East London star retires to focus on his craft beer
FORMER Golden Lions lock Luvuyiso ‘ M B’ Lusaseni recently decided to hang up his playing boots to focus on his business prospects, after an enjoyable 10-year rugby career.
The 28-year-old East Londoner, who matriculated from Selborne College back in 2006, turned out for the Sharks, Griquas, Tuks and the Leopards before signing for the Lions three years ago. He then became a regular in their Currie Cup squad while he also made his Super Rugby debut before featuring in his last match for the team against Griquas earlier this year.
Lusaseni, who is based in Johannesburg, has now turned his full attention to Sanzala, his own brand of Premium craft beer.
“I knew pretty much at the beginning of 2016 that I was going to hang up my boots,” said Lusaseni.
“I’ve always been involved in a few business ventures over the years but they had always taken a back seat and I seriously wanted to explore them further while I still had the energy.
“Rugby is a full time job for those who don’t know, so having my own time was the biggest key to making my decision.
“I guess the opportunities in business outweighed my love for playing the game further.”
Sanzala began in March this year when Lusaseni and a friend decided to build a brand around lifestyle, starting a partnership with a local brewing company.
“My business partner, Sabelo Nhlapo and I have always had a love for beer in general but we were getting bored with the mainstream beers out there, so we decided to partner up with a local brewery and started creating our own beers,” explained Lusaseni.
“Educating the general public on the different types of beer and how they come about is our major focus at the moment. Hence we are targeting places without that much craft beer background.”
So far Lusaseni has been happy with the beer’s reception and has big plans for the future of the budding brand, where he hopes to get the product into all major retailers so as to make it easily accessible, before going even further.
“I would have to say the feedback regarding our beer is what makes it all worth it,” said Lusaseni. “People are loving our different flavour combinations as well as the lifestyle behind the brand in general.
“In the near future, exporting our beer to surrounding countries as well as the far east is in the pipeline.”
Lusaseni’s senior playing career began after matric when he was contracted to the Sharks Academy on a two-year contract.
He then decided to extend his stay, following which he was rewarded with a senior contract for the Sharks.
Having not received as much game time as he had hoped for, Lusaseni made the move to the Griquas in order to get Currie Cup Premier Division experience.
However, he did not stay long as the Varsity Cup caught his attention as he