Zane Botha has won a Varsity Cup title as captain of Tuks, two Varsity hostel titles as coach of Vishuis, and now he would like to add a third trophy to his belt as head coach of the UFS Young Guns.
Zane guided House Vishuis to the national crown in 2017 and 2018 and was promoted to coach of the university’s U20 team playing in the Varsity Cup, known as the Young Guns.
Botha lifted the Varsity Cup trophy as the skipper of Tuks in 2012.
“To achieve success in a third Varsity competition would be quite special and is definitely a goal that I look forward to achieving while I work with young people,” Zane said.
The format of the Rugby Varsity Cup competition has changed and will now coincide with the competition for senior players. Both the seniors and the younger players will face the same opponents on the same day. The Young Guns are scheduled to play eight fixtures before the knockout stages, in contrast to earlier years when they only played twice against two opponents before the semi-finals.
In 2018 the UFS U20 team, who previously won the competition in 2014, won all four of their matches against the Ixias and the Pukke before they lost to Tuks in the semi-final.
According to Zane, this format provides the players with more playing opportunities, but at the same time it can also place their depth under pressure when they’re facing injuries, which he aims to limit.
He further explained that he is pleased to have had buy-in in the first round of matches, as it provided him with an extra week’s preparation.