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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

Centre presents summer school for students in sustainable agriculture and rural development
2007-10-11

The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development at the University of the Free State (UFS) is presenting a summer school during the first two weeks of October 2007 on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein. The purpose of the summer school is to provide subject guidance to the centre’s distance-learning students and to summarise the year’s assignments. Approximately 50% of the centre’s students are from international origin, e.g. the Southern African Developing Community (SADC), central and northern Africa and countries as far as Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The centre had a screened intake of 52 new students this year. The highlight of the summer school was a lecture by Prof. Edward Nesamvuni, extraordinary professor at the centre and General Manager for Research in the Department of Agriculture of Limpopo, on the role of agricultural research in the progress of rural communities. From the left are, front: Prof. Nesamvuni and Prof. Izak Groenewald (Director of the UFS Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development); back: Mr Khathu Tshikolomo (Senior Manager: Crop Production, Limpopo), Ms Jane Tshovhote (Manager of the Giyani Municipality, Limpopo) and Mr Maanda Dagada (Manager of Land and Agrarian Reform, Limpopo). All three are registered as Ph.D. students at the centre.
Photo: Lacea Loader
 

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