Du Preez reconsiders international retirement
13 Mar 2012
Fourie du Preez says he feels like he has unfinished business with the Springboks.
In a 2011 interview the former Springbok and Bulls scrumhalf told SA Rugby magazine that the 2011 World Cup would be his last international assignment. However, with his mentor Heyneke Meyer being appointed Springbok coach and the disappointment of their quarter-final exit against Australia, Du Preez, who plays for Suntory Goliath in Japan, is reconsidering that decision.
‘When I originally decided to come over to Japan, I thought 2011 would be my target and that getting to the World Cup would be it,’ he told the International Rugby Board’s radio show, Total Rugby.
‘Losing to Australia might have changed that. Coming over has been a lot better than I thought and I’ve been able to get back into shape. Maybe that hunger is back again. It is still too early to say. I haven’t got around it in my head whether it will be good or bad for me. Never say never.’
Meyer is known to still rate the 29-year-old highly and has intimated that he would consider picking foreign-based players. Their would be concerns around the comparatively low standard of rugby in Japan, but Du Preez challenged those perceptions.
‘I see the top games here. It’s faster than what we’ve been used to. The guys are skillful and happy to learn. I’ve been really surprised. A lot of people think it’s easy rugby, but it’s been pretty tough. If you watch any top game the skill and structure levels are top-class. It’s been quite refreshing,’ he said.
Du Preez added that he has adjusted well to life in Tokyo. ‘At first you’re really scared. I’ve lived in Pretoria my whole life, so getting out of there would have taken a huge adjustment,’ he said.
‘It is something really different. As an international player you see the whole world except Asia. Japan is an awesome place. I’ve only been here four months but this has been a life-changing experience.’
103 Comments
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13 Mar 2012, 11:28 am
I have no problem with FdP slotting back in to the Bok set up, considering our lack of options.
Hougie is still very much on the learning curve and everone else doesnt even warrant a mention.
My biggest problem is that if Fourie does return, he will more than likely be paired with M Steyn.
There is something seriously wrong with Morne, not just the one game vs Blues. He wasnt great against the Sharks either and Im not only talking about his kicking game.
Heyneke choosing Morne will be by far the bigger selection mistake.
13 Mar 2012, 11:29 am
@cab(cab)-48: Ja, this oke is letting the cause down. Next he’ll probably denounce the Liefling song.
13 Mar 2012, 11:31 am
Allow me to predict a Bok team under Heyneke captained by Spies, with du Preez at scrunhalf, Morne Steyn at flyhalf and Hougaard coming off the bench as a devestating impact player to land the knock out punch in the last 30 minutes.
13 Mar 2012, 11:31 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-52:
hehe, not sure who Hondo supports, could be the bulls or lions?
13 Mar 2012, 11:33 am
Sorry Tac but captain will be FDP or Smith or maybe Schalk never Spies…
13 Mar 2012, 11:34 am
@cab(cab)-48:
Nothing wrong with them, they play to their strengths, but speed isn’t their strength nor their style, that’s why they don’t recycle the ball from the rucks too often but rely on FdP to gain territory for them or going for a maul.
Last we saw a fast, mobile Boks pack was in 1998-2000 with Garvey, Kempson/Vissagie, Drotsky, Erasmus, Skinstadt and Andrews with Honibal at 10 dictating.
A quick and multi recycling is not the current Boks style, Hougaard’s too impatient for them.
13 Mar 2012, 11:35 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-53:
hell dunno if that is the way forward, spies played v well on sat but its so rare, he still does not have the effect that vermeulen and alberts do imo game after game. Morne is a good flyhalf, but he’s defence at the RWC was v suspect and he’s not hitting the gainline or getting the backline going tho i was not sure if the problem was he or JDV at 12, since whenever frans steyn played at 12 our backline seemed a different animal.
13 Mar 2012, 11:36 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-53:
Heyneke will select those, and Wynand at 12.
