Kuswag sevens team ends Mauritius tour on a high

The future looks bright for Kuswag Skool rugby, especially sevens rugby, after the school celebrated a successful tour of Mauritius last month.

Coach Zander Erasmus and the Kuswag sevens team have outdone themselves in the past 14 months. They have played fantastic rugby and showed true character on and off the field, having taken part in seven finals and returning home with seven trophies.

Last month the team participated in the sixth annual Mauritius International Rugby Sevens Tournament, which was held at The Dodo Club on 6 and 7 October. The boys played against eight teams, where they finished fourth overall and plate winners. “It was an unbelievable achievement, as the Kuswag sevens team was the only school from South Africa. The other South African teams were from clubs,” said a proud Zander.

The boys played six games – won three and lost three – and won the plate final. One of those losses was a 12-7 scoreline against the Mauritius U19 sevens team that we played in the opening game. That was quite a good experience.”

Two Kuswag players, Marcho Boers and Gideon Stiglingh were chosen for the Dream Team which will tour to Dubai in December. “They played two matches against the senior Mauritius men’s team after the tournament and Gideon scored a try. This was a fantastic achievement for the U17 boys,” said Zander.

During the 2018 season, the team defended their title in Ballito, where they beat Hillcrest in the final. They made the cup final at Hillcrest Boys High and in the following week, won the plate final at Durban North College. They also scored the most tries and points at that festival. In the 13 matches they contested, they won 12, before embarking to Mauritius.

READ ALSO: Kuswag Skool teachers embark on new adventures

“We have been blessed with a good bunch of boys coming through,” said Zander, who was born in Toti and was schooled at Kuswag. He went to Potschefstroom University, where he studied and coached before returning home. Remarkably this is only his second year coaching sevens rugby but his 10th in coaching the sport.

“I’m loving being back at Kuswag. I think our sevens rugby is stronger than our full team because we are a small school and we have a smaller group of boys to work with.

We are already busy in the gym for next season. We have made a leap in identifying the group to go through next season to give them enough time to do their conditioning. Fortunately we only lose four grade 12 players. The U16s were unbeaten last year, so we have a strong group coming through to fill those positions.”

All Zander’s focus is on 2020, when he hopes to contest the Desert Festival in Namibia as part of Kuswag’s 50-year celebrations.

READ ALSO: Kuswag Skool celebrates principal’s appointment