East Bank High School girl Rethabile Mogotsi (17) is on the radar of the coach of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union’s Provincial Squad after a brilliant display at the Easter Rugby Festival in Pretoria during the Easter holidays.
Rethabile’s coach, Menzi Zungu, who took along a couple of girls to the festival, was delighted by remarks made by some coaches at the festival around the game displayed by Rethabile and was convinced she could be on the radar of the selectors for the Provincial Squad.
“I was so impressed by the comments the coaches made on Rethabile’s display and outstanding rugby skills, and that if she could continue to work hard, she could find herself selected to play in the Provincial Squad soon.
“I trust she will work hard in the next few weeks to further impress the coaches. She could also find herself selected for the girls’ team that will play in the National Girls Rugby Week to be hosted later this year in Johannesburg at Jeppe Boys’ High School by the Lions Rugby Union,” Zungu added.
Rethabile has been playing for the past 10 years, starting at primary school at Ikage, where she played with the boys before she joined Alex Wolves Rugby Club and then moved [with Alex coach Zungu] to the Wanderers Rugby Club where she made history as the first girl to play with U14 boys and becoming the trailblazer she is today.
She eventually made another piece of history at Wanderers last year by becoming the first junior girl in the club that had an undefeated season under her coach, Zungu.
Zungu believes her talent has been overlooked for a couple of years, but he was convinced this year will be her year to shine as she is also the reason why a number of girls in Alexandra have seriously taken to rugby.
“I will be most delighted if she breaks into the Bull Blues camp as this is where most of the women in the Springboks rugby are selected,” Zungu said, who has since left his coaching job at the Wanderers to concentrate on his project of ‘Bringing Up Rugby’ in the townships of Gauteng.
Rethabile, who Zungu described as a force to reckon with in rugby, said she also wants to work hard at school – so she can uplift her family for a better life.
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