Fourie du Preez

thumb|Fourie du Preez Petrus Fourie du Preez (Afrikaans pronunciation: [fuˈri du ˈpri.ə] born 24 March 1982) is a South African former professional rugby union player who played as a scrum-half for the Bulls between 2001 and 2011 and the Suntory Sungoliath between 2011 and 2016. Quotes The two months before I retired was the toughest of my career because I was conflicted about whether I wanted to continue playing or not. Just getting over the line was a massive mental battle. I had offers from England, France and options to stay in Japan. Once I made the decision it was quite easy. But getting there was hard because I felt like I had more to give Yeah, I grew up in a home where my dad and brother were both chartered accountants and I started making private equity investments while I was still playing. I’m not sure what the next step into the business world is, but I’ve been learning at Fledge Capital for three years and I’m still enjoying it. I’ve always considered myself to be pretty good with money. During my career I’ve seen many players lose significant amounts of money on bad investments. They just throw money at the first guy that comes to them with a business proposal. I’ve always wondered why that is, considering that there are so many reputable investment options out there. It happened to me once and I made the decision that I would never lose money again It depends on the phase of my career I was in. But before we get there I must say that money has never motivated me. From childhood I had this massive internal drive to be the best player in the world in my position. So, for the most part at the Bulls, I was never too aggressive during negotiations. The environment there was conducive to me realising my goal of being the best scrumhalf in the world, and I also wanted to be part of something special. So money was a secondary consideration. During the period you speak about, though, I knew exactly where I stood in the game and what my worth to the team was. I say this in all humility, but there was a period in my prime where, if I didn’t play, the team would struggle. My outlook changed later in the game again, where family became more important to me. There was a period while in Japan where I never played all the games for the Springboks [sacrificing significant match fees] but that didn’t mean I never wanted to be the best in the world. In fact, it was my ability to spend more time with the family that provided what I needed to reach that goal. There are numerous tough matches and seasons that I used to become a better version of myself. Those things never destroyed my confidence. In 2011, after I came back [to the Springboks] from Japan, most of the critics said I was done. I never doubted myself for one second. In fact, I felt like I was the best I had ever been As I got older, I knew privately that I could be the difference. But at no stage did I have a sense of how other guys saw me. I never really thought about it, although I would often sit in a Bulls or Bok change room and be inspired by the quality of players in there with me. So I guess it’s not a stretch to think I did the same for them. For me it was more frustrating to see a player not try everything to maximise his potential. I understood that players were gifted to different degrees, but I could never tolerate guys who would just go through the motions. It happened a few times at the Bulls and the Boks. In fact, I got more frustrated with certain coaches who had their interests in mind, rather than the team’s. I mean, I’ve made comebacks from adversity, but to go through everything he did and to win a major after all of that requires strength of mind that’s almost supernatural. I’d say the main thing is to drown out the voices that are saying you can’t do it. People make the mistake of thinking elite athletes use that as their main motivation. That’s not true. You just try to drown out the noise and focus on what you know you’re capable of. It’s very disappointing. I’m not sure how the system works but I think a starting point is that our player pool is too big. We’re just giving away too many contracts and that affects the quality of coaching these players are able to get. I’d rather the money spent on giving average players provincial contracts be used to get the best coaches and coaching resources, and have them invest their energy into a small pool of highly gifted players. Right now there is a failure in the contracting system and a failure in coaching. Those two things contribute significantly to the problem you identified. Big interview: Fourie du Preez, July 2019,SA RUGBY MAG by Ryan Rvede External links Category:Rugby union players from South Africa Category:Living people Category:1982 births