Jurenzo Julius on the brink

Jurenzo Julius’s destiny appeared paved from a young age.

He was just three years old when he ran around his family home in Windhoek in his Sharks and Springbok jerseys.

Julius, a schoolboy prodigy, has transitioned from junior rugby to the senior game almost seamlessly. He hustles and bustles with boundless energy and uncannily bursts into life when the occasion demands it.

The muscular Sharks centre’s love of the game was cultivated from the get-go in a family thoroughly devoted to the sport. “All my uncles played, my dad played loose forward,” said Julius.

“Growing up, it was always something you wanted to do. The family does it and it is something you learn from a young age. I wore a rugby jersey before I could remember.”

His dad was his driving force. “He would always help me get better. When I was a young boy, I had a bit of trouble with my hands. He would take me to this little grass patch and he would pass me the ball. He was the most influential in a rugby sense growing up, and wanting me to become a professional.”

Outsize talent

Julius soon outgrew his surrounds. His outsize talent required a bigger canvas. Driven by the desire to play the game wherever it took him, helped make what for many would be a difficult decision easy. “I think it was fairly straight-forward for me.

“Obviously, it was a bit sad to leave home at 14. I knew that for me to become a professional and play at the highest level, I should take that risk. Otherwise I would have been playing in Namibia still. That is not a bad thing but South African rugby is just on a different level. It’s a tier-one nation.”

It is easy to see the former gymnast and athlete in the way he goes about his business for the Sharks. Julius ran the 100m in 11 seconds flat once but it is rugby that had him in a hurry.

Soon his move to the Cape catapulted him into an upward trajectory. “At U13 Craven Week I was playing against South Africa’s best youngsters. I thought I could get an opportunity and in my second year I did.”

He is grateful everything “worked out. I had some ideas coming out of high school. I had a good matric year and was talking to unions. I thought I was going to play senior rugby but that didn’t happen. At the same time, I’m grateful I went through the ranks. I went through U20 Currie Cup, U20 Junior Boks, Currie Cup and then URC. It wasn’t how I thought it would be but it worked out even better.”

I was grateful to be there. I was humbled to be in the presence of multiple World Cup winners... It was an eye opener to see how you win World Cups... It was just an amazing experience.

—  Jurenzo Julius, Sharks centre

In his stride

But then Julius tends to take things in his stride. His unshackled, almost carefree persona on the field is rooted in self-belief and not what others expect of him. “I set the bar for myself.

“There wasn’t really much pressure on me. I always wanted to be in this position. When I play I just go out and back myself on the field, try and play the best I can. With that, expectations will rise the better you play. For me it was just being myself, expressing myself on the field.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he lists Ma’a Nonu as a player he admired when he was growing up. “He was one of those players who could beat you with his skills, speed, his ability to beat defenders and he can run over you if he wants to. That was my image of a complete centre. He was definitely one of the guys that I looked up to. “What a role model,” he enthused when reminded that Nonu is still playing, a month before his 43rd birthday.

Much like Nonu, who scares the living daylights out of defences, Julius’s on-field exploits earned him the nickname “Boogie Man”. “One of my friends in primary school gave me the name when I was about 12, 13. I was a bit bigger than most guys and, obviously, the way I played, played a role in that. The name just stuck. Now it is sort of my thing.”

Running rugby

Julius has a view of the game that is innocent, perhaps pure.

“Running rugby is beautiful rugby for me. But obviously the higher you play the more shots you get and you have to adjust to that. We also still have the opportunity to play running rugby at the Sharks. I like big hits, big carries. They give you a bit of life.”

Julius this year cracked an invite to the Springboks’ alignment. He sees it as another stepping stone in achieving his dream. “I was grateful to be there. I was humbled to be in the presence of multiple World Cup winners.

“It was everything I expected. How they do things. The way they run the team. The coaches and the players... how they are all involved. It was an eye opener to see how you win World Cups or at the highest level. It was just an amazing experience.”

He was blown away by the attention to detail. “When you have meetings, there is nothing you are unsure about when you walk out. Everything is just discussed and made clear to everyone. It is a great environment.”

Having come a long way in a short time, his dream is tantalisingly close.