Potgieter the beast Tahs looking for

Potgieter is renowned for his fearless approach to the game. Source: AP

DOWN the years, many people have held fears for Jacques Potgieter as he ran onto a football field. Someone had to.

"If you are going to get scared on the rugby field, play another sport," Potgieter says of fear.

"I grew up with the philosophy rugby is a tough sport. It's a contact sport. You have to be tough and if you don't like the physical stuff, you can play tennis."

Introducing Ulrich Jacques Potgieter, the Waratahs' new marquee import.

The former Bulls and Springboks loose forward will pull on a different sky blue jersey in 2014 after recently signing a two-year deal to play in Sydney, and there's little confusion about what his role will be.

Enter the hardman.

"I like to throw my body around," Potgieter told the Daily Telegraph this week from Japan, where he is playing over summer.

"When I was younger a lot of people would say: "you are going to die on the rugby field Jacques, you're just crazy".

"Players like that because if you see a guy like that on the field, you get energy from that. I like to create that by leading from the front. I see that as a strength of my game. Hopefully I can bring that to Sydney."

Talk with Potgieter for a few minutes and it becomes obvious why Cheika jumped at a gift-wrapped opportunity to sign the abrasive three-Test Springbok forward.

While he'd always been an admirer of Jacques Potgieter - wondering if he was Dewald Potgieter's brother (they're not related) – Cheika hadn't contemplated signing him until the rugby grapevine delivered the 115kg forward to his door.

Hearing word the Waratahs were hunting an abrasive forward, and impressed with their 2013 season, Potgieter told his agent to ring Cheika.

"I had an offer from Saracens, but I really like the style of rugby the Waratahs brought in, the new attacking style they're playing especially from last year, with Michael Cheika there," Potgieter explained.

"I knew they'd had Sarel Pretorius there before, so maybe they'd be keen on another foreigner. I told my agent to talk to Michael and see if he was interested, and Michael was interested."

Though a backrower by trade, Cheika says 194cm Potgieter will fill the role of lock for NSW, and hopefully set a physical example to his teammates as well.

"It would have been good to have options here but I think we need to breed a bit more of that type of player," Cheika said.

"Maybe we can use him to not only just to help us win games but to show a bit of that to someone who might want to adopt that profile, because that's where is opportunity."

Potgieter will be the third South African recruited by the Waratahs since 2010, but would be the first success.

Hendrik Roodt was badly out of his depth, and Pretorius's contract ended prematurely and on a sour note after the electric halfback was barely used by Michael Foley.

Amazingly, however, Pretorius told Potgieter he should jump at the chance to follow in his footsteps.

"I phoned Sarel and asked him about the Waratahs, to do my check-ups," Potgieter said.

"He is a very honest man and he told me he loved it there. It's an awesome place, awesome city and he just wished he'd played more. That's the only thing that he said he wasn't happy about, but otherwise he loved it there."

Potgieter, 27, is something of a late bloomer. After coming through the Sharks development system, he only decided to take rugby seriously four years ago and began his climb up in 2009 when he played Currie Cup first division for Eastern Province. He played Currie Cup proper for the Blue Bulls in 2011.

With a shock of black hair, Potigieter throwing his body around was easy to spot, as was the trail of bodies strewn behind. A Super Rugby debut followed in 2012, and a Test debut came against England as well.

In South Africa, where backrowers grow on hardwood trees, the rapid rise indicates the Tahs have bought well.

Jake White says the ingrained physicality of African rugby comes down to a production line of hungry players in the wings, busting to prove they're tougher than the next man.

"That's very true," Potgieter says.

"There's so much competition in South Africa, especially in the loose forwards, you have to be more focussed and work harder than the next guy. Otherwise you are not going to get anywhere."

Potgieter says he hasn't sacrificed his dream to play for the Springboks again by moving to NSW.  With Boks coach Heyneke Meyer now happy to pick Test teams stuffed with overseas-based players, it was part of the reason he elected to choose Sydney over London, Paris or Tokyo.

"If I play Super Rugby, I am going to play against the South African sides so you're going to get seen. If you play in France, you might not get seen so much," he says. "If you have a good season, it doesn't matter where you play, the coach can see you."

Potgieter spoke with Meyer before he left for Japan, and ultimately Sydney next February. His message sounded familiar.

"He said: "Please look after yourself"."

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