DHL Stormers legend: Cobus Visagie
The powerful Cobus Visagie was one of the world’s great scrum anchors and a DHL Stormer with an unbelievable dedication to his craft.
A technical scrum master, Visagie worked like an anaconda, slowly winding and bending his opponent before suffocating the life out of him at the set-piece.
He was the first-choice tighthead prop at the inception of the ‘Men in Black’ era, and formed a formidable front row for the DHL Stormers with fellow Springboks Robbi Kempson and Charl Marais during the 1999 Super Rugby season.
His influence in the tight five was undeniable as the DHL Stormers romped into the playoffs before their title hopes were dashed in the semifinals by the Highlanders at Newlands.
Nicknamed “Drieman” because he scrummed like three men, Visagie was an immovable object in a dynamic pack that included Selborne Boome, Hottie Louw, Corné Krige and charismatic skipper Bob Skinstad.
The Paul Roos Gymnasium alum made 53 appearances for the DHL Stormers from 1998 to 2003, and won four Currie Cup titles with DHL Western Province between 1997 and 2003.
Visagie earned 29 Test caps for South Africa and was the cornerstone of the Springbok team that reached the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-finals.
In 2003 Visagie moved to England to join Saracens, for whom he played in 121 games and was voted in the Gallagher Premiership Team of the Season for three consecutive seasons.
He retired at the end of the 2008/09 campaign before combining a career in finance with a part-time role as a scrum consultant at Saracens, and now serves as Group CEO at Africa Merchant Capital in London.
Visagie’s DHL Stormers numbers
53 – The number of matches he played for the DHL Stormers from 1998 to 2003
1 – The number of tries he scored for the DHL Stormers
