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, 11:08 am
@WP Till I Die: That pretty blonde hair…
10 Dec 2009, 11:09 am
@WP Till I Die:
Midas touch from memory, think he scored two or 3 against Scotland on debut.
10 Dec 2009, 11:11 am
Cheetah Champs Cullen defended very badly in one SA-NZ game in about 2000 or 2001, virtually waved through the Bok attackers. Perhaps that has soured my memory of him.
The ball always did bounce for Goldie, how did he do that??
NZ in China I missed that 96 test, was nowhere a tv and haven’t even seen the highlights but no surprises about his play!
Sonito it’s common consensus in NZ that the *** rumours were complete hogwash – they upset him a lot and he is married, seems someone wanted to get some nasty fun by starting that rumour.
10 Dec 2009, 11:12 am
@NZINCHINA: Yup, and i speak under correction, but he was also a brilliant basketball player??
Sickening when you get sportsmen who can do anything:
1. Herschelle Gibbs (hockey, rugby, cricket, athletics)
2. AB De Villiers (Rugby, Cricket, Golf)
3. Ollie le Roux (squash, rugby, water polo)
10 Dec 2009, 11:15 am
@Delek:
I think he retired pretty quickly after those rumours. I may be mistaken but he retired from rugby at a fairly early age. Still had probaly another 2 years in him.
10 Dec 2009, 11:15 am
@Cheetha Champs:
Think so yes, numbers 2 & 3 did they get close to Bokke selection?. Oliie Le Roux on a squash court your taking the piss aren’t you?
10 Dec 2009, 11:16 am
@Cheetha Champs: And of course guys like Helgard Muller and the late Gerbrand Grobler who played both rugby and cricket provincially.
I have an old match day program from many many years ago. The Free State U21 side played against the Natal U 21 side (rugby). The Free State rugby side was captained by no 8 – hansie cronje, and the Natal side was captained by no 10 – Derek Crookes. Ironic.
then of course people like Darryl Cullinan who played flyhalf for Border schools.
10 Dec 2009, 11:16 am
@Cheetha Champs:
You forgot to add soccer to Gibbs sports and Cheese Burger eating champ for Ollie.
10 Dec 2009, 11:18 am
@NZINCHINA: Well, AB de Villiers kept Jacques Louis Potgieter out of the Affies side, and Herschelle was SA Schools flyhalf. Both had to choose at the end of their schools career.
Ollie was a brilliant squash player. Played SA schools in rugby, squash and water polo.
Interesting thing about Ollie, when he was in Grade 12, his Grade 8 “slave” at Grey Bfn was non other than Ryk Neethling.
10 Dec 2009, 11:19 am
@Sonito: ha ha ha ha,
Speaking of soccer – Jantjes is also a well known soccer talent who tried out in europe….
10 Dec 2009, 11:20 am
I play horses for courses Fdp is a kicking structure type player very limited when a fast paced distribution game is required. He proceeds to slow the entire game to suit his pre dimensional style. He’s extremely prone to reducing the entire attack mode to a one dimension kick and chase program and can’t vary his game when its required. In short he’s hardly a genius just a programmed robot. When in robotic mode and the game plan requires robotic thinking and robotic kicking then I guess you can say Fdp is the man for the job. However if its a fast paced and more suprise oriented quick thinking mongrel game you need, then he should be last on the list. I’m afraid Hougaard just going to carry on where his predecessor left off. If its me I promote Sarel Pretorius to the scrum half axis and get the hell away from this boring monotonous one dimensional one trick pony show we got stuck in. And while we about it change the one dimensional fly half as well.
10 Dec 2009, 11:20 am
@Cheetha Champs:
Oliies a legend then, sorry mate who is Ryk Neethling?
10 Dec 2009, 11:20 am
@NZINCHINA:
No.
10 Dec 2009, 11:21 am
@skopskiet:
SKOP we get the picture.
10 Dec 2009, 11:22 am
@NZINCHINA: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa– Ryk is a national hero
He is an olympic gold medal winning swimmer. Also recently voted the sexiest man in SA…(for what it is worth).
10 Dec 2009, 11:23 am
@skopskiet: IMHO – Sarel Pretorius is the poor second cousin to Brendon Leonard, and the AB’s have already learnt that type of player is not the answer.
