withdrawing from the tournament.
