Pieter Meyer - FNB Player of the Week
Player Profile
Jimmy Stonerhouse, great and experienced schoolmaster and coach, speaks of Pieter Meyer, our FNB Player of the week, in glowing terms – as a person, as a leader and as a player.
Pieter captains Waterkloof – Klofies, the Blou Tornado – and he enjoys doing so. But then he was a captain in his primary school and has been a captain all the way up through school – except last year which was his first year in the 1st XV and his first year at Craven Week.
He has been playing rugby since Std 1 (Grade 3). He was an eighthman who moved to centre in Std 6 and then in Std 9 to flank, Moving position was not the only shift he has made.
His father was a farmer in the Newcastle district who changed occupation and city, coming to Pretoria when Pieter was in Std 8. Pieter then moved to Waterkloof.
That move was a success as he has great love of his school and sees it as a great honour to play for the school. "It was even greater to pull the Klofies' first team jersey on than to pull the Blue Bulls' jersey on, Pieter said.
The move from centre to flank was also a great success. In his first year of the shift he played for Klofies 1st XV and for the Blue Bulls at Craven Week. In the second year he captained Klofies and the Blue Bulls.
"There was nothing nicer than playing for SA Schools," Pieter said. "It's something you dream about when you are small."
He played twice for SA Schools – when they beat France 52-13 at Waterkloof but they lost their second match – against the SA Academy side who beat them 30-24 at Loftus. He says of the Loftus match: "It was a really tough match between two evenly matched sides."
He is certainly an impressive figure on the field – big, hard, skilled and obviously enjoying the game. "It's my life," he says. "I can't imaging life without rugby."
He is mainly a ball-carrier but will do the fetcher's job when his team requires him to – more the Juan Smith type of flank thought the flanks he admires most are Schalk Burger, Richie McCaw and Phil Waugh. And he can tackle – really tackle.
It is astonishing that he was not noticed when he was younger but then he was at school in Newcastle and the old Northern Natal has become a neglected area when it come to provincial rugby, from primary schools upwards.
We spoke to him on the day before the massive Beeld Trophy final in Pretoria between Waterkloof and Monument – what Pieter describes as an "incredible match". Klofies are the only side to have beaten Monnas this year – a match which Pieter missed because he woke up that morning with a high temperature. Before the match he was not scared but careful. After all Monnas are the top side and he would be playing against two star flanks in Johan van Deventer and Johan Janse van Rensburg. "I am going to have to hunt the ball," he said.
He enjoys his side. "It's a good side, not big but well rounded, and we are good friends," Pieter says. "We struggled at the start of the season but then we came right."
Pieter works hard at his game – gym in the off-season, conditioning and lots of work during the season. He is a remarkably fit player.
Pieter comes of rugby stock. Grandfather Ozak Meyer played for Northern Transvaal. Grandfather Chris Brink played for Natal Schools. Father Jaco played for Northern Natal at Craven Week. Both his parents are 100% supportive, travelling many kilometres to watch him play. And he has a sister in Std 5 – a really good hockey player.
Pieter Gideon Joubert Meyer was born in Newcastle on 4 September 1987. He finishes school this year and is contracted to the Blue Bulls, whose structure he admires. He hopes to study sports management at Tukkies.
For a profile of Waterkloof, click here.
For a profile of the Waterkloof team, click here.