10 Dec 2009, 11:24 am
Ok guys, time to grease the wheels of the SA economy. Chat later.
10 Dec 2009, 11:24 am
@NZINCHINA:
South Africa’s also had its “double internationals” when it comes to rugby and cricket national colours:
Biddy Anderson (1896-1902)
Kim Elgie (1950-1962) (played rugby for Scotland)
Reginald Hands (1910-1914) (played rugby for England)
Tony Harris (1930s-1949)
Tuppy Owen-Smith (1929-1937) (played rugby for England)
Alfred Richards (1891-1896)
Reggie Schwarz (1899-1907) (played rugby for England)
Jimmy Sinclair (1896-1911) (he also had SA colours for association football!)
Percy Twentyman-Jones (1896-1902) (played rugby for England)
Clive van Ryneveld (1951-1958) (played rugby for England)
10 Dec 2009, 11:27 am
@Sonito: Agree. One of our best ever.
10 Dec 2009, 11:28 am
@WP Till I Die:
I didn’t know they played sport that far back LOL – impressive list though, but does playing rugby for England & Scotland constitute an SA double international or am I missing something?
10 Dec 2009, 11:31 am
@NZINCHINA:
Nah – but at the time we were part of the British Empire so I guess it counts
10 Dec 2009, 11:32 am
What’s the difference between Santa and Tiger Woods? … Santa stop after 3 ho’s
10 Dec 2009, 11:32 am
Then of course there is Conrad Jantjes, who played trials for Chelsea Football Club when he was a teenager – also a supremely gifted sportsman.
10 Dec 2009, 11:32 am
Great player, but even he could be better.
Seems to me, he like Matfield, has the tendency to be a bit precious and coast – perhaps its cos they have won everything – but what makes SA so dangerous is when these guys are fully committed and putting the ir boddies on the line.
FdP could def work on speeding up his service and cut-down on the kicking, he has a good pass, but could be even nippier to the tacklepoint.
He is a great player, but I hope he improves this and breaks more around the edges even if he gets the odd crumpling hit put on him, ala burger, this is where he is also so dangerous.
10 Dec 2009, 11:34 am
howdy all
wow, that graeme is a laugh right?
anyways, this topic is basically dead. most people agree that fdp is an unbelievable rugby player but any attempts to quantify how great he is are bound to be subjective.
on another note, jeff wilson and christian cullen?
simply sublime.
10 Dec 2009, 11:36 am
what a genius fdp is….I expect them to announce that he has found the definitive cure for aids soon… apparently he is due to spend his holidays in the middle east so look forward to “breaking news” from that region…thats what my contacts in the Hammas coaching set up tell me…. one dimensional indeed…
10 Dec 2009, 11:37 am
@cab: one thing that tells you exactly how good fdp is, is the number of late and cheap shots his opponents subject him to, usually very early in the game.
every standout player goes through this (barring bakkies it seems
) for instance, dan carter aand reechee (lotta tequilla spear tackle comes to mind).
par for the course but it tells its own story of who is rated by the opposition.
10 Dec 2009, 11:38 am
@rangerman: ADD TO THAT TIM HORAN , DANIE GERBER
10 Dec 2009, 11:39 am
@gunther: hope he doesnt get locked up like that air india pilot.
the A-rabs are a little touchy at the moment in that new babylon, dubai.
10 Dec 2009, 11:39 am
@rangerman:
yeah, perhaps thats it, all i know he seems to be doing an awful lot of rolling around on the ground like an italian roundballer of late. most bulle just get up, even if their leg is amputated…
10 Dec 2009, 11:41 am
Naas Botha, Michael and Carel Duplessis, Gerber and of course, Flecky.
10 Dec 2009, 11:41 am
@sharks_lover: too true.
10 Dec 2009, 11:42 am
Just read the article and it is ludicrously over the top. Comparing players in different positions is pointless but by my count the world’s most influential/important players rank as follows…..
McCaw
Carter
FDP
O’Driscoll
Giteau
FDP is a quality scrum-half but he clearly has flows. He was outplayed at times by Mike Phillips in summer, who is no world-beater himself, and really disappointed in the EOYT’s.