13 Mar 2012, 11:37 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-53:
Do you mean Hougaard’s not good enough at 11 or 14?
You sound the Party Line on quota affairs
13 Mar 2012, 11:39 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-56:
That was the style we should have adopted in 2008 instead they went all the way back to the JW drawing board when Smit insisted on FdP and Butch as his half backs.. and the kick chase game was entrenched for the following 4 years.. which if anybody is brave enough and honest enough to own up and acknowledge the fact abysmally and utterly failed…
13 Mar 2012, 11:39 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-56:
yp maybe, good points, i hoped quick multi-recycling with energetic pack was their style.
13 Mar 2012, 11:47 am
@willievz(willievz)-21:
a bit harsh though dont you think, williev.
i’m sure fdp desires as much to play for his country as he does ‘his’ coach. is just a fact of life that players will have personal preferences which make them more excited in/about one coach over another.
also, i actually do believe that heyneke is the type of coach who would get extra mileage out of a lot of players (irrespective of their affiliations).
13 Mar 2012, 11:48 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-53:
Seems like a reasonably astute suggestion to me.
And I concur with your previous post re there being daylight between Hougaard’s test-lvel value and the other scrummies currently operating in SA.
I’m pleased you didn’t mention Pienaar as an option.
I don’t think I’ve seen a more over-rated and disinterested Bok player.
However, why Sarel Pretorius’s name isn’t mentioned more often is a mystery to me.
Yes, his defensive game needs work.
But that can be rectified.
The guy SCORES TRIES for whatever team he’s in.
With Hougaard settling in as starting scrumhalf, Pretorius would make an unbelievably impact off the bench.
I am happy for Du Preez to be part of the set-up for another year or so.
But thereafter I’d like to see Hougaard and Pretorius in the pound seats.
13 Mar 2012, 11:51 am
I’d like to see Pretorius get a look-in for the same reason that I want Basson to get more game time at Bok level.
Basson’s a game breaker and he SCORES TRIES.
He is incredible in the air.
Yes, his defence needs work.
But I have already seen an improvement in that department since last year.
Rectify Basson’s defensive issues and the Boks have a genuine TRY SCORING threat on the wing.
13 Mar 2012, 11:51 am
@puff(puff)-63:
Because we don’t want to encourage more players to go and play in Australia.
Pretorius is now a non-option.
13 Mar 2012, 11:53 am
@puff(puff)-63: I’ve posted on a few occassions that us Saffas are guilty of trying too hard to find faults with our players.
For example:
“Schalk Britz is not powerful enough in contact”
“Brent Russell is too small”
“Aplon is too small”.
And now, “Sarel can’t defend”.
We are our own worst enemies. We should wake up and smell the coffee.
13 Mar 2012, 11:54 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-65:
Much like FDP then…playing in Japan
13 Mar 2012, 11:55 am
@willievz(willievz)-67:
He would have to come back to be eligible for selection. A couple of games in the latter part of the Bulls S15 campaign should do the trick.
13 Mar 2012, 11:57 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-65:
Sarel has a deal with the Waratahs for S15 rugby (for how long, I’m not sure).
But he will be back playing Currie Cup rugby, I believe.
13 Mar 2012, 11:57 am
Fuckthisisfunny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWjFkbNCX4c&feature=related
Jan Spies.
“Vies kerel? bekak homself….”
I actually “lol”ed at this.
13 Mar 2012, 11:58 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-65:
life is cruel and you are right in this regard.
south africans are too easily tricked by the ‘nice’ things the foreigners say to them, into applying for citizenship of these countries after time spent there.
there must be a stick to beat the carrots.
13 Mar 2012, 11:58 am
@willievz(willievz)-66: the aussies know cooper can’t defend so they come up with a plan to remedy that and still have the brilliance of cooper on the field. in SA you better have it all unless you’re a blue bulls player, you can slide with standing too deep & kicking away possession and being useless in defence.
