RUGBY: WHO WILL BE SIPPING CHAMPERS FROM CURRIE CUP
NOBODY will be feeling the heat at Newlands tomorrow more than the respective coaches and captains. They are the chief protagonists in the drama and come the final whistle of the Currie Cup final, two of them will be sipping champers out of the 126-yearold Cup and for the other two it will be desperate disappointment. Here, we look at the respective men in charge at Western Province and the Sharks.
Robert du Preez: This final will bring down the curtain on the 55-yearold’s third year in charge of the Sharks, and he would dearly love to mark the occasion with his first piece of silverware, particularly after the shock loss to Province in last year’s final. The Sharks did not have the Super Rugby campaign they envisaged earlier this year and the pressure will be on the coach to deliver in the Currie Cup final. As a scrumhalf for Western Transvaal, Northern Transvaal, Natal and the Springboks, Du Preez was ultra-competitive and nothing has changed now that he has graduated into coaching. Born and schooled in Potchefstroom, Du Preez returned to his roots to coach the Leopards in his first job in firstclass rugby, as well as well as Pukke, having earlier enjoyed success with Durban club College Rovers. Du Preez played seven Test matches for the Boks in 1992 and 1993.
Louis Schreuder: The 28-year-old was on the field the last time the Sharks won the Currie Cup, in 2013 at Newlands, except he was in a blue and white jersey and had a game to forget. This is only the third occasion Schreuder will be captaining the Sharks after taking over the reins from Chiliboy Ralepelle. Akker van der Merwe has played so well when given a rotational chance that it was difficult to drop him, and so Ralepelle has remained on the bench and Schreuder has continued captaining. He came to the Sharks in 2017 via the Southern Kings and before that the Kubota Spears in Japan, but he is very much a product of the Cape. How dearly would he love to be crowned King Louis on his former home ground ...
John Dobson: A scholar, a gentleman and a rugby man through and through. That would aptly describe the affable Dobson, who is a published author and former editor of a rugby magazine. When he was appointed WP coach in 2015, it was fitting for a man who can rightly call Newlands his second home – he had a scholars’ season ticket at Newlands from a very young age and coached the WP Under-20 and Vodacom Cup teams. “Dobbers” once said that he had been lucky enough to come from an enlightened family so that in the dark days of South Africa he got to watch Saru rugby. In 1989, he watched a Currie Cup final and a SA Cup final on the same weekend. For this quintessentially WP man, coaching the streeptruie is clearly an honour, privilege and responsibility, and his players just as clearly recognise that and play for him.
Chris van Zyl: Nearly all professional rugby players begin wondering about life after rugby towards the end of their playing days, but for Van Zyl it was the other way around. After school at Rondebosch Boys’ High, he went to Stellenbosch University to study accountancy and duly graduated as a chartered accountant. To be fair, when at school he did not have the pressure of a director of rugby trying to sign him — he played for his school’s third team. He says he was physically a late developer, which explains why he came into his own as a rugby player at university, where he made a name for himself in the Varsity Cup. After completing his studies, he had to do his articles in Johannesburg, which led to him making his first-class debut for the Golden Lions in 2013. In 2015 he returned home and has subsequently played 55 times for WP and on 28 occasions for the Stormers.