Pure genius
10 Dec 2009
Fourie du Preez has established himself as the finest player on the planet.
Rugby genius. The concept is not easily defined, and should you arrive at a suitable definition, finding players who meet all the criteria is rare. It’s a relative concept, certainly, but there are attributes which are absolute. Fourie du Preez lists some of those when I ask him what he would define as genius.
‘It’s a player who reads the game and makes the right tactical decision 99% of the time after assessing the situation,’ he begins. ‘That said, you get some sharp decision-makers who don’t have the skills to execute what they see in their mind. Geniuses are able to do both, and their ability is amplified by the fact that they’ve studied their opponents.
‘Then there’s the issue of consistency. To be considered a genius you have to be able to deliver high-quality performances week in and week out against high-quality opposition.’
Du Preez has inadvertently described himself. To fully appreciate his genius you have to consider that he’s played at the height of his powers for most of what has been the most taxing season of his career.
Going into the end-of-year Tests, he had played 1 853 minutes of rugby in 2009 – the equivalent of around 23 matches – against the majority of the world’s elite players and teams. Not once has he looked like an impostor in such illustrious company. In fact, seldom have big-name players looked as ordinary as they have when pitted against the irrepressible Du Preez.
He has, however, omitted a couple of absolutes in search of a proper definition.
Geniuses have an aura about them that penetrates the opposition’s psyche, galvanises their team-mates and drives those men to a level of performance they may not have known possible. They also have the ability to change the course of a game, as Du Preez exhibited in the Super 14 and Currie Cup finals.
There were six decisive moments over the course of those 160 minutes. Du Preez was involved in all of them.
It was his try, birthed from a quick tap, against the Chiefs that signalled the start of the most emphatic performance by a team in a final in recent history. He then followed that up with another five-pointer to take his side into the lead, before threading through the most perfectly weighted grubber for Bryan Habana to score and seal the result.
To underline his aptitude for high-pressure matches, he mesmerised the Cheetahs at Loftus, directing the Bulls’ classic symphony with the skill of a master conductor – the build-up featuring an expertly executed cross-kick which sailed to the unmarked Francois Hougaard, a divine piece of handling to scoop the ball off his boot laces and send Habana away for a try, and the crescendo – a deft, looping kick into vacant space which Habana chased down to virtually assure victory.
‘I’ve seen enough talented players fold in finals or high-pressure games to know the difference between the genuine article and a pretender to genius,’ says former Wallabies, Brumbies and Reds coach Eddie Jones, who worked closely with Du Preez during their preparation for the 2007 World Cup and at the tournament itself.
‘Fourie has no equal as a scrumhalf in world rugby. No one is even remotely close. And although it’s hard to say who the best player on the planet is, because roles differ so greatly from position to position, I think if you were to consider a couple of candidates, you’d have to provide some pretty conclusive and strong arguments if you chose anyone but him.
‘The very best players in the world are those who give you an eight out of 10 performance for 80% of your matches in a season. I’d suggest Fourie is probably higher than that percentage-wise. George Gregan had some sensational seasons in the time I coached him, but he never came close to what Fourie has offered the Bulls and Boks in 2009, especially considering the amount of rugby he’s played and the intensity and pressure of those games. Just unbelievable, mate.’
Du Preez has, at times, looked like he was reading the game in a Matrix-type code, not dissimilar to the manner in which Keanu Reeves’s character in the sci-fi blockbuster did, and he seemed to have the ability to supernaturally elevate his spirit and make tactical decisions based on information attained via an aerial view of the action.
‘It’s definitely been my best season ever,’ says Du Preez, confirming what many astute commentators have acknowledged. ‘The 2007 season was a great one for me personally, but this season I’ve felt like my game has shifted to a different level.
‘I’m more mature now, with none of the insecurities I had in the past, and I know my game, my strengths and weaknesses, inside out. It helps that I’ve been playing in winning teams and with great, experienced players around me.
‘Last year wasn’t particularly memorable for me,’ Du Preez continues, lamenting a season where the Bulls and Springboks were infuriatingly mediocre. ‘I struggled for form at some stages, so I appreciate what it’s like to be back in the groove now.
‘Those things that weren’t going for you when you were struggling, suddenly do. You try things that were failing and they come off. You start reading the game better, seeing spaces in the opponents’ defensive line or areas you can kick in to that aren’t marked. It just all fell into place for me this season.’
