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20 October 2020 | Story Tom Ferreira and Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Blue Bulls Company
Pote Human.

The former Free State forward and coach, Pote Human, is coming back ‘home’. He has been appointed as the new FNB Shimlas head coach for the 2021 Varsity Cup competition and will be in charge of the rugby team for the second time.
According to Human, he has always had a ‘soft spot’ for the Free State, where he coached at club, university, and provincial level.

The experienced coach, who coached the Bulls Super Rugby team in 2019 and 2020, will already be at the University of the Free State (UFS) on 2 November 2020 to start preparing the FNB Shimlas for the Varsity Cup. He takes over from the former Springbok flank, Hendro Scholtz, who is no longer available as head coach due to work pressure. Scholtz will continue to be a FNB Shimlas assistant coach.

Free State ties 

Human, who has a long association with Free State rugby, has been involved as a coach with teams such as the Bulls, Griquas, Tuks, and the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan.

He says he is very excited about the new challenge. “Bloemfontein has wonderful people and the FNB Shimlas have a great management team. I have known Jaco (Swanepoel), who coached my son Gerhard at Grey College, since my years as Shimla coach.”

The former loose forward coached the Shimlas from 2000 to 2004. “I am particularly proud that the Shimlas won the FNB Super Bowl tournament (similar to the Varsity Cup), the Bloemfontein club championship trophy (Stadsbeker), and the National Club Championships in 2004.

“Several of the young men who played for Shimlas at the time, including Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthrö Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Ruan Pienaar, and Wian du Preez, later became Springboks.”

Human was replaced by the former Bok coach Jake White as the Bulls head coach in May. The Bulls, under Human’s leadership, finished as the leading South African team on the log in Super Rugby in 2019, and advanced to the quarterfinals.

A seasoned coach

He will now give back where it all started. Human played two matches for the Free State senior team in 1979 as an U19 player, and again played for the province from 1989 to 1993 – a total of 82 matches, 64 of them as captain. He also played 116 games for Eastern Province.

His coaching career began in 1994 as forwards coach for the Free State under the late Nelie Smith.
The Free Staters reached the Currie Cup final that year, where they lost to the then Transvaal in Bloemfontein. Human then coached the Police Rugby Club in Bloemfontein before joining the Shimlas in 2000.

“Pote is a seasoned coach who will bring something new to the team,” says Swanepoel, Head of Rugby Coaching and High-Performance Sports at the UFS. “As a former Shimla coach, he also knows the culture of the team. The UFS FNB Young Guns was the leading team in the Varsity Cup for U20 teams this year, so there is ample talent for him to work with.”

An investment in the future 

Jerry Segwaba, President of the Free State Rugby Union, says Human’s appointment is an investment in the future. “The FNB Shimlas have always been an important link in the Free State rugby chain, which starts at schools and extends to university and club rugby to professional rugby.”

“Pote and his coaching team will play an important role in developing quality players for the Cheetahs’ senior teams. We welcome him back home and wish him all the best.”

Ryno Opperman, chairman of the board of the Free State Cheetahs, also has a high regard for him. Opperman played under Human as Free State captain.

“He is the right man at the right time for the job,” he says. “His appointment is a vote of confidence in the future of Free State rugby. The Free State Cheetahs are the Currie Cup champions and must keep on developing talent for the future.”
“It is encouraging to see players and coaches such as Pote, Ruan Pienaar, and Frans Steyn returning to their roots in the Free State.”

News Archive

Council concerned over health crisis
2009-06-08

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) has come out in support of doctors and health professionals attached to its Faculty of Health Sciences who expressed their concerns about the health crisis in the Free State.

At its meeting on Friday, 5 June 2009 the Council said it shared the concerns of health professionals that the quality of patient care and the quality of training being provided at the health faculties across the country are being compromised.

Earlier last week doctors and other health professionals of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences issued a statement highlighting the seriousness of the crisis in health care provision in the Free State Province, warning that the system was on the verge of collapse.

According to the Council of the UFS, a petition will be addressed to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education calling for urgent steps to be taken to correct the deteriorating situation in the province’s health care system.

In other decisions, the UFS Council also decided to confer an honorary doctorate on Judge Louis Harms, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

Judge Harms is an international specialist in the field of Intellectual Property Law and has been actively involved in legislation and international agreements on intellectual property law, including the Designs Act, Trademarks Act and Patents and Copyrights Acts.

The motivation quotes one of his fellow jurists as saying that: “Harms is one of the greatest South African lawyers of the last 50 years. He is an intellectual giant who has made an impressive and profound contribution to the development of South African law: He is erudite, visionary, astute and principled.”

An honorary doctorate will also be conferred on geologist and expert on the geology of the Karoo Supergroup, Mr Johan Loock, for his distinguished efforts towards promoting the earth sciences and specifically geology, particularly in the context of the Free State.

Mr Loock has had two Karoo fossils named after him, which is a particular honour in the scientific world of palaeontology. He was employed by the UFS for 32 years and has close ties with the Free State in terms of his wide field of research interests.

The motivation further states that “the man affectionately and respectfully known as Oom Loock, or Malome, has selflessly given of his vast knowledge, expertise and insights into the physical and cultural heritage of the Free State to all who would learn from, and with, him”.

A Council Medal will be awarded to Prof. Johan Grobbelaar from the Department of Plant Sciences at the UFS. During his time at the UFS he has been a pioneer in many areas, including the first research expedition to Marion Island, the first PhD about research on Marion Island, the establishment of the Institute of Environmental Sciences as well as the establishment of the Centre for Environmental Management.

Council also decided to refer a report from the iGubu consultants regarding aspects of diversity in student residences to the Executive Committee of the Council so that the benefit of the participation of the rector-designate Prof Jonathan Jansen could be obtained and for further participation and consultation with relevant stakeholders.

In another decision the Council also extended the term of appointment of Prof. Tienie Crous as Dean: Economic and Management Sciences for an additional term of five years.

The Council furthermore appointed Prof. Hugh Patterton as the director of the strategic academic cluster dealing with advanced biomolecular research and Prof. Wijnand Swart as Director of the strategic academic cluster dealing with technologies for sustainable crop industries in semi-arid regions.

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