NSW Waratahs marquee import Sarel Pretorius settled in Sydney, looking forward to Super Rugby season
New beginnings ... Pretorius is hoping to fill the big boots of the departed Luke Burgess.
Source: News Limited
Four days after Sarel Pretorius was cut from the Springboks' Rugby World Cup squad last year, he sat at Johannesburg airport contemplating the biggest move of his rugby career.
It was early June and the
Cheetahs halfback had flown from Bloemfontein with his manager to meet with coaches from an interested province.
Sitting across the table were
New South Wales Waratahs officials Michael Foley and Scott Bowen, in transit and about to fly home after the Tahs had lost to the Bulls in Pretoria a night earlier.
"We had lunch with them and then flew back," Pretorius said.
"As a boy in South Africa, you always want to play for the Boks. That's the ultimate dream for us.
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"Around that time I was still in the 52-man squad but after they cut it, I was just thinking, 'oh well maybe I just have to go and try to play (in NSW). Spread my wings a bit."
The Tahs were impressed and a month later Pretorius signed on to be NSW's marquee import, filling a vacancy left by Luke Burgess.
Rugby owes Peter De Villiers much in terms of comedy value, but if Pretorius sets the world alight for NSW this season, Tahs fans might end up whipping around the hat for a thank you gift as well.
It's impossible to know where he would have ended up if Pretorius had made the Boks' World Cup squad but now fate has steered him to Sydney, the 27-year-old is getting on with his stock in trade - seizing opportunity.
Pretorius set the
Super Rugby comp alight for the resurgent Cheetahs in 2011 - scoring nine tries with bold attack and blistering pace - but his was one of those overnight success stories many years in the making.
Growing up in in Reitz, a farming town two hours out of Bloemfontein, Pretorius loved rugby and adored Joost Van De Westhuizen like every other kid but as one of three brothers, he only just made the podium for best player in the family.
While Sarel attended a local school, siblings Herman and Leon both won rugby scholarships to the prestigious Grey College in Bloemfontein.
Herman later became the first schoolboy to play South African under 19s. But by the age of 21, Sarel was studying marketing at university and only playing for his varsity team.
"I never really thought I'd play rugby after school at a provincial level or anything," he said.
But Pretorius was no slouch, far from it. And when Stephan Weyers - now his manager - first saw the blond halfback tearing up defences, he sensed "something special" and set about launching his career.
Through Weyers' contacts, Sarel was given a chance with the Falcons in the Vodacom Cup (a competition below Currie Cup) in 2007 but this was a long way from a glamorous life.
The Falcons were based in Brakpan, a "declining" mining town whose claim to fame is smog and the world's biggest mine dump. He and teammates commuted from nearby Pretoria. "It's not a nice place to stay, after the game you just wanted to get in your car and get out," Pretorius laughs.
Against expectations, however, the no-name Falcons beat a Boks-laden Sharks team to win the 2007 Vodacom Cup final. Pretorius was man of the match, was snapped up by Currie Cup side Griquas in 2008 and eventually the Cheetahs came calling in 2009.
Again, however, Pretorius had to sit on the launching pad and wait. Benched for his first year, it was only in 2010 the halfback got game time and last year those regular starts saw him finally explode in Super Rugby. It was a breakthrough season at age 27.
"I took the longer path but at the end of the day it is about when you get an opportunity, what you make of it," Pretorius said. "I was just waiting for my chance and I knew if I got a chance I would take it."
Pretorius first appeared on the Waratahs' radar like a Japanese divebomber when he scored the final try in their infamous loss to the Cheetahs at the SFS last year.
He's kept quiet about it since - "they don't like to talk about it!" - but was excited about the chance to play in Australia when it came up. The pressure of victory being expected, rather than hoped for.
"They have big standards, and have many great Wallaby players. It's always nice to be around to learn from them, and maybe they can learn from me being from South Africa," he said.
Life in Sydney is a lot different to Bloemfontein and Kimberley, but already coastal living at Coogee has won him over. Pretorius has even sourced a stash of biltong and other home treasures from a north shore butcher famous among Saffa expats.
Weekend hunting and fishing trips have been replaced by preparing a nursery for a first baby he and wife Nicola are expecting in late April.
