The more I think about it, the more I believe that it is one of Springbok rugby’s greatest injustices that a man and player of this calibre had to wait so long to reach such an important milestone in his rugby career.
Perhaps it is not so much an injustice but simply one of those inexplicable occurrences that comes once in a lifetime, like Haley’s comet or the Soccer World Cup in Africa.
There is nothing fancy about this guy, what you see is what you get. And in an age where professionalism in rugby has created so many prima donnas and players with ego’s as large as their over-inflated and sometimes undeserved salaries, one can truly say that he is one of the few and only traditional hard-men left in the game today.
Never has he been involved in any controversy, never have I read anything about this guy outside of rugby and even getting anything on him in the form of interviews or quotes inside the game of rugby is a mission! I don’t know if he is married (he probably is) and I do not know if he has any kids even.
He does not come from ‘rugby stock’ where his father was a legendary Springbok and as far as I know none of his siblings are famous for anything either (does he even have any?).
When you are looking to define the phrase ‘Salt of the earth player’ his name is probably the first that should appear.
This man is simply only, and all about rugby.
His career started in 1999 where he made his professional debut for the same province he still plays for today. He made his Super rugby debut for them in 2001 and earned his very first Bok cap in 2003.
He is a veteran of two World Cups in which he holds one winners medal starting in the final in 2007 and pulling off arguably one of the most important try-saving tackles in Springbok history.
He has 4 Currie Cup winners medals, 3 Super rugby winners medals, 1 Tri-Nations winners medals, a World Cup medal and a series victory over the British and Irish Lions.
He is the ultimate impact player, the ultimate versatile player and the original PK.
He has lived in the shadows of one of the few living legends of Bok rugby, but never would you read about how he uttered one word of discontent about his own ambitions or favouritism and how he is continuously and unfairly overlooked both provincially and nationally.
He was simply always there to step up when needed, and the biggest compliment I can give him, and probably the reason for his relative anonymity in the rugby world too, is that when he was called on to step up, one hardly ever noticed a difference when the more fancied ‘first choice’ players broke down or fell out of favour.
He has been one of the greatest servants of Bulls and Springbok rugby. The consummate professional who never flinched or blinked an eye or ever frowned upon any job or position he was asked to step up into and perform.
He is the original Pakslae, and in a day and age where 50 test caps is nothing special anymore, I believe a special mention needs to go to Danie Rossouw who will represent his country for the 50th time this weekend in Wellington where he has again been asked to step up and fill the boots of the man under whose shadow he has played for just under a decade.
And once again, you can expect nothing but his ultimate commitment as he will run out for his country once again, dishing out a couple of PK’s along the way as the original Pakslae.
Take a bow Sir, you will always be remembered as a Springbok and rugby giant the likes we do not see anymore, or enough of.
Morné,
Excellent Article and absolutely true… Danie’s one of those silent hard-working giants in the game.
Shot Morne!
And what a season the man has had. I hope he still has one or two more of these in the tank.
nice article morné
and
well said!!
3@ Ashley:
Flok, for once Asbakkie actually agrees that a Bull is so bloody good…. hehehehe
Asbak, we’ll buy you a Bulls jersey soon….. hahahaha
gbs @ 4
nope its not the first time
.. who do you think is leading the current “justice for bakkies” campaign? 😀
#5
ok, its more of a “sympathy for bakkies” campaign
..
anyway as ek soe aangaan
ek is een vd dae ñ hooligan … agge ek mean ñ bloubul ondersteuner!! 😆
6@ Ashley:
Ek wou net opmerk…. jy het laaaaaaaaaankal hooligan stewig onder die knie!
gbs @ 7
you wish 😆
8@ Ashley:
Ja, kyk…. jy support dan die span met tronkkleertjies aan…. daai blou en wit strepe lyk hoeka soos tronkkleertjies!
Hehehehe
Hoops…. ek bedoel oeps!
Good article, and well timed. Congrats to Danie! Now go and bliksem the All Blacks.
@ grootblousmile:
This tribute does not do the man justice.
I will remember and look at Danie with the same respect I look at Andre Venter.
Post it on the Bulls blog they might enjoy this!!! A lot more should be made about this milestone given the circumstances under which it was achieved.
If only more rugby players had this down-to-earth attitude towards the game of union our game will be a lot healthier.
