Not just any old Joe at flyhalf

23 January 2015 - 02:27 By Liam del Carme
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'I played Currie Cup rugby at flyhalf for Western Province, but that was as far back as 2009,' Joe Pietersen (pictured while still playing for the Stormers) said about his limited game time in the position. File photo
'I played Currie Cup rugby at flyhalf for Western Province, but that was as far back as 2009,' Joe Pietersen (pictured while still playing for the Stormers) said about his limited game time in the position. File photo

Joe Pietersen had the luxury of watching from a distance as his former backline teammates at the Stormers bashed it up, but his reincarnation as a Cheetahs flyhalf will unavoidably take him into the thick of the action.

Endowed with a relaxed but deliberate strike and lingering follow through, Pietersen became a goal-kicker of monotonous regularity in the Cape. But it is as playmaking flyhalf where the Cheetahs hope he will broaden his portfolio.

In Bloemfontein, Pietersen has a different brief. Johan Goosen, the man he is hoping to replace, was so wholehearted in his approach it often served to break the hearts of friends more than foes. Consequently, the Cheetahs are now in search of consistency.

With Goosen racing to millionaire status in Paris and Springbok Willie le Roux having taken ownership of the Cheetahs' No15 jersey, Pietersen and the team's options were limited.

"I played Currie Cup rugby at flyhalf for Western Province, but that was as far back as 2009," Pietersen said about his limited game time in the position.

He will debut there for the Cheetahs tomorrow, when the Bulls host them in Polokwane.

Francois Brummer, Willie du Plessis and Elgar Watts will also audition at some point.

The pragmatist in Pietersen tells him he won't be an instant hit. "It is a nice challenge, but I don't think everybody can play flyhalf. I see it as a process and something I'll have to work on. I don't think you are going to have too many guys who will immediately be good flyhalves.

"Every team gives you a degree of freedom to express yourself. Johan is a Springbok flyhalf and I have big boots to fill. Our skills are different. You should probably try to get things right first before you can try to do magic when you've made a move like this."

Although he didn't play at flyhalf there, his two stints in France - first with Bayonne and then Biarritz - may have steeled him for the challenge.

Fortunately, moving to the Free State will be much less of a culture shock.

"I did standards eight, nine and matric here," he said of his time at Grey College.

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