Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Three Kovsies in Springbok coaching team

31 January 2020 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Gallo Images

The appointment of Jacques Nienaber as the new Springbok head coach means that a former Kovsie will once again coach the Springbok team. Nienaber takes over from Rassie Erasmus, another Kovsie alumnus.

It was also announced that Daan Human, like Erasmus a former Shimla player who went on to play for the Springboks, will be the scrum consultant. Erasmus will continue in the role of director of rugby and will be part of the Springbok coaching team, which means that half of the six coaches in the team can call themselves Kovsies.

Nienaber joined Erasmus in the Springbok coaching team in February 2018 as defensive coach. At the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the Springboks conceded the fewest tries (four) of all the teams. Erasmus will be responsible for the strategy and results, with Nienaber taking operational control.

It will be the first time Nienaber steps into a head-coach role. He started as physiotherapist with the Shimlas U20 team, before going into strength and conditioning and later becoming a defence coach.“This is a massive honour and responsibility, but I think I have a good understanding of what it entails, especially in this new structure. It’s a big step-up for me. I would not have accepted if I didn’t believe I could be successful,” said the 47-year-old Nienaber.

“I’ve been worked with Rassie in a coaching capacity for nearly two decades now and we have a very good idea of how each of us thinks.” The two first worked together in the Shimlas U20 team, where Erasmus was the captain and Nienaber the physio.

Besides Nienaber, two other former Shimlas are currently in a head-coach role – Neil Powell at the Springbok Sevens team and Franco Smith is coaching the Italian national team.

News Archive

Human Rights Desk takes up anti-xenophobia initiative

2015-05-06

In light of the recent violent attacks on foreigners in South Africa, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Human Rights Desk hosted a symposium on the issue of xenophobia on Wednesday 29 April 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus. In collaboration with volunteers from the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ), students had the opportunity to discuss the underlying issues of the problem.

Joe Besigye, Numpumelelo Ngcobo, Phiwe Mathe, and Dr Christian Williams lead the symposium. The panel aimed at providing guidance, answers, and explanations to the different narratives offered in the wake of the conflict. The underlying reasons for the conflict were investigated, which included socio-economic factors as well as the afrocentric tone of the events. Possible aggravating factors – such as the misplacement of blame and a South African culture of entitlement – also came under scrutiny. In addition, the discussion looked at the need to take into account the perspectives of non-South Africans on African conflicts.

After the symposium, Kovsie students gathered at the Thakaneng Bridge where Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Jonathan Jansen, addressed the group. Carrying posters with ‘No to Xenophobia’ messages, the students then marched across the campus to show their support for anti-xenophobia.

The IRSJ – which the Human Rights Desk forms part of – has spearheaded the No-to-Racism/Yes-to-Equality Campaign launched in March 2015 across all three campuses. Under the guidance of the IRSJ, the Kovsie community has regularly been publicly showing their solidarity against all forms of discrimination.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept