Danrich Visagie, fly half and current captain of the Leopards, is breathing a breath of fresh air into his rugby career after leaving the Griffons in 2019.
Danrich, who is nicknamed Pike, has travelled up north to Potch to further his career at the Leopards – a team with a reputation of delivering top young talent and transforming them into better players. Just ask Walt Steenkamp (Blue Bulls), Jeandré Rudolph (Cheetahs) and Gideon van der Merwe (Griquas), to name but a few of the success stories.
Danrich attended Boland Landbou, where he represented Western Province at u.16 and u.18 levels and representing his country at an u.16 level.
His love for the game started at a young age when he played touch rugby with his friends in the streets. He then started playing rugby at the age of seven. Being a captain is not new to him as he captained his school’s first team in 2015.
“I know what is expected of me in the captaincy position. It hasn’t affected my game in any way because being captain motivates me to give my best in my fly half position.”
The fly half looks up to former Springbok fly half and current Leopards head coach, André Pretorius. “He played my position, so he knows the ins and outs of the position and that’s why I love learning from him; he knows what he is talking about,” said Danrich.
This left-footed fly half puts in the extra effort to improve his kicking game by going to training an hour before the time to ensure that he has good kicking stats before game day.
The captain is a very motived player and gives all credit to God for blessing him with this talent. It is a huge privilege to play the game he loves and, therefore, he needs to use every opportunity he gets.
Visagie enjoys spending time with his girlfriend and in the gym on his off days. South African World cup-winning captain, Siya Kolisi, is a big mentor of Danrich.
“Personally, Siya is the best captain. His leadership is very inclusive, he doesn’t talk a lot but, when he does, his teammates listen to him”.
This quality fly half is looking to take his team all the way in this year’s Currie Cup First division. Glory is only three games away.
