Fresh on the heels of the SA Under-19 squad’s victory in their World Cup campaign in France, Coca-Cola Craven Week coaches will hold a three-day camp with senior coaches and other experts in Cape Town to help find and maintain a winning formula.
The camp, to be conducted by South African Rugby Football Union’s (Sarfu) Manager for Coaching, Hilton Adonis, runs from April 30 to May 2.
Among the participants at the camp will be SA Under-21 World Cup-winning coach, Jake White; SA Under-19 World Cup-winning coach Eugene Eloff; technical analyst Dr Gerrit Pool and SA Rugby General Manager: Medical, Dr Ismail Jakoet. Bulls Vodacom Rugby Super 12 coach Rudy Joubert will take time out of his training schedule to address the gathering on May 1. The proceedings will be opened by Sarfu CEO, Mveleli Ncula.
The aim of the camp is to share knowledge and experiences to help coaches get the best out of the Coca-Cola Craven Week players.
At the end of the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week tournament, selectors name players for the SA Schools and SA Academy sides, from which the SA Under-19 team is normally selected.
”The camp is part of Sarfu’s elite coaches’ development programme,” said Adonis.
”We want to build an interactive relationship among coaches, for the benefit of rugby in the country. We will examine the latest tendencies and techniques, from our recent experiences.”
Cliffie Booysen, Sarfu GM for Youth and Club Rugby, said the success of the SA Under-19 and Under-21 squads should inspire all involved in the country’s rugby structures to know that excellence at an international level is within reach.
”We owe it to the players, coaches and management of the Under-19 and Under-21 to take our rugby to another level,” said Booysen. ”They have served as an inspiration to all of us.”
Other guests include executive committee member of the United Schools Sport Association of South Africa (Ussasa) Rugby, Ronald Bantom, who will discuss the selection process after the tournament. – Sapa