CJ wants to stay

The World Cup winner moved to Dublin just over a year ago but press reports have recently suggested that he may be keen on a move back to his native South Africa.

An injury crisis during the Springboks' November tour of Europe led to a surprise recall for van der Linde as head coach Peter de Villiers backed down from his well-known position of picking only home-based players for the national team.

And having returned to Springbok colours and unsurprisingly reveled in the experience, van der Linde has since been linked with a return to Super 14 and Currie Cup rugby ahead of the 2011 World Cup.

But the 29-year-old former Cheetahs star says that option is not something he is giving too much thought to. Instead, van der Linde insists that his sole focus is on playing regular rugby for Leinster.

"At the moment I am contracted until 2011 so I haven't put my mind to the future. But I am contracted to Leinster," van der Linde told the Irish Times.

"There is a lot of talk about the World Cup but, as I say, I haven't made up my mind there. I'm just focusing on getting back and playing well for Leinster.

"I like Ireland. It's a very nice place and if I can stay longer, I definitely will."

For now at least, the thought of the Boks and his home country have been put to the back of van der Linde's mind.

His only concern is repaying the faith of the Leinster supporters and coaching staff and on living up to his hard-earned reputation as one of the most-respected front-row forwards in the game.

A run of injuries has ensured van der Linde has played just eight times in the Magners League since joining Leinster - five times in 2008/09 and three times so far this season.

It's a disappointing return for the proud Bok who desperately wants to show exactly what he is capable of against the best Britain and Ireland has to offer.

Even when van der Linde has been fit enough to appear in Leinster colours, a toe injury has prevented him from performing at his best. At one stage, the injury threatened to prevent him from ever doing so again.

"It was the ligament underneath my foot. I tore the ligament off so scrumming wise I couldn't really scrum," added van der Linde.

"I could run if I injected it but I couldn't scrum and that's a big part of playing prop.

"It was very frustrating because you can run around but you can't do the basics that you were picked for.

"The doctors I saw in Ireland and in South Africa in the beginning said it could be the end of my rugby career, that it is a difficult thing to fix because there is not a lot of blood going there to heal the ligament.

"It's not nice to hear that but you must have faith that it will work out. They said the testing part would be long before I started to play again. If I injured it again then probably it wouldn't heal again.

"I'm through that part now, so I think the worst has gone. It was a month ago when it was still feeling painful but at the moment it's feeling good."

And with the toe steadily improving, van der Linde is confident that he can boost Leinster's chances of retaining the Heineken Cup and regaining the Magners League crown they won in 2008.

The 57-times capped international just wants to be back playing, to be able to do his bit for the squad and to finally be allowed to enhance both his team's and his own reputation.

"Definitely coming from South Africa to play and arriving in Ireland as a passenger just makes it frustrating, especially with the guys doing so well.

"You just want to get on the field and play some rugby, so this year I hope everything can change and I can be a part of it.

"Because you come from overseas you don't want everyone to think you just come here for whatever the reason, so it wasn't nice to sit on the sideline. Obviously we're rugby players and want to play rugby. That's why we were born."