Du Preez is less analytical than team-mate Victor Matfield, who studies lineouts with religious devotion. He relies more on experience and instinct. In preparing for matches, he spends the bulk of his time looking at how his opposing scrumhalf defends around the scrum and ruck fringe. The rest, he says, comes naturally.
Jones once told the media that former Wallabies flyhalf Stephen Larkham had the ability to read how a passage of play would unfold two phases ahead, and would be prepared when it did. Du Preez humbly denies that he has such foresight, an assertion some would disagree with, but concedes that his positional sense is the facet of play that he has made the biggest strides in.
‘I play more on feel than I do relying on pre-match analysis,’ Du Preez explains. ‘When I’m out on the field I get a sense of what my opponents are likely to do and try to position myself accordingly.
‘It’s not that hard, we play against the same guys every year,’ he adds, again displaying the now familiar trait of self-deprecation. ‘So I wouldn’t make too much of it. I’m just like any other player, really.’
However, with every touch kick fielded and accurate counter-kick launched, every box kick that is suspended in the air just long enough for the chasers to contest and every punt that rolls into touch in an attacking position, every snipe around the blindside that leaves the opposition bewildered and every zinging or popped pass that finds its intended target, Du Preez’s claim to mere mortality is rejected.
‘He’ll never admit to it, but those of us who work with him know that he is a once-in-a- generation player,’ says Bulls backline coach and former Springbok wing, Pieter Rossouw.
‘There’s nothing you can teach him technically because he’s the complete player, and he’s also so strong mentally. When he isn’t around, the Bulls and Springboks don’t have the same threat. That’s not a criticism of the second-choice players in that position, it’s just that Fourie is a special, special player.’
A special player the Bulls and Springboks have to start contemplating life without. Having won all he can with those teams, Du Preez admits that he is thinking about challenging himself afresh.
There is, of course, no shortage of European suitors wanting to ensure that the next phase of his career plays out in their club’s colours. His contract with the Bulls ends in October 2010, and he hasn’t yet made a decision about whether or not he will continue playing in South Africa. Losing a player of his quality would be the equivalent of losing an organ in the human body. Functioning would be adequate for survival, but you wouldn’t be firing at optimal potency.
‘I have a big decision to make in the next couple of months,’ Du Preez says, driving home the possibility that South African rugby could lose one of the jewels in its crown.
‘I have to weigh up whether I want to have a chance of defending the World Cup in 2011 or whether I should move on. I’ve spent my whole life in Pretoria, next year will be my 10th at the Bulls, and I feel like I have to get out of my comfort zone. I don’t want to be stuck in the same routine for the rest of my career.’
Du Preez, however, rejects the suggestion that his departure would see a dramatic capitulation of his teams.
‘If the succession planning is right I don’t think that would be an issue,’ he argues. ‘Sure, there’ll be a rebuilding period for the Bulls and Boks because I don’t think many of the senior players in those sides will continue to play beyond 2011, at least not in South Africa. But we have some special young players in this country.
‘Francois Hougaard [Du Preez’s understudy at the Bulls] is one of those, and I think he’ll be the Springbok scrumhalf for a long time. There are others like him in different positions. So if we plan well, there’s no reason to think it will all fall apart because we have an abundance of class youngsters.’
Class is a widely available commodity in South Africa. The genius that is Du Preez is a scarce one. Let’s appreciate and celebrate that we’ve seen genius in our generation.
By Ryan Vrede
– This article first appeared in the December issue of SA Rugby magazine. The January-February issue goes on sale next week.
411 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9 » Show All
10 Dec 2009, 21:05 pm
@Slappes: Cool tip!!LOL
@carol: Ja…just back from the Radisson Hotel now….cocktail and a launch of a mates new law firm…..Champagne was awful….My neighbours a lot better!
So it was a glass of champers and 3 beers….then an old flame sidled up to chat, i crapped myself and ran home!!
The blonde would be proud!
10 Dec 2009, 21:06 pm
from iol….
Rescue services are calling for a Cape Town paddler to urgently report to authorities – if he made it to shore alive.
A small army of Cape Town’s rescue services spent until midnight last night searching fruitlessly for a paddler reported to be battling off the Clifton coast.
The NSRI’s Craig Lambinon said the alarm had been raised at about 8pm when witnesses reported seeing a paddler on a white surfski or kayak repeatedly falling off his craft off the rocky shoreline at Clifton’s First Beach
anyone seen robzim?
that bit about “repeatedly falling off” alerted me
10 Dec 2009, 21:06 pm
@grant10: Ok give me the skinder. I am seriously avoiding work, which today is not a good thing, but I have no backbone.
