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15 June 2018 Photo Sonia Small
Go Bokke says rector to wealth of Kovsies in Bok management team
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, paid a special visit to the Springboks on Friday 15 June 2018 to wish the four former Kovsies good luck for the test match against England on Saturday (16 June 2018). From the left are: Jacques Nienaber, Oupa Mohoje, Prof Petersen, Rassie Erasmus, and Swys de Bruin.

 Listen to Prof Petersen's message to the Springboks here.

Former Kovsies are in abundance in the management team to face England in the second test in Bloemfontein on Saturday (16 June 2018).  

No less than four of the management team, including three of the five coaches, are Kovsies, having studied at the University of the Free State (UFS) previously. They are Rassie Erasmus (head coach), Jacques Nienaber (defence coach), Swys de Bruin (consultant for attacking play), and Vivian Verwant (physiotherapist). Nienaber is also a qualified physio who started his career in this role at Shimlas before advancing to coaching later on. Erasmus and De Bruin both donned the blue jersey.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, paid a special visit to the Springboks’ hotel in Bloemfontein on Friday morning (15 June 2018) to wish Erasmus and company good luck for the test. “I just want to wish you all the best. The entire Kovsie community is behind you and the Springboks, and we only want one result tomorrow,” Prof Petersen said.

Erasmus, who studied at the UFS in the early 1990s, said it was a joyful week in Bloemfontein. “It is good to be here. We really enjoyed the facilities, having trained at Shimla Park with all its good memories. Hopefully the result will be good tomorrow. We are proud former Kovsies, with quite a few of us here,” Erasmus said.

Although he won’t play on Saturday, loose forward Oupa Mohoje is still part of the training squad. Ox Nche, who was released from the squad on Sunday (10 June 2018), became the 76th Kovsie Springbok in the match against Wales on 2 June 2018.

News Archive

Kovsies help SA Badminton win gold at 2013 AFCON
2013-08-27

 

Elmé de Villiers, Andries Malan, Wiaan Viljoen and Sandra le Grange.
Photo: Supplied
27 August 2013

A former Kovsie and the current captain of the South African Badminton team, Olympian Wiaan Viljoen, won two gold medals at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Individual events that concluded in Mauritius on 20 August 2013.

South Africa proved their dominance in the 2013 Continental Championships by winning three gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the Individual events. Combined with the gold medal for the team, South Africa won four out of the six gold medals up for contention, with the other two going to Mauritius in the ladies’ singles and to Seychelles in the ladies’ doubles respectively.

Kovsies’ Elmé de Villiers and Sandra le Grange also carried the ladies’ side of the South African team through every match of the AFCON and De Villiers won the deciding match in the final against Nigeria. De Villiers has been included in the 2016 Road to RIO BWF Project of Excellence. Both De Villiers and Le Grange are players to watch closely en route to the 2016 Olympic Games.

De Villiers and Le Grange also won the doubles title at the Mauritius International, which was held in the week after the AFCON. This was the first international title for both De Villiers and Le Grange.

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