Coenraad Victor Oosthuizen is so much more than just your average prop. Coenie, or Shrek, as he is affectionately known by his teammates, has the ability to excel in whatever sport he competes in.

Jan de Koning – rugby365

Not only is he a supreme rugby player – a prop forward with sublime skills – but he is an accomplished golfer and inevitably also features at the top of the Cheetahs’ table tennis rankings.

However, this should not surprise those that watches his amazing skills on the rugby field – given his astonishing ability to poach ball like a true openside flank, produce an awesome burst of pace and power with the ball in hand, not to mention some of his miraculous off-loads or stupendous stepping, all the while scrumming like an old-fashioned front row forward.

As the maxim goes: ‘There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.’

However, Oosthuizen’s stats tell a story of their own.

In the Cheetahs’ seven games this season he has played 277 minutes, starting in four and playing off the bench in one. It may be incidental, but all three the Cheetahs’ wins this season (over the Lions, Hurricanes and Rebels) came with him in the starting line-up.

As for his fourth start. Well, most pundits are still waiting for an explanation that makes sense as to why the Brumbies were awarded the last-minute penalty that handed them a one-point win.

Any facetious accounts aside, the 23-year-old Oosthuizen has racked up some impressive numbers this season. One of the most significant is his 47 tackles – not bad for a prop who is meant to be a ball carrier. That is an average of over 10 tackles per game, or one every six minutes.

Nevertheless, his poaching skills and ball carrying abilities are well documented.

Not surprising he has the experts raving and many pundits predicting that the 2010 Springbok tourist may well earn his first Test cap later this year.

“I have not seen props that can win as many turnovers as he does,” Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie told this website, when asked about 127kg giant front row forward.

“The key here is that he has such a low centre of gravity … short and strong,” Fourie said, adding: “And you should not be scared – if you hesitate just slightly, the guys will clean you, knock you back metres. If they do manage to clean you, you got to have the guts to go in there next time again.

“It is players like him [Oosthuizen] and Heinrich [Brüssow] who have the guts to do that.

“Coenie [Oosthuizen] is really good in that regard and in the last three games he won turnovers for us at critical times that saved us in difficult situations and on other occasions gave us great counter attacking opportunities.”

However, it is well documented that Oosthuizen is not just a great poacher – he stands strong in the scrums, he can off-load, has the ability to step and he has great judgment. In short, he has the skills of a backline player.

“You just have to look at how Coenie competes in other sports,” the Cheetahs’ assistant coach told this website.

“He plays a great game of golf.

“We also have in internal table tennis competition and he is constantly among the top three on the [table tennis] standings.

“He has an amazing amount of ball sense and skills. He can do anything … run over you, he can step, he can pass like some centres can’t and all that makes of him a very rounded player.

“The last prop that I worked with that had those kind of skills were Jaco Engels, who played at the Bulls and is now with the Kings. Jaco played with me at Boland for a season. He [Engels] was an amazing athlete – he played centre for SA Under-19 and from there he moved to hooker and then prop.

“That is the only other prop I know that has the same kind of skills as Coenie.”

High praise indeed for Shrek!