10 Dec 2009, 21:07 pm
@carol: Hairy? Me?
LOL….Well i have to shave once a day…..but certainly not gonna win the Gorilla contest!
@SodaJoe: Hi boet….never left…but thank you kindly.
10 Dec 2009, 21:08 pm
@charo: Well I spoke to Robzim lateish, do you think he took his canoe out afterwards?
10 Dec 2009, 21:08 pm
@charo: Brilliant.
10 Dec 2009, 21:08 pm
she be drying or dying, oh of course she be dead already, bet you didn’t drain out all her blood yourself, or did you manage to grit your teeth through all that? With a peg on your nose. And then they have the gall to call us **** sapiens civilized. How quaint.
10 Dec 2009, 21:09 pm
@charo: Charo….had helicopters last nite 100m from my spot….huge flashlights, etc, divers in the sea, i was up at crack of dawn to see if anyone washed up on the beach this morning….Hectic i tell you!
10 Dec 2009, 21:10 pm
@SodaJoe: Will let you know once i have some concrete confirmation…..
10 Dec 2009, 21:11 pm
@grant10: We thought that you had joined Skops in the land of the long white clouds, or were trying to rescue KayakBimbo.
There was considerable discourse about your 3 Speedo options, but the consensus is that you’re a die-hard Mark Spitz kinda guy.
Skops has been discussing motorized vehicles and teaching us bigger words than usual.
10 Dec 2009, 21:11 pm
@grant10: More schmoozing with the ‘suits’!!
Very impressed with your tactics with the ex, actually sounds as though you engaged ‘Trubo Reverse’ too!! Heheheheh
You should have a bone to pick with Soda and Gunther they were discussing your swimming wear AGAIN last night!!
PS You did not appear to be very hairy when I met you, but I did not see the beach wear G10!!
10 Dec 2009, 21:11 pm
@grant10: That hasn’t held you back before, don’t get all fkn coy on me. I’ll even lend you the Valiant.
10 Dec 2009, 21:12 pm
That rescue attempt was something to behold, those chopper pilots are highly skilled, the noise was insane…..felt like i could reach out of balcony and touch the choppers!
10 Dec 2009, 21:12 pm
Oh looks like Soda confessed BEFORE I dobbed him in!!
10 Dec 2009, 21:13 pm
long as its not Robzim though Clifton I doubt is his spot. He’s a Blaauwberg paddler is our Rob of the Northlands
10 Dec 2009, 21:13 pm
@carol: I heard that when you take that one-piece Speedo off it rips all the hair off. Just like that.
10 Dec 2009, 21:14 pm
Charo,
10 Dec 2009, 21:14 pm
@skopskiet: If KayakBimbo is trying to usurp my kingdom he better watch himself.
(which may be why he’s doing doggie paddle in freezing cold water).
10 Dec 2009, 21:14 pm
@SodaJoe: Do you have any idea what Skop was trying to say then?
His use of English is like nothing I have encountered before and I am familiar with Chaucer and Shakespeare and that is double dutch!!
10 Dec 2009, 21:16 pm
@carol: Princess Duck of The Waterlogged Bogs where the pigs & sheep are hungry. Be careful. Dobbing me in is not good.
10 Dec 2009, 21:16 pm
@carol: No one understands Skops. It is double-clutch.
10 Dec 2009, 21:17 pm
@SodaJoe: LOL….Skop has me concerned with the FDP being the main problem…..i thought the Turbo reverse scrum was the issue, now skop has me doubting myself….
Soda ,, seems we will be getting our way re Smit…..seems a move to 2 on the cards at Sharks too…..Burden the big loser, poor sod turned down a lucrative Lions offer…..should of gone with Muir as 1 st choice lions 2….
@carol: It was a different ex….not Sienna….Sienna i turbo boost forward …not in reverse….i am only human!
10 Dec 2009, 21:17 pm
Now Skop on 314 I did understand!!
10 Dec 2009, 21:18 pm
Grant, spill the beans or sardines mate! Eish that guy was mad to go out in that freezing water?
10 Dec 2009, 21:21 pm
Skop….you would of been in heaven at the Long Street WC party….wall to wall sulrty South American beauties….seriously wonderful atmosphere…..amazing bands and the candy was so damn hot……
I was well catered for as the Dutch were out in force, some blondes to lose a whole range of electrical appliances for !
10 Dec 2009, 21:21 pm
Thanks for the concern, I am really touched
but it was not me.