13 Mar 2012, 11:59 am
@willievz(willievz)-66:
absolutely…
it’s far easier to focus on a perceived weak point to bolster an argument, than to acknowledge the good points too, particularly when then are far more good points than bad…
13 Mar 2012, 11:59 am
@cab(cab)-57: I am worried that both Strompies and Sharkies play Vermeulen/Alberts at 7 , if they are so good why not play them at 8
I agree with you on Morne something is wrong , I think the Bulls young Venter was the problem , when Wynand played 12 with JJ at 13 things went better
When Frans played 13 not JdV it went better. Why is it that every-one is talking about Morne ,yet JdV is part of best centre combo in world ????? Does it show , me thinks not.
13 Mar 2012, 12:00 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-68: @puff(puff)-69: As Puff said, Sarel still plies his trade domestically in the CC.
So he is by all means eligible for the Boks, regardless of your stance on the overseas player debate.
13 Mar 2012, 12:00 pm
I’m with Tacitus on the “you leave you lose” principal of no longer being eligible.
But not on the FDP still being good enough.
Time to move on.
13 Mar 2012, 12:00 pm
@puff(puff)-69: don’t worry FdP can go play in japan it’s ok but Sarel can’t got play in Aus, then he is a “non-option”
13 Mar 2012, 12:01 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-76: “principle” surely?
13 Mar 2012, 12:03 pm
@willievz(willievz)-75:
You need to play here BEFORE being picked in a Bok team.
So if Sarel is back in the Currie Cup, he can be considered for the end of year tour.
To play in the June internationals, a player would have to play some S15 rugby prior to June.
13 Mar 2012, 12:04 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-78: Ja that too
13 Mar 2012, 12:05 pm
Come on, guys
Gurthro Steenkamp
Gerhard Mostert
Francois Louw
Fourie Du Preez
Francois Steyn
Jacques Fourie
I’d want to see at least half of these players in Meyer’s Bok set-up.
I don’t care where they play.
Players will play here or play “over there” – it’s simple economics.
13 Mar 2012, 12:05 pm
“Their would be concerns around the comparatively low standard of rugby in Japan, but Du Preez challenged those perceptions.”
There are concerns about the comparatively low standard of journalism in South Africa.
13 Mar 2012, 12:05 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-79:
Right, now I understand.
Where is that written?
13 Mar 2012, 12:05 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-79: and Francois Steyn?
13 Mar 2012, 12:07 pm
Time to move on Fourie.
You made your mark and achieved a hell of a lot including annoying the **** out of some of the, sh it for brains, bloggers on this forum.
Do not tarnish a magnificent career with a potentially weak last couple of years. Phone up Barney and ask him what it’s like.
13 Mar 2012, 12:07 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-79:
So you don’t think Meyer will give Bakkies a swansong against the Brits then?
Or Daniesaurus?
You don’t think he’ll bank on Steenkamp, Frans Steyn and Jacques Fourie for the games against the Enlgish, considering he hardly has any time to get a new squad to gel?
13 Mar 2012, 12:07 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-84:
Same thing.
@willievz(willievz)-83:
Meyer hasn’t indicated exactly what his stance is on this issue. But in general, that’s been the rule that’s been applied, with one or two exceptions.
Certainly, that’s what SARU have been aiming at, based on their stance on the issue.
13 Mar 2012, 12:09 pm
@puff(puff)-86:
I don’t know. Meyer seems to lean more towards picking some overseas based guys, from what he’s hinted at so far.
But I wonder if that is not specifically because so many of his former Bulls stalwarts are there and he has very little time to pick a new squad.
In the long term the views may well be different.
13 Mar 2012, 12:10 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-53: Allow me to then predict a lot more pain for the Boks.
13 Mar 2012, 12:28 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-43: Lol.
13 Mar 2012, 12:44 pm
I can’t help but lose respect for players that come out of retirement for another shot at glory. Occasionally it works, but 99% of the time they come across as desperate and pathetic, and end up destroying the legacy that took them years to create.
