{"id":216691,"date":"2025-10-22T00:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T00:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/216691\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T00:58:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T00:58:20","slug":"i-welcome-the-struggle-maybe-newcastle-and-i-are-a-perfect-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/216691\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I welcome the struggle, maybe Newcastle and I are a perfect match’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The last time a fly-half with a taste for a dramatic drop-goal made his seasonal debut for Newcastle, the Falcons went on to be crowned English champions. Back in the 1997\/98 campaign, the newly promoted team pipped Saracens<\/a> by a single point with an 18-year-old local lad by the name of Jonny Wilkinson<\/a> playing a starring role with 24 appearances in all competitions and 231 Premiership points from a boot that would soon become world-famous.<\/p>\n

A lot has changed since then. For starters, the Falcons are no more, replaced by the newly branded Newcastle<\/a> Red Bulls. On the pitch they\u2019re a shadow of what they once were. Currently propping up the table after four consecutive defeats, they\u2019ve finished in the bottom three places in each of the previous four seasons. If the powers that be hadn\u2019t scrapped promotion and relegation from English rugby, the club would be in serious danger of collapse.<\/p>\n

Into this void has stepped Boeta Chamberlain<\/a>, the latest to inherit a jersey heavy with memory. He won\u2019t be asked to recreate Wilkinson\u2019s magic \u2013 that would be unfair \u2013 but he will be expected to bring direction, spark, and perhaps a flicker of the same belief that once carried Newcastle to the summit of English rugby.<\/p>\n

\"\"Boeta Chamberlain<\/a> left the Bulls<\/a> for Newcastle this summer, playing outside of South Africa<\/a> for the first time (Photo by Michael Driver\/MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only promise to just be myself, there\u2019ll never be another Jonny,\u201d Chamberlain says, eager to put aside any further comparisons. \u201cBut I can be confident and say that I came here to help turn the club around. I want to play my part and create something special. I want to win matches for Newcastle. I want to win trophies for Newcastle. I want to be the guy who can make our fans and the city as a whole proud. Maybe in that sense I want to do what Jonny did. But I\u2019ll have to do it my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Chamberlain sounds assured, it\u2019s because he has already weathered some of the game\u2019s harsher lessons. Born in Worcester, South Africa, his natural abilities were honed in the elite sporting nursery that is Paarl Boys High School, alma mater of 26 Springboks including Frans Malherbe<\/a>, Corne Krige<\/a> and Thomas du Toit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the toughest games I\u2019ve ever played were for my school,\u201d Chamberlain explains. \u201cWe\u2019d sometimes have 25,000 people watching us. Imagine that. I\u2019ve played games in the URC and Prem with less people watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you take a kick to win a game in front of that many people as a 17-year-old, it must do something to you. I\u2019m not saying that kids from other countries don\u2019t feel pressure, but there is something that happens in South African school boy rugby that prepares you for the big stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

I felt like I was getting a lot of attention but then I\u2019d go straight back to square one. I felt like I needed to face the truth. This wasn\u2019t going to happen for me.<\/p>\n

That toughness runs in the family. His mother, Marinda Chamberlain, was a standout athlete \u2013 earning South African colours in the 100m and long jump and representing Western Province<\/a> in netball \u2013 while his father, Bennie, went straight from the army into the police force. Discipline, resilience and competitiveness were the family\u2019s currency.<\/p>\n

But the mind cannot exist without a healthy body and in his final school year, in a game against Afrikaanse Ho\u00ebr Seunskool, one of the top schools in the country, he fell in a heap, clutching his knee in agony. He didn\u2019t need a later diagnosis to confirm that he was in trouble. For the fourth time in two years, he required surgery.<\/p>\n

He rationalised his hard luck as \u201cGod\u2019s will\u201d. He wasn\u2019t angry. Some things are just not meant to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was getting a lot of attention but then I\u2019d go straight back to square one,\u201d he says. \u201cI felt like I needed to face the truth. This wasn\u2019t going to happen for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BoetaChamberlain came of age at the Sharks<\/a> and featured regularly for Sean Everitt\u2019s side in the URC (Photo By Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

