New coach for St John’s

ST JOHN’S College is excited to announce the appointment of the new head rugby coach, Katleho Lynch who replaces Gerhard Visser and brings a wealth of experience from a coaching career over 11 years.

Lynch, who hails from Johannesburg, began his coaching career at Creston Collge, a primary school in Kwazulu-natal. He returned to Johannesburg and studied a BA in Sport Psychology, Honours in Sports Science and a PGCE at the University of Joburg. He also played rugby for their varsity side.

On graduation, Lynch began coaching at St Benedict’s College and worked his way up to be the school’s 1st XV head coach, leading them to their famous victory over Jeppe in 2017.

While head coach at St Benedict’s, he was appointed as schools’ provincial coach, a position he occupied for four years. Lynch also remained involved with his alma mater UJ from 2016 to 2018, winning the local league with the

U19s in 2016 and back to back league titles with the 2nd XV. Based on these successes, he was invited to join Saru’s Elite Player Development (EPD) programme for under-17s in 2017.

At St John’s College he will look to contribute to the school’s already impressive history.

“I am humbled to be coaching and leading rugby at a prestigious school such as St John’s College with an incredible history. My focus will be to align rugby and develop skills of players and coaches across the board. I am excited to see where we go from here,” says Lynch.

He is excited to tackle his new role. “For me, it’s important to add value, particularly to the lower teams. That’s where the boys are often overlooked because they are not nurtured due to the main focus often being on the A teams or First XV. It will be key for me is to be involved with the lower teams, as well as managing what’s happening at the top.”

Lynch aims to add to rugby at St John’s College, without losing too much of the schools traditional way of playing the game.

“I am looking to make sure we don’t deviate from the St John’s brand of rugby; we still want to play an attacking brand of rugby. My philosophy is based on tempo. We want to play quick, to be skilful, and to entertain. But with the entertainment we still want results. We also want to bring in a defensive philosophy within that attacking brand as well, so I’m excited about that.”