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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

Kovsies shine at USSA Cross Country Championships
2009-10-15

Thandi Malindi (far left) from the UFS and two Matie athletes, Elene Lourens and Mia Pienaar.
Photo: Supplied

Kovsie cross-country athletes Boy Soke and Thandi Malindi were included in the USSA squad for 2010 at the World Student Cross-Country Championships in Canada. The final team will be announced after the SA Cross-Country Championships. They recently participated in the USSA Cross-Country Championships that were held at the University of Johannesburg. According to Mr DB Prinsloo from KovsieSport at the University of the Free State, the UFS team did extremely well at the recent USSA Cross-Country Championships.

Kovsies won the women long-race team competition (8 km), while the men came second in the men’s long-race team (10 km) competition. In the short-race team competitions (4 km for men and women) the UFS men finished fourth and women ended in fifth place respectively.

Thandi Malindi, the UFS Women Cross-Country captain, was the first Kovsie over the line (third place), followed by Nelmarie Loubser (4th) and Maryna Swanepoel (6th), who also won the team competition in the 8 km (long race) with 13 penalty points against the 14 penalty points of the Maties who finished second.

Mr DB Prinsloo from KovsieSport at the UFS praised the Kovsie athletes for the manner in which they ran the race. “Thandi gave her all; so much so that she had to be admitted to hospital due to dehydration. Nelmaré ran the hills with a smile on her face and Maryna, who suffered from low blood sugar, persevered until the end so that a Matie athlete could not pass her. You all showed to us what ‘vasbyt’ really means,” Mr Prinsloo said.

Kovsies performed above expectation in the short race (4 km) for women. “Our women finished fifth in the team competition. If one takes into consideration that the Kovsies were represented by 400/800 athletes, i.e. Elri Richter (400/800), who came seventh, Anneri Ebersohn (400/400 hurdles), who ended in sixteenth place and Yvonne Eyssen (heptathlon) who ended in twentieth place, it makes this performance even better,” Mr Prinsloo commented.

In the men’s short race (4 km) where the Kovsies were represented by young first-year 800 m athletes, the UFS did excellently by finishing in fourth place. Hanne Naudé (18th), Lebohang Mpure (19th), Abri Horak (26th) and Gerrit Viljoen (34st) ran their hearts out!

The long race (10 km) for men, which was run on an extremely difficult course, was another highlight – also for the Kovsies. The Kovsies finished second in the team competition. Boy Soke (4th), Windy Jonas (8th), Schadrach Mochelenyane (10th) en Michael Tlhoro (21st) represented the Kovsies with honours. Unfortunately Johan Cronjé and Dumisane Hlaselo had to withdraw from the race due to injuries.

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