Grooming the next Bok coach
It has been whispered in hushed tones that he is being ‘groomed’ to take over as head coach from Rassie Erasmus.
Now his mentoring agency has fearlessly and unambiguously articulated the fact.
Michael Yormark, President of Roc Nation Sports International, made no secret of the fact that they believe Mzwandile Stick is a Springbok coach in the making.
The backline assistant is being ‘equipped’ to step up when Erasmus eventually steps aside.
“That is a goal of his, a dream of his,” Yormark said.
He is the only coach currently on the RNSI books, with no prospects of any additions to this department in the near future.
“We will support him in every way to get him to that point,” the agency head added.
Before taking over from Rassie Erasmus, RNSI will help him accomplish some of his other dreams.
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Tamsanqa Ncwana, the Head of Rugby Recruiting in South Africa and soon to become a fully-fledged player agent, is a key figure in RNSI’s priming of the 41-year-old Stick.
“He is two years older than me,” Ncwana, affectionately known as ‘T’, said of his fellow Eastern Cape native.
“I watched him play in the township,” he added of the New Brighton original.
Ncwana, an indigenous from Zwide, said their clubs were massive rivals in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.
“Even when he was already playing Sevens [for the BlitzBoks], he came and played for his club.
“After the games, we socialised.
“Even after he became a [Springbok] assistant coach, we used to get together.
“Our relationship escalated to a stage where we became like brothers.
“He is a son of the soil.
“He used to come and assist our club, despite his Bok commitments.”
Stick rose from humble beginnings in New Brighton to become a key figