Pretorius back to play second fiddle

17 January 2011 - 01:10 By SIMNIKIWE XABANISA
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Andre Pretorius will have a different role to that which he is accustomed to in his latest reincarnation as a Lions player.

After years of being the go-to guy for the Johannesburg Super rugby franchise, Pretorius will have to be content with being a back-up player.

Pretorius's coach John Mitchell has endorsed the inexperienced Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies as his key playmaker despite him never having played Super rugby before.

"Our rationale is to create depth between Elton, Andre and Burton," explained Mitchell. "Once we found out we could only get Butch James in June, we looked at Pretorius as an experienced player to play behind Elton because he's very young.

"Andre is very clear about his role. He has a supporting role in the 22 should Elton be injured and need to recover."

The 33-year-old spent last year's Currie Cup as the Sharks' back-up flyhalf, and many thought he would carry on as one of their flyhalves for the Super 15.

But Mitchell said that was never the case: "He was always going to be available because he was always going to be out of contract after the Currie Cup."

Mitchell refused to see Pretorius's return to the Lions as unfinished business after dedicating his best years to the franchise when the team was at its under-performing worst.

He also didn't see it as an opportunity to discover what may have been after he signed Pretorius as the Western Force's overseas professional last year, only for the injury-prone flyhalf to suffer a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the Super 14.

"I wouldn't call it that," said Mitchell. "He's a very passionate Lions player and person. There's no expectation on Andre because he's achieved a lot in the game.

"This is a chance to be part of a good team in which the environment is probably a bit different to what he had in the past. Having been in my programme before should make things easier for him."

The New Zealander said he wasn't concerned about Pretorius's injury track record - which once led to a report that he infamously pulled a hamstring while lying in bed.

"At the end of the day he's playing a supporting role. Elton's clearly the No1 flyhalf."

Despite Pretorius spending time with the rehab group and appearing to need physiotheraphy work on his right hamstring this week in training, Mitchell said there was nothing wrong with him.

For all his reputation as being fragile, Pretorius has been incredibly brave with the catalogue of injuries he's had, coming back time and again in a career which started in 2000. His rewards have been a World Cup winner's medal and a Currie Cup trophy, albeit with the Sharks last year.

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