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23 June 2021 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Johan Roux
Ox Nche during his playing days for the Shimlas in 2015. He might make a return to the Springbok team after three years.
It will be a small reunion for a couple of ex-Shimlas when almost the full Springbok squad gathers at Shimla Park this week.

This will then be the third week of training, but for the first time with the majority of the 46 squad members, as most players have finished their provincial and club commitments. They are preparing in Bloemfontein for the upcoming test season, which includes a test series against the British and Irish Lions.

Ox Nche (Shimlas 2015 and 2016) and Coenie Oosthuizen (2008) are members of the squad from which a Springbok and a South African A team will be chosen.

Both have represented the Springboks before – Nche in a single test in 2018, and Oosthuizen in 30 tests between 2012 and 2017.

Apart from the two players, there are three former University of the Free State students in the coaching staff. Rugby World Cup winning coach, Rassie Erasmus, is now the director of rugby at the South African Rugby Union, while former Bok defence coach (in 2018 and 2019), Jacques Nienaber, was promoted to head coach last year. The Springboks have not played a test under him yet.

The two first worked together in the Shimlas U20 team, where Erasmus was the captain and Nienaber the physio. Erasmus wore the famous blue jersey between 1993 and 1995. Daan Human, a former Shimla (1999-2000) and Shimla assistant coach, was appointed as the scrum coach of the national team last year.

Nche, a double Varsity Cup winner with the Young Guns in 2014 and the Shimlas in 2015, is strongly in the race for a place in the Springbok team.

Deon Davids, assistant coach of the Boks, recently had high praise for Nche.
“It is well-known that Ox is a quality player. Ox has been a consistent performer. His presence in the camp is an asset,” Davids said.

News Archive

NBC tells Wayde’s story
2015-11-02

   

The film crew from NBC Olympics
filming Wayde van Niekerk (centre, in grey clothes)
during a practice session at Pellies Park on the
Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS.
On the left is Ans Botha, Van Niekerk’s coach.
Photo: Charl Devenish

The Kovsie star Wayde van Niekerk stands an excellent chance of shining at the 2016 Olympics and has a remarkable story behind his success.

This is why NBC Olympics, a division of the American broadcasting network NBC, selected the athlete from the University of the Free State (UFS) to do a special insert for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A film crew from NBC visited the City of Roses and the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October 2015 to film the insert. The feature will be screened on NBC Olympics’ platforms during and leading up to the Olympics next year.

One of four stars

Van Niekerk was one of four athletes used by the crew to film inserts on. The others were the South African swimmer Chad le Clos, the Kenyan 800 m athlete David Rudisha, and Ethiopian middle- and long-distance athlete Genzebe Dibaba.

The crew interviewed Van Niekerk and his coach Ans Botha, and also paid a visit to Pellies Park during one of his training sessions.

According to Tom Davidson, feature producer at NBC Olympics, the piece about Van Niekerk will be about three minutes long.

“We do a pretty good job of picking good stories, but it is up to the athletes to get there,” Davidson said.

“We think Wayde has a good shot at being in the finals of the 400 m at the Olympics.”

Van Niekerk won a gold medal in a time of 43.48 s at the World Championships in Beijing during August 2015 and set a new South African record for a third time and a new African record for a second time this year in the process.

Beijing success propels Wayde onto NBC radar

“Wayde’s performance in Beijing certainly propelled him onto our radar,” said Davidson.

 “He beat former World and Olympic champions like Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt.”

He feels that Van Niekerk is also very young and still at university.

And Botha makes his story even more interesting.

“It is not every day that you see a 74-year old great-grandmother coaching a world champion.”



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