King of cool

The Shark:JP Pietersen looks set to follow a famous namesake in his own typically laidback style.

JP Pietersen unfurls himself into a plush leather chair that harbours a secret. There is too much give so that anyone leaning back automatically grabs at the table to save themselves from the disconcerting sensation of a potentially embarrassing plunge to the carpet.

The 22 year old is briefly caught unawares but his reflexes are sharp. His face creases into a smile that will be familiar to those who have seen him on a rugby pitch. The Springbok wing gives the impression of being laid back to the point of being horizontal; a supposition endorsed by a seemingly ever present smile.

Perhaps it is the languid grace with which he glides during matches, the loping stride that camouflages serious acceleration further enhancing the imagery. Minutes earlier, perched at times precariously on the rocks that serve as a promontory guarding the Beverley Hills hotel from the sea in Durban, Pietersen obliged the artistic manoeuvring of the photographer without complaint.

Shy and quietly spoken his conversation is peppered with laughter so it is difficult to believe him when he claims to be a great deal more intense. “Everyone says that my expression on my face makes me look laid back and that I am in my own world on the field. “But inside it is not the same. I am really nervous; I am talking a lot, screaming at the guys. This is how I am and I can’t change it. Some people say when I run that I laugh but I don’t even know that I do it because it is just something that happens naturally. It is just an image.”

An integral part of the South African side that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France – he scored three tries in the first two matches of the tournament – Pietersen craves the opportunity to play against the Lions in the upcoming test series, a wish likely to be fulfilled and one that would fulfil a neat symmetry that dates to his baptism. He was christened Jon-Paul Roger Pietersen. “I was named after JPR Williams, the biggest legend ever,” he smiles. “My Dad was a big rugby fan and he was crazy about British and Irish Lions and he came up with the name JPR.

“Initially my mum didn’t agree with it, so he changed it to Jon-Paul, Roger but he still says it is because of JPR Williams. Once I started playing professional rugby it hit me what a big name it was. But I didn’t really concentrate on following in his footsteps because there is only one JPR Williams.

“I just tried to focus on myself but it is an absolute honour to be named after him. I watched a couple of tapes of him playing for the British Lions and for the Barbarians when they scored the try of the century. I knew about JJ Williams before I knew about JPR; I used to get confused but my Dad told me that JPR Williams always had his socks around his ankles so I started noticing (him) from there.

“My family is a rugby family. My uncles played provincial rugby; my grandmother was crazy about rugby. It is funny that my coaches know my grandmother. She knew everyone who played rugby. She knew all the rules. She was crazy about Western Province but because Christie (his uncle) played for Natal so she had to support Natal also.

“She was also crazy about the overseas teams who played here. As a boy I was quite surprised that my grandmother knew everything about rugby. She would know where all the players came from.” Pietersen has two cousins who have played with the Springbok Sevens team, Howard and Willie Noble so there is a rich pedigree of rugby in the family. It didn’t though stop the young JP from announcing one day that his first love was soccer, a game he played with friends, but one which drew an unequivocal response at home. “My dad said: ‘My boy, if you want to play soccer, then you will have to move out of the house because this is a rugby family. There is only one way and that is rugby!’ So I said: ‘Okay Dad’ and moved away from soccer and started focusing on rugby.”

Soccer though remains a passion and he is an ardent supporter of Manchester United and in particular Ryan Giggs. The latter’s goal against Arsenal in an FA Cup semi-final is still a treasured memory and one ambition outside of rugby is to travel to Old Trafford.

He claims to have been an unexceptional athlete at school – by his own admission he did some athletics to complement rugby and played cricket describing himself as an enthusiastic but wayward fast bowler – and as if to emphasise the point, highlights the fact that the first cup he won was the World Cup.

Pietersen’s talent for rugby though shone from an early age. He was a member of the South African team beaten in the 2006 Under 21 World Cup final by France before progressing to make his debut for the Springbok side as a 19 year old against Australia the same year. Given his ascribed birthright it was apposite that he made that bow at fullback.

The media quickly embraced the tag line of the new JPR but Pietersen was far too nervous to care. He’s scored 10 tries in 24 tests since, enjoyed two exceptional seasons in the past three – in 2008 he failed to score a try in the Super 14, a setback he pits down to a lax attitude based on expectation rather than hard work – and is the perfect foil for the more celebrated Bryan Habana.

Given the impending arrival of the Lions Pietersen has been a keen student of Northern Hemisphere rugby. “When I am off I watch the Heineken Cup and analyse the opposition. I watched a lot of the Six Nations and the final game (Wales-Ireland); it was quite intense. Ireland is a good team and they came so close (so often) only to lose so I am really happy for them that they won the Six Nations. “I saw Ireland guys for years and there are still the same faces. Do these guys not get old? In (Brian) O’Driscoll, (Ronan) O’Gara, (Paul) O’Connell, they have experienced guys. I am a big fan of O’Driscoll’s. He is one of the best players ever.

“When you read interviews in magazines O’Driscoll’s name pops up every time. That is why you have to admire and respect the man. He is great on the field, a game-breaker. I saw his intercept for Leinster against Munster and it changed the whole game. Munster did all the playing but they didn’t finish well.

“Leinster didn’t play so well in the league but surprisingly played well in the big game: when it mattered most, (Gordon) D’Arcy and O’Driscoll were the key (players).”

For Pietersen the Lions symbol extends beyond a name. As a 10 year old he recalls attending a training session in Cape Town during the 1997 tour, watching in awe. “We saw Martin Johnson and all the guys. I watched all the games and then saw the drop-goal by (Jeremy) Guscott and I was almost crying because we lost.

“It is almost like a World Cup because it only comes around every 12 years. Some of the guys who played for years never played against the British and Irish Lions so for me it is a huge privilege. For me – other guys might feel different – when I won the World Cup, I didn’t really know what it meant.

“To win against the British and Irish Lions, would be awesome, especially as the drop-goal from Jeremy Guscott still runs through my head like a movie. It would be like winning the World Cup.” An injury to Conrad Jantjes means that Springbok coach Peter de Villiers might turn to Pietersen to fulfil the fullback role and thereby offering the young Shark the opportunity to pen a chapter of his own in the rich tapestry of Springbok-Lions testimonials under the heading JPR.