Those racing surfski’s are very tipsy, flippen hard to get back on if you “go for a swim” in choppy conditions
The guy probably made it though – otherwise someone would have raised an alarm this morning.
Unless he is (was) a loner with no friends or family to “report” back to.
10 Dec 2009, 21:23 pm
@Slappes: Water is not that cold Slappes….seriously.
Been a decent temperature for at least a week now….
Missed my swim this afternoon with the suits cocktail…..
But will be there 1 st thing tomorrow……gonna sneak out to watch that Invictus tomorrow.
10 Dec 2009, 21:24 pm
@Robzim: Glad you okay!!LOL
Bloody sea been warm and like a lake….so i am sure the oke is fine…
10 Dec 2009, 21:25 pm
Robzim! You survived? Good on ya mate!
10 Dec 2009, 21:26 pm
Neighbour calling me…..time for some proper champers…..
Be cool….
Outta here….
10 Dec 2009, 21:27 pm
@Robzim: Honestly. I sent out the St Bernard. But he can’t swim, so barked on the beach. As it got late I had to drink the whiskey barrel. Sorry. My intentions were good.
10 Dec 2009, 21:27 pm
@Robzim: Thank heavens for that, you are still with us, not being nibbled by fish!!
You OK?
10 Dec 2009, 21:27 pm
@Robzim:
aaah robzim.
thank goodness…we were all beside ourselves with worry.
report seemed so …. i don’t know…..just you
10 Dec 2009, 21:28 pm
@grant10: Grant, take a hanky to the film, you will be weeping buckets!!
I hope it comes out in the UK…I’m out with Gillie this evening, no champagne tho!!
See you.
10 Dec 2009, 21:29 pm
@grant10:
must have been blowing onshore for a bit
10 Dec 2009, 21:29 pm
@grant10:
Probably a false alarm then. You serious about the choppers et al?
@Slappes:
Howzit Slappes, long time no see, Have you started training for next season at CFR RFC or are u guys also following Tim Noakes’s theories?
10 Dec 2009, 21:31 pm
Grant, enjoy mate. Soda
10 Dec 2009, 21:32 pm
@SodaJoe:
#330
I appreciate it man, hope u enjoyed the whiskey.
Nice speech by your president, what do u say?
10 Dec 2009, 21:35 pm
@carol:
Hi,
No fish, I saw Grant said he had a chat with a shark but I have not seen one for quite a while.
I’m OK, you?
10 Dec 2009, 21:38 pm
Sultry Brazilian Beauties worthwhile to go get lost down Long street for awhile even if they are just soccer babes, who cares which type of ball is their calling.
Ok enough kak praat. . out now.
10 Dec 2009, 21:40 pm
honestly I do have to work. Fk. Fk. Fk. Bye.
10 Dec 2009, 21:40 pm
@Robzim: Glory, did Grant see a shark in Clifton?
I’m great thanks, the running is improving…I will mail u about that, want to ask your advice on something!
Now beer o’clock, well wine o’clock….time to hit Burford the sleepy Cotswold town (on a hill) with a mate!!
See you all……
10 Dec 2009, 21:40 pm
Robzim, pre-season training in full swing. Not too hectic yet and the heat is k@k. Tim noakes theories is for sissies!
10 Dec 2009, 21:47 pm
@Slappes:
That is the spirit, Tim’s theories are only for Villagers and Hammies and similar “softy” clubs.
At CFR and Durbanville we do not trust that science.
10 Dec 2009, 21:52 pm
Robzim,
right you are. Science for us is space travel. 
10 Dec 2009, 21:57 pm
Rob, seems like Ill be playing at 7. EISH!
10 Dec 2009, 22:04 pm
@Slappes:
are you still playing 1st team club rugby?
less of the “softy” bit re villagers.
was my club for a year eons ago
10 Dec 2009, 22:12 pm
@charo:
Hi Charo,
Don’t be fooled by the name “Slappes”
He is the modern day’s version of Piet Geldenhuys (from our era)
How is the golf going in Africa?
10 Dec 2009, 22:14 pm
Charo, Yeah training now gonna play again after a long break. Need the training and its gonna be hard but Im up for it. No place for softies
which years did you play?
10 Dec 2009, 22:19 pm
@Robzim:
i used to practice against piet. that oke was so hard it was like tackling an iron bath full of rocks.
golf in africa is going south at a rate of knots.
no rain for months and 34c heat every day.
hardly a blade of grass left on the fairways.
in short – supercrap.
but going on leave in less than 2 weeks so looking forward to some lush kloof fairways 8)
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.