13 Mar 2012, 13:08 pm
@puff(puff)-81:
i have checked through your post three times. i am certain john phillip botha’s name is not on that list. is this a typo? yes it must be a typo.
13 Mar 2012, 13:44 pm
Speaking of Bakkies, anyone know how the old toppie’s form is over there in France?
13 Mar 2012, 13:44 pm
@welcome to my life, hugh…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-92:
Heh.
Look, Bakkies was my favourite player alonide Juan Smith for years.
But I haven’t seen him play an imposing game in a Bok jersey for some time.
Of course, injuries and suspensions had a lot to do with that as it robbed him of consistency and momentum.
I also thought the way he exited the World Cup was gutting.
So the sentimental side of me would dig to see Bakkies in the Bok squad against the Roses.
But my practical side sees youngsters like Van Der Merwe, Mostert, Elstadt and Etzebeth performing well.
There’s also the option of Pakslae who last I saw was in better condition than Bakkies.
Or, when fit, I would be fine with Juan Smith shifting to number 4 – a role he played at junior level.
My point is… play the likes of Bakkies, Du Preez, Rossouw et al for the June tests because they have the experience and there is so little time to get a new-look squad to gel.
But beyond that – unless the vets are chomping at the bit and ravenously hungry and super-conditioned like Brad Thorn – their roles should be finite or redefined to offer the youngsters more opportunities.
13 Mar 2012, 14:11 pm
@Cordo(Cordo)-93:
ag its so so really, he played a full game at number 5 (go figure) for toulon in their win against montpellier 19-6 on the 2nd of march but certainly looked laboured in the loose and was docking overtime slouching off at the back of rucks most of the last 20 or 30, just not making any effort to get to the next breakdown. he was out injured in toulon draw against perpignan 22-22 on the 10th.
he looks a little overweight to me and will certainly need to lose some kilos if he wants to make the run on bok team. he’s listed at 124kg on the toulon website so the bok conditioning coach needs to look at that and see what’s best in terms of weight to power to mobility ratios.
@puff(puff)-94:
fair enough, you are absolutely right. there can be no more sentimental ‘going on 2007 form’ fbc type picking of boks anymore. its just not viable in the long term even though it solves very real problems for heyneke in the short term.
so ja, maybe pick pakslae or bakkies along with bekker and any combo of the new prospects. the coach can just decide if he wants to send the oldies on first to post a winning score and then the laaities to just go bos without any worries about losing or vice versa the laaities first and then the oldies when the game slows down or the score is against us.
13 Mar 2012, 14:40 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-88: Good point re it being a short term solution. I still want Hougaard in the starting lineup – always. Hopefully FdP doesn’t overstay his welcome leading to Hougaard becoming frustrated. Meyer has shown in the past that he knows how to manage these situations so I’m not worried.
Flyhalf is a much bigger problem. You cannot discard Steyn because he has been a good servant and is dependable. Maybe 1.5 more years with him and then Goosen?
13 Mar 2012, 15:18 pm
Capebull 74,
yeah but don’t they play interchangeably at 7 or 8 depending on who is available. Vermeulen more in zinzan mould, whereas alberts more like palu who gives lot of go-forward off tge back if the scrim both very moble and get thru alot of work.
Yip morne is a tough one, but he got some stiff competition. Goosen kicks bombs from 60m big and fast – can’t ignore that. Always thought WO was better than ppl made out, louden rated him highly, but sometimes a bit 1D, I think he could try beat his opposite no more often or get hands thru gap.
13 Mar 2012, 17:33 pm
Captain du Preez
13 Mar 2012, 18:01 pm
Mark my words, IF FOURIE IS AVAILABLE AND FIT, HE WILL BE THE NEXT SPRINGBOK CAPTAIN!
13 Mar 2012, 18:49 pm
@zub(zub)-91:
Yeah at 29 he’s way past it.
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