Latest News Archive

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

UFS alumnus and Blitzboks claim another Commonwealth gold

04 August 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Supplied

Hard work does not necessarily guarantee success, but it is part of success.

According to Neil Powell, the Blitzboks head coach, this is what his players showed by turning the team’s recent misfortunes into Commonwealth Games gold.

The South African sevens side rewarded the University of the Free State (UFS) alumnus – who will be parting ways with the team next month – by claiming another Games top spot.

The decorated coach steered his troops to a gold medal in Birmingham, England, after defeating Fiji by an impressive 31-7 in the final late on Sunday evening.

Powell and the Blitzboks also won Commonwealth gold in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014.

After nine successful years with the Blitzboks, the former Kovsie will become the new Director of Rugby at the Sharks in September 2022. His last sevens tournament will be the World Cup from 9 to 11 September 2022 in Cape Town.

Reset and rewarded

The Blitzboks, however, did not go into the Commonwealth Games as favourites, as they struggled in the last four HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments.

After winning the first four tournaments of the season, they failed to reach the semi-finals in Singapore, Vancouver, Toulouse, and London.

“After the World Series tournament in London, we had to reset and re-evaluate our goals for the rest of the season and the last three tournaments, the Commonwealth Games, the Los Angeles Sevens, and finally the Rugby World Cup Sevens,” Powell said in a SA Rugby media release.

“The guys really worked hard in the build-up to this tournament, and I’m glad they got rewarded for it.”

Memories from Glasgow Games

In 2016, Powell received a Cum Laude Award at the UFS Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards when the Blitzboks won Olympic bronze in Rio de Janeiro.

Powell represented the Cheetahs, Sharks, Griquas, Blue Bulls, and Blitzboks in his playing days and is one of 28 national sevens players produced by the UFS.

“It’s amazing to have won the gold medal again, like we did eight years ago in Glasgow, and especially after we finished fourth and didn’t win a medal at the previous Commonwealth Games in Australia, so there is a lot of emotion and the victory brought back memories of what happened in Glasgow in 2014.”

He said it was important for the team’s confidence to deliver in Birmingham in order to get momentum and belief back.

Powell hopes his side can take this into the last World Series tournament in Los Angeles on 27 and 28 August 2022, and the World Cup.

South Africa are on top of the World Series log and can take the overall honours with a good LA performance.

News Archive

A brand-new image for historic University of the Free State

2011-01-19

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, and Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector of Institutional Affairs, during the media conference to launch the new brand.
- Photo: Hannes Pieterse

A new chapter was written in the history of the University of the Free State (UFS) on Thursday, 27 January 2011 when it launched its revitalised brand image.

The brand evolution has resulted in the adoption of two primary brands to engage with its stakeholders – an evolved academic crest and a new marketing brand for the institution’s offerings and services.

The university, which recently won the World Universities’ Forum award for academic excellence and institutional transformation, was founded in 1904 as a dynamic learning environment where academic excellence and the development of leadership qualities are long-standing traditions. These values are the backbone of the university and the foundation of the new brand as it seeks to adapt to the changing needs of society, without sacrificing its rich history and heritage.

The process of revitalising and creating a renewed image of the UFS, spearheaded by the university’s inspirational leader, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, started in February 2010 and involved a comprehensive and consultative process to understand the deep insights that underpin the fabric of the institution among its key stakeholders.

“We engaged in one of the most expansive and intensive process of consultations with staff, alumni, senate, council and other stakeholders to determine how and in what ways our brand could signal a more inclusive and forward-looking vision that captured the spirit and essence of the new country and a transforming university,” says Prof. Jansen.

The new brand is anchored in the university’s renewed motto “In Veritate Sapientiae Lux” (In Truth is the Light of Wisdom), which has been evolved to embrace the diversity of the community the university without losing its essence. As Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairperson of the UFS Councilnoted, “the motto retains concepts with which not only Christians can identify, but which also accommodate all the different viewpoints of the UFS’s diverse students and staff. Hereby a feeling of unity and belonging is promoted.”

The new brand identity was developed by the country’s foremost academic branding authority, the Brand Leadership Group. “We worked with the university to develop a brand that reflects an inclusive, forward-thinking truly South African university in tune with its changing environment which embraces its past, present and signals the future,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, founder of Brand Leadership Group.

The new brand has found resonance with the various university stakeholders. “The end product is excellent,” commented Mr Naudé de Klerk, Chairperson of Kovsie Alumni. “It represents a history of hope, excellence, innovation and transformation. Above all, it represents a leap of faith, which extends from a humble beginning in 1904 to the strong and vital academic institution it is today.”

Finally, where it matters, the new brand also gets the students’ vote. “Our new brand illustrates and communicates to the rest of the world the message that we as the University of the Free State refuse to be tied down to the failures of the past, but instead confidently sprint forward to the successes of tomorrow,” says Modieyi Motholo, Chairperson of the university’s Interim Student Committee.

Messages

Media Release
27 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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