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World's tallest professional rugby player aiming to be big problem for Bath
JP du Preez is at almost 7ft the world’s tallest professional rugby player and is aiming to use his incredible height to cement Sale’s position in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs by becoming a line out nightmare for one of his former teammates at Bath tonight.
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Throwing into the Bath line out will be Jacques du Toit, making his first start for the West Country side, who used to aim for the long arms of du Preez when they played together for the Cheetahs in South Africa before they both joined the drain of rugby talent to Europe. The Cheetahs have given Leicester the ball carrying power of Jasper Wiese, brother of Sale lock Cobus, while prop Luan de Bruin is also at the Tigers and outside half Tian Schoeman is with Bath.
Du Preez (6 foot 10.75 inches) is relishing the chance to face du Toit and told RugbyPass: “Jacques and I were in the same Cheetahs team in Bloemfontein and played Currie Cup and Pro 14 together and I know him very well. We built a really good relationship but now I am in the opposition line out. When we do have some time off I go and visit some of the Cheetahs guys like Jasper and Luan who are at Leicester now with Hanro Liebenberg (former Blue Bulls).
“It is always nice to catch up and be able to speak our own language ( Afrikaans) and you do miss home. I came over with my wonderful wife (Iona) and if you did it alone then it would be tough during the pandemic. The players and coaches at Sale have made it much easier and Jono Ross ( Sale captain) was the first guy to communicate with me and everyone made me really welcome. I am really enjoying it.”
World Cup winner Lood de Jager, currently recovering from a serious leg injury, has spoken about the unusual situation that du Preez has created with the 6ft 9ins Springbok lock no longer the tallest player in the Sale changing room. “Lood is looking up because of my height and I am looking up to him because he is a Springbok – it is nice combination. In my career I haven’t had to look up at another player, but someone who was almost eye to eye with me was Will Skelton when we played La Rochelle in the Heineken Cup. He is a very, very big lad, but also very nice.
“The rugby here is very strategic and we look to where we can target a team’s weakness. Contact wise it is harder and in the lineouts it is always about speed off the ground and reach. The line out is not all about height, it is also about your lifters getting you in the right place to win the ball. Our hookers analyse us individually and so know where the target is if I am playing or one of the other jumpers and they work on this every day.
“I do a lot of box jumps in the gym, cardio work on the bike and running and I like to carry the ball into contact. I really enjoy that part of the game but I am very long and so opponents try and get my ankles and so I concentrate on driving my legs. That is one of my work ons in training.”
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Third-placed Sale have recruited heavily from South Africa with du Preez their 11th import from that rugby-mad country although he is not related to the club’s three other du Preez’s – brothers Rob, Jean-Luc and Dan. While height is a family tradition in the du Preez household – his grandfather was 7ft – JP is the first member of the clan to make a major impact in rugby. “ My grandfather Dup was spot on 7ft but he didn’t play rugby: “ said du Preez who arrived in Manchester on a two-year deal. “ I am almost 7ft and at 26-years-old I think I have stopped growing.
“It runs in the family and my mother and father are also very tall but my wife is, I think, about 170cm (5ft 6ins).”
Du Preez hopes helping third placed Sale bid for the Premiership title will impress the Springbok selectors but accepts that South Africa have a number of world-class locks to choose from headed by teammate de Jager. “It motivates me a lot and if I can get that opportunity it would be great but if it doesn’t happen then I am willing to work harder. I don’t know why we produce so many big locks – maybe it is something in the blood.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments