Springbok rugby players visit Fourways High School for training day
FOURWAYS – Nine Springbok rugby players have rugby training with youngsters at Fourways High School.
Nothing would be more appealing to a Springbok rugby fan than actually training with the Boks. Vuka Rugby players and Fourways High School children got this opportunity at the My Training Day with the Springboks event, organised by insurance company BrightRock at Fourways High School on 21 June.
Springboks Eben Etzebeth, Tendai Mtawarira (The Beast), Siya Kolisi, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jaco Kriel, Oupa Mohoje and Coenie Oosthuizen went through the basics of how to play rugby and techniques to use to avoid injuries, with the children.
Training drills were organised by former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh, who along with former Springbok players Breyton Paulse, Stefan Terblanche, Morné du Plessis, James Small and Pieter Muller, and South African Rugby Union player Ethienne Reynecke, ensured that everybody had a ball.
“I hope the children have a lot of fun today and learn how to play safe rugby,” said Springbok forward, Mohoje, who guided the youngsters through the drills, focusing specifically on running lines and beating tacklers.
Fourways High School deputy principal Garth Neilson welcomed the Boks to the school, but gave a warmer welcome to the young players, whom he called ‘the Springboks of the future’.
The event followed the Play the Bounce Braai at Montecasino the day before, where guests enjoyed a braai with the Springboks. Both events were part of an initiative to raise funds for the Chris Burger Petro Jackson Players Fund, a fund for rugby players who suffer serious head, neck or spinal cord injuries.
Vuka Rugby, according to its website, is a rugby league and programme aimed to promote rugby in disadvantaged communities.
“Most of these children come from the townships where it is all about soccer,” commented Nathi Magubane, a teacher at Protea Glen Secondary School – a school benefiting from the Vuka Rugby programme.
“It is a highlight for them to play with the guys you see on TV, and they will see how they can play for South Africa one day if they take rugby seriously.”
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Also read: Laaities tussle with Bok Julian Redelinghuys at Diggers rugby clinic
