Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis says Jacques Potgieter will add more polish to his side's attack
HE'S been recruited as an abrasive hardman but Springboks forward Jacques Potgieter will ultimately help the Waratahs add polish to their attack.
HE'S been recruited as an abrasive hardman but Springboks forward Jacques Potgieter will ultimately help the Waratahs add more polish to their attacking game.
That’s the view of NSW skipper Dave Dennis, who welcomed the Waratahs’ capture of Potgieter as their marquee signing for the next two seasons.
Potgieter has earned a reputation as a highly physical backrower with the Bulls in Super Rugby, although Waratahs coach Michael Cheika said he’d recruited the 115kg, 194cm player as both a lock and a loose forward.
Something of a late bloomer, the 27-year-old Potgieter only debuted for the Bulls last year after stints at Natal and Eastern Province.
But the dynamic forward impressed enough to earn three Springbok caps, one against England and two against Argentina last year. A groin injury requiring surgery robbed Potgieter of the chance to go on the Boks’ end of year tour.
Potgieter will join the Waratahs in February after completing a season with Japanese club Fukuoka Sanix.
"It’ll be good. His strength and physicality are what ‘Cheik’ is looking for, he feels he can bring that sort of edge," Dennis said on Tuesday.
"He wants that player who can go forward. Not that we lack that entirely, but we probably need a bit more of it.
"He is bit different as well. A different style, being South Africa. They’re all about physicality and being a bit more abrasive, in the forwards.
"Obviously Sita (Timani) is leaving, so we’re looking more in that lock space. He is a backrower as well, which will work well."
"In building our 2014 squad I wanted to profile one of our locks as a no-nonsense, hard and strong ball carrier and tackler, experienced and hungry to add these qualities to our squad,” Cheika, who is on tour in Argentina with NSW, said in a statement.
"Jacques fits this profile perfectly and his experience in the backrow also gives us extra quality in our forward depth."
Pogieter, who played for the Bulls in their semi-final loss to the Brumbies, will help the Waratahs evolve in their game in 2014, said Dennis.
"For our game to forward from what it did this year, we need to be better at winning the ball at the breakdown, to allow us to attack better. That’s the way I see it, and I imagine that’s the way Cheik sees it," Dennis said.
"So having a guy who is physical and likes that confrontation will allow us to play an even more attacking game."
Potgieter will play in Japan during the 2014-15 summer as well, the Waratahs said. Waratahs fans will hope Potgieter is more effective as a marquee signing than the last recruit from Africa: Cheetahs halfback Sarel Pretorius.The livewire No.9 was rarely used by then-coach Michael Foley and was released after one season.
Dennis, who arrived back from the NSW Barbarians tour of Argentina, said the Tahs would continue to add to their game in 2014 and aim squarely at a finals spot.
"As group we will bring in a bit more kicking, in a smart way, but we are still going to build around our attack," Dennis said.
"We found a way that suits us and led a lot of the attack stats. We found something that suits us, but we just have to be better at 1) finishing games off, and 2) winning the ball better at the breakdown.
"Because we had such an attacking focus, shifting the ball, we had more rucks, so we had more time with the ball and it means you have to be more effective at the breakdown. We just have to develop that."