Coach Mentz at the Puma helm

The Mpumalanga Rugby (Pty) Ltd announced late last week that MJ Mentz will be the head coach for the duration of the 2015 Vodacom Cup series.

“The screening process for the appointment of a new coach for the Absa Currie Cup Premier League has already begun, but this doesn’t mean that MJ can’t hand in his CV too,” Pieter Burger, Managing Director of the MPU (Pty) Ltd said.

MJ played for the Puma schools team way back in 2000 as a Grade 12 learner atErmelo High School. He also represented the province at the SA Schools tournament the same year.

He completed his B.Com Accounting degree at the University of Potchefstroom where he played 43 games for the Leopards.

Thereafter he was called up for duty in Kimberley at the GWK Griquas before he joined the Pumas again in 2009.

In between he also formed part of the Blitzbokke for several years.

MJ sees himself as a family man, who wants to share his personal and Christian values with the team.

“I thank God for trusting and giving me this opportunity. It’s an honour to live out my sport dreams. One of our goals for this year will certainly be to respect one another, as a team and as individuals, with each playing our specific roles in the squad. In my marriage, we try to uphold these principles and I want to share this with the team and management. The secret to our success this year will certainly lie in our communication skills and a shared goal,” he said.

He said the last two years coaching under the mentorship of coach Jimmy Stonehouse was a great stepping-stone in his coaching career.

Asked about a three-year goal, he said he has set his sights on being the official coach of the Currie Cup team.

“I think it’s an exciting era ahead of us. Taking into consideration that we have a very young coaching and management team, the changes of the last couple of months have been coming for a long while. It will have a positive influence on the future of the professional side of the union. The management team is dynamic and everyone is a specialist in his field, just what an upcoming union like us need.”

“Obviously our short term goal is to win the Vodacom Cup series this year, but for myself I would like to create a new Puma culture in the group, based on Christian and true family values on and off the pitch. With this, we want to play more exciting and quality rugby, which is not only crowd pleasing and entertaining, but will hopefully fill the stadium seats,” MJ concluded.

For free breaking and community news, visit our websites:

Ridge Times, Standerton Advertiser & Highvelder

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

For news straight to your phone invite us:

BBM – 2667A726

WhatsApp – 0748877590