10 Dec 2009, 11:43 am
@cab: f steyn
lol hiyas cabby
10 Dec 2009, 11:44 am
@cab: mate, when you get hit late, with a shoulder or swinging arm, by a guy who is you plus 40%, you are entitled to a little roll on the grass.
and remember, it happened in the first lions test (late shoulder charge into touch) and the frogs test and both times, the opposing side was penalised for it straight away, putting an end to it for the rest of the game.
10 Dec 2009, 11:45 am
@skopskiet: Talk about a one dimensional blogger!
Skopskiet is a one trick ponie!
10 Dec 2009, 11:45 am
@Just Another Paddy: i have also seen a few games where cockott outplayed fdup
in saying that i am not saying cocky is better then fdup
but fdup i agree is not the genius some make him out to be
10 Dec 2009, 11:45 am
@Karoolander: Or, is that a One Post Ponie?
10 Dec 2009, 11:48 am
@Just Another Paddy: mate, your list is ludicrous, sorry.
giteau has accomplished what?
where are matfield and bakkies?
if you really want to talk about individuals that have an effect then surely john smit must be there? thats if you are pointing to bod’s inspirational leadership of ireland and in the club game?
lets be serious, take any one of fdp, js, victor or bakkies out of the bok side and you lose a huge part of the team.
and i havent even started to tell you about how important the most underrated flanker in world rugby, juan smith, is to the bok machine.
10 Dec 2009, 11:49 am
@rangerman:
that is the problem with genius it is not recognised by everybody…what did the air india pilot do?
10 Dec 2009, 11:52 am
@rangerman:
Sorry Ranger the list ain’t big enough to have the whole Bokke side on it. JS doesn’t make the list because he’s not a world class player, captain yes player no.
10 Dec 2009, 11:53 am
@gunther: he stood surety for his sons car in dubai about five years ago and then his son wrote the car off and skipped town.
daddy was arrested and held for two days and then picked up by our glorious gravy train fukwit embassy officials (he is a saffa) and dropped off at a taxi rank with no cash and having been without his diabetes medicine for two days.
apparently the embassy officials conduct will be probed, preferably with a cattle prod but more likely by graeme’s uncle.
10 Dec 2009, 11:54 am
@NZINCHINA: i differ on that mate.
but what about matfield and bakkies?
lets be serious here, giteau doesnt belong on the same page as those two.
10 Dec 2009, 11:55 am
@sharks_lover:
bru fantasy rugby does not count…
10 Dec 2009, 11:56 am
@sharks_lover:
Hi SL
yeah Frans Steyn great player too, but not the playmaker this article is all about, just sheer exhurberance and physical talent. Actually sharks lost a bad one there. was v dissapointed to see that loss.
@rangerman:
yeah wilko also used to roll like that even tho he’s tackle so well, used to drive me mad.
10 Dec 2009, 11:59 am
@rangerman:
Agree they should be on the list not Smit though, think you need to be the best in your position in the world to make the list – Bakkies / Matfield / McCaw / Carter.
10 Dec 2009, 12:00 pm
@cab: in that 55-3 game, wilko was targetted early probably under instruction for rudolph the red nosed dumbass.
it wasnt a red card imo and big hit, arbiter of all things fair, agrees with me.
but a yeallow certainly.
wilko at that stage was the best rugby player in the world imo.
this year, it was fdp.
10 Dec 2009, 12:01 pm
@NZINCHINA: …..and fdp?
10 Dec 2009, 12:01 pm
@Kobus Kitty: kobus p*ssy seemingly you worship fourie, unfortunately for you i worship no rugby player! Some are highly skilled than others but at no point will ever hear me gaan aan the way ryan vrede is doing in that article., like i said in an earlier post, du preez is good with a particular game plan and doesn’t seem to like varying it – that is no sign of a genius to me. If that rubs you up the wrong way, so be it!
10 Dec 2009, 12:02 pm
@rangerman:
another success for sa’s legendary diplomatic corps then…. quite honestly I am surprised they found the time in between feeling up their secretaries and shopping….
@NZINCHINA:
don’t make me larf…. you guys would love him at hooker…
Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.