A worthwhile tribute to a great servant of South Africa….never forget the saying “the squeekly wheel gets the grease”, Danie Rossouw is one of those majority of South Africans who uncomplainingly go about their daily task, delivering a sterling performance and never asking for anything in return. Because of their silence they often get overlooked. This man is one of those people, but he is a great rugby player to boot. I remember debating with someone on one of these blogs (someone who had lots of support I might tell you, sayng things like, he is past it, he is too upright, he is too slow)whether he deserved to be in the squad for the 2007 world cup. I maintain he deserved it…and not one of those doubters ever came back to me and said “hell it was Pakslae who saved that English try being scored, by the same player who tried to break Percy’s leg”. He deserves his place in any team, he is evergreen and he has been recognised and rewarded. One of the hard men, lets name a few others who were below the firing line, but stuck to their task.
Man I am so in agreement! To me Danie is and always will be one of the All Time Greats!!! Respect!
12@ 4man:
Ja sammajoor, Andre Venter was like that too… so too Ruben Kruger, Thys Lourens, Moaner van Heerden, Louis Moolman, Henry Honiball, Andre Joubert…. the list goes on.
There are luckily a whole host of those types around in our rugby past as well….
11@ Morné:
I get the hint…. you like old Pakslae….. hehehehe
@ grootblousmile:
Love him!
@ grootblousmile:Interesting….I started citing some players, then thought ok I’ll let the other guys do it, I only put two names down before I deleted them…Henry Honibol and Andre Venter, interesting you should mention those both. I remember watching a tv interview with ……Jones NZ flanker when he retired…the NZ interviewer asked him “is there anyone you feared” his answer was “I dont fear anyone, but when I played against Honibol I knew I was going to get hurt, because that man tackled me harder than anyone else in my entire career”….Old Henry used to run a mile when they wanted to interview him….I can tell you, he is a bloody mean golfer too and he is still coaching the Winterton farmers team and normally plays for the Natal legends in their annual match against the Winterton farmers.
Maybe Danie can go and be a farmer there after he retires and then he can join a team that has 100% wins per season often in their division, but cant make the step up, because they dont have enough players for two teams. 🙂
I see Kanko has come on to the bench with Danie taking the step up to starting line up.
What the hang happened to Francois Louw??? he was like a changed man in this test, maybe a case of the “rabbit caught in the headlights”
You’ll note I can only start talking about it today, it took me a while to get my equilibrium about what happened…but upshot is, we played poorly.
18@ 4man:
Sammajoor, I like Francois Louw a lot…. he’s been sensational this season and with a good Bokke debut before this last Test…
… but I’ve often decribed my preference for a traditional Loosie combo…. where a pure “Fetcher” is key, not only to pilfer ball but often more important in arriving at ground ball first and slowing down opposition ball.
That’s where Brussow was so vital last season….
There has to be balance in a loosie combo in preference to 2 No 7-type flankers.
Spies was also only there in spirit in stead of doing the hard graft, so Francois Louw is not alone in taking the ground-ball criticism!
@ grootblousmile:I agree….but Louw played below himself, so did Spies and most of the team, the only guy (who I was unhappy with at this level before) who did himself justice was Kirchner and if he carries on in that vein, he will become one of the greats, but I hope he isnt like Steve Atherton only fires every thrid game or so.
20@ 4man:
I’m glad for Kirchner, he really shut up a few “VAAKVISSE” on Saturday. I’ve been trying to rally a bit of support for him for weeks now!
gbs @ 9
lmao
good one!!
22@ Ashley:
Fokkit, jy was seker op lang lunch!
Danie Rossouw is n legende. Baie respek vir hom. Hy gee altyd alles en het nog nooit n span in die steek gelaat nie.
Ek wens n paar van die verdwene WP ondersteuners(oud bloggers hier) kan die guts toon en hier kom askies se dat hulle hom so voor die 2007 Wereldbeker beledig het. Kom uit en staan jul man, hy was a carthorse , te stadig ens in jul oe.
Vir Danie sal ek altyd respek he.
Daar is nog n speler wat so tribute nodig het , maar eerder vir sy diens by die Bulle. Pedrie jy was n groot speler vir ons.
gbs @ 23
hoekom issit as cullerts lank van lyn af is, was hulle op ñ lang lunch
maar assie wit mense lang lunches vat was hulle op besigheid? 😀
#26
was bietjie besig gewees 😆
super @ 25
hoekom? hy was stadig, van vorm af ens ens ens. ek is een van hulle wat dit gesê het. inteendeel as ek in 2007 die coach was sou die helfte v daai wc squad nie naby my team gekom het nie!!
sien? ek het geleer dat humble pie bra k*k smaak …. so deesdae hou ek my bek!! 😆
@ Ashley:
Ash jy is n yster
The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
[Alice checks Hatter’s temperature]
Alice: I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are!!
…
goodnight ladies and gents …. chat again tomorrow!!
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