The Diggers Rugby Football Club starts off their 2017 season with the first practice of the year, coached by their new blood.
Long has Diggers been a rugby club to be reckoned with but it seems that now with the introduction of two new coaches, their success will only rise. It was clear from the comments of the coaching staff that ‘back to basics’ is the theme of the practice season.
Diggers welcomed back PR Strauss, coach to the second team that won last year’s Senior Grand Challenge. His rugby career began in 2007 but was cut short with an unfortunate knee injury in 2009. This propelled him into coaching and he now teaches and coaches at Laerskool Louw Geldenhuys. “I think our season last year went very well. We owe our success to the involvement of the community, and the support from the guys that come to join us from the area,” said Strauss.
“I hope to bring back old traditions and use basic drills to develop skills from ground level.”
Dewet Schlebusch is welcomed as the new U19 and U20 coach. Schlebusch hails from a long history in rugby. He coached the Spartan Springbok side in Athens, Greece, continuing onto rugby development in Russia. From there he began club coaching and school coaching at Hoërskool Linden and Hoërskool Florida. Schlebusch started teaching and coaching at Hoërskool Randburg this year.
“My goal is to get the success rate of the club up by starting with the players. I would like us to move up to the Grand Pirates Challenge,” he said. He will be starting by working on player development by focusing on basic skills.
The third newbie to the Diggers family is Sean Johnson. He played five seasons for the Pumas and has 69 official provincial caps as well as having played for the Valke for one year. Despite his busy schedule, he has managed to obtain his BA (Hons) (Psychology) from Unisa. He has trained hard to get his International Rugby Board Level 2 coaching.
Johnson also coaches rugby at Rand Park High School. His personal philosophy for rugby is to teach the players that there is more to the game than simply losing or winning. “I am trying to use the structures I learned during my professional career to develop the players, I like to train smart rather than hard.”
All three coaches are amped for a fantastic new season, with matches starting in March.
Details: Diggers Rugby Football Club, www.diggersrugby.co.za
