CARRYING THE WEIGHT
Who is Adriaan Strauss, the new Bok captain? Craig Ray finds out
BESIDES being an excellent player, the traits that define newly appointed Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss is that he’s a man of deeds and integrity rather than words.
On Monday, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee surprised some when he named Strauss, 30, as the 57th Springbok captain.
Strauss is mostly seen and not heard. But the feeling within a close circle of colleagues and friends is when he speaks its worth listening.
“Adriaan is a remarkable man,” says business partner at the Free State ITEC/ALENTI group Valentine Rantsoareng. “We do a lot of community work and if he commits to something, he does it.
“He doesn’t mind driving from Pretoria to Senekal after a hard training session to attend a match, which we are sponsoring, handing out a trophy and talking to the kids before driving back at night.
“When he’s made a commitment, only something terrible will stop him from fulfilling that promise. He is a huge asset to us as a company.”
Strauss is marketing director for the office supplies company, a role he takes seriously, although also one curbed by his rugby commitments.
The business, started by former Springboks Chris Badenhorst and Andre Venter, has been successful and employs over 100 people in and around Bloemfontein. It has been going so well that Strauss seriously considered hanging up his boots after last year’s Rugby World Cup at the age of 29 to focus fully on business.
Yet, six months on he is the Bok captain. Coetzee said that Strauss would lead the team in the three-test series against Ireland and that the position would be re-evaluated after that.
“Adriaan’s appointment wasn’t a surprise to me at all,” says Strauss’s predecessor Jean de Villiers. “He is a strong leader and a fantastic player, who thinks clearly about the game.
“He has a good business going outside of rugby and I suppose toying with retirement stems from the nature of the game. You go through ups and downs. The disappointment of not winning the World Cup was hard and might have played a part in his thinking.
“In the end he worked through it and it has turned out well for him.
“The Bok captaincy is a difficult job because you have limited time to establish a team culture, working rules and a positive atmosphere while putting your personal touch to that.
“He has the strength of character to do it. He will establish his own authority on the team.”
Former headmaster at Grey College, Johan Volsteedt, recalls an earnest youngster with unflinching integrity and commitment.
“He’s a decent and straightforward man who worked incredibly hard for everything,” Volsteedt says.
“Even then, he wasn’t someone who said a lot, but when he did, people listened. And they still do. He wasn’t as talented as some players we had, but he always worked harder than the others.”
Rantsoareng continues: “I have no doubt he will handle the job of Bok captain with calm authority.
“I recall a particularly difficult board meeting at a time when the company was really struggling and the conversation veered towards closing our doors.
“It was Adriaan, the youngest at the table, that told us to refocus and understand that things didn’t always go well in business. He said we were being tested and we had to work through it. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength.”
Strauss has captained the Cheetahs and Bulls at Super Rugby level and representative teams as a junior. He understands captaincy, but his new role will force him into a brighter spotlight than he has ever known. Yet he seems to have been quietly preparing for the job in the same way he has played — superbly and without fuss.
He has the strength of character to do it. He will establish his own authority on the team