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30 October 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Sonia Small
Springboks
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, paid a special visit to the Springboks in 2018 before they faced England in Bloemfontein. From the left are Jacques Nienaber (Springbok assistant coach), Oupa Mohoje (Springbok), Prof Petersen, Rassie Erasmus (Springbok head coach), and Swys de Bruin (Springbok consultant coach at the time). De Bruin, Erasmus, Nienaber, and Mohoje are all Kovsie alumni.


Like the rest of the country, we are behind our Springboks all the way. This is what Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), told alumnus Rassie Erasmus in a letter this week.

Prof Petersen wrote the letter to Erasmus, the head coach of the Springboks, to wish him everything of the best in the team’s preparation and for the game on Saturday (2 November 2019) at which they face England in the Rugby World Cup final in Japan.

"On behalf of the staff and students of the University of the Free State, I would like to wish you and the Springbok team all the best with your preparations this week and for the final. I know that Saturday’s match will be played with vigour and determination,” Prof Petersen wrote.

Prof Petersen said the UFS community was extremely proud of the Springboks’ achievements during the 2019 Rugby World Cup – especially with Erasmus at the helm of the team. The Boks defeated Japan in the quarter-final and Wales in the semi-final to reach their first final since 2007.

“As a former Shimla player and Kovsie Alumnus of the Year 1998, we are truly proud of what you have achieved during your career in South African rugby, and especially during the World Cup tournament. We are also proud of our other alumni – Jacques Nienaber as defence coach, and referee Jaco Peyper.”

Peyper refereed one of the quarter-finals and will be an assistant referee in the bronze medal play-off between New Zealand and Wales on 1 November 2019.

Under Erasmus the Springboks won the Rugby Championship this year, the first time since 2010. Erasmus and Nienaber have a long relationship. They met in the army in 1991. Later Nienaber served as physiotherapist with the Shimlas and Erasmus captained the team. They worked together at the Cheetahs, Cats, Stormers, Munster and now the Springboks.

News Archive

Five Kovsies take part in exclusive Summer School in Groningen
2012-07-25

Michael van Niekerk, Christiaan Nel and Carika Stols participated in the School for Neurosciences.
26 July 2012

For five students from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State, the winter holidays were no time to rest; they attended a summer school for medical students in Groningen in The Netherlands.

Michael van Niekerk, Marcel Nel, Henk Kruger, Christiaan Nel and Carika Stols are all undergraduate medical students who expanded their skills and knowledge during the summer school.

The University of Groningen’s Medical School offers an annual Summer School Programme at the University Medical Centre in Groningen.

It is the largest hospital in the province of Groningen in The Netherlands and offers highly specialised health services to The Netherlands and to the northern parts of Germany.

Hordes of students from around the world annually apply for attendance of the school. A panel invites eligible candidates from the applications to participate in the school. The students are then divided into four different schools, namely Paediatrics, Neurosciences, Global Health and Oncology.

“Besides acquiring better skills and knowledge, the schools also provide us the opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge with participants from other countries. We had regular conversations with students from Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Brasilia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Egypt, Belgium, Italy and Spain, on the difference between the medical systems and cultures of the various countries,” says Henk Kruger, who, together with Marcel Nel, participated in the School for Paediatrics.

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