Lawrence Sephaka's nickname 'Kabila', taken from former Congo dictator Lawrence Kabila, could not be more appropriate.

On the rugby field, it's the 110kg Springbok loosehead prop who's dictating play and making his presence felt.

Voted South African Player's Player of the Year in 2002, Sephaka has come a long way since taking up the game at the age of 13, when a teacher at his Jo'burg township school persuaded him to play rugby instead of standing on the sideline of the soccer field.

After being spotted by an Eastern Transvaal development officer, Sephaka was given a bursary to attend Afrikaans-medium Springs Technical High School.

The benefits of attending a rugby school were soon evident as he made the province's U 17 and U19 sides, and was selected for the SA Academy side in 1997 after impressing at Craven Week.

Lions U21 coach Eugene Eloff, the man who guided South Africa U19 to World Cup success earlier this year, then poached Sephaka from the Falcons and enrolled him at Rand Afrikaans University.

Sephaka played for the Lions U21s and made his senior debut soon after, but the physical aspect of his game was questioned by many, including Cats coach Laurie Mains.

In 2000, Sephaka was 'lent' to the Stormers where he spent most of his time warming the bench and making up the quota.

Springbok coach Harry Viljoen, however, saw 'Kabila' as more than a political pawn. He selected Sephaka for the Springbok midweek games at the end of 2000 and gave him his first test cap against the USA in 2001.

Last year, controversy raged after new Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli substituted Sephaka after only 28 minutes of the TriNations test in Wellington, but 'Kabila' developed to such an extent during the series that he played the entire 80 minutes against the Wallabies at Ellis Park.

South Africa's Zulu dictator had arrived.