His luck wasn\u2019t all bad. In that same game where he blew out his knee, a scout from the Sharks was watching and had seen enough to offer Chamberlain a contract straight out of school.<\/p>\n

A year later he was part of the team that won the under-19 Currie Cup. An invitation to train with the SA under-20s followed shortly after.<\/p>\n

But selection at junior level can be as ruthless as it is revealing. He was dropped and then recalled. Dropped and recalled. Despite his early promise, and despite being included three times, Chamberlain was cut from the final South Africa Under-20 squad ahead of the 2019 Junior World Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat hurt more than breaking any injury I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d he says with a deep sigh. \u201cIt still hurts to be honest.\u00a0It\u2019s almost like a dream just got shattered in front of me. It was like someone was dangling something in front of me just to tease me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know how challenging this game can be. I\u2019ve had my fair share of upsets and disappointments and I welcome the struggle.<\/p>\n

A lifeline arrived in the form of Sharks coach Sean Everitt \u2013 now with Edinburgh \u2013 who recognised both the potential and the hunger in a young player whose road to the top was never going to be smooth.. In the same year his mates were representing South Africa at the under-20 World Cup in 2019, Chamberlain made his Currie Cup<\/a> debut.<\/p>\n

Of course it wasn\u2019t smooth sailing. Impressive performances against the Bulls and Lions<\/a> weren\u2019t enough to prevent him from being dropped for the semi-final against the Cheetahs. \u201cI felt like this would be my story,\u201d he says of a narrative in which he was cast as the nearly-man.<\/p>\n

Still, his time with the Sharks proved productive. Across five years he scored 172 points in 46 matches. He kicked a drop goal against the Lions in a 30-28 win and would cement his status as a drop-goal king in 2021 when he nailed a hat-trick of drop-goals in Swansea as the Sharks beat Ospreys<\/a> 27-13.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just something I love doing,\u201d he says when asked why he is such a natural at this particular skill. \u201cWhen I\u2019d play with my mates as a kid, we never had a cone so I\u2019d drop-kick quite a bit. It\u2019s not something I think about but I do like that it\u2019s helped me stand out a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is that why Newcastle signed him from the Bulls in Pretoria where he spent just a single season after leaving the Sharks in 2024? Not likely. But there must be a reason why a struggling outfit has placed their faith in a 26-year-old. At the same time, there must be a reason why a player who was living a comfortable life back home has taken a punt on a team that is firmly in the doldrums.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf8 The Blue Bull is now a Red Bull.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc4c Boeta Chamberlain in his new togs. pic.twitter.com\/mdH0dfMU2R<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Newcastle Red Bulls (@NCL_RedBulls) September 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we\u2019re a perfect match,\u201d Chamberlain muses. \u201cI know how challenging this game can be. I\u2019ve had my fair share of upsets and disappointments and I welcome the struggle. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have stuck around for so long if I didn\u2019t enjoy the difficult road.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd maybe that\u2019s why they wanted me. When the opportunity came I grabbed it. I don\u2019t see it as a gamble but as an opportunity to prove myself and to grow as a player and a person. This could be the reason my career goes to the next level and maybe I can be part of the reason that Newcastle returns to where we believe it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only way is up from here, though how far up is anyone\u2019s guess. Steve Diamond\u2019s exit as director of rugby leaves a power vacuum at the top and whispers are growing louder that Scotland<\/a> coach Gregor Townsend<\/a> could be the man to fill it.<\/p>\n

There is already a smattering of Test stars in the ranks including Welsh fullback Liam Williams<\/a> and the Argentine scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz. Chamberlain insists that something is about to click. Perhaps a familiar hand will be the catalyst for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve not met Jonny but I can\u2019t wait to pick his brain,\u201d Chamberlain says, referencing the news that Wilkinson will lend his expertise in an advisory role. \u201cIf I can have even a percent of the impact he had I\u2019ll be more than happy.\u201d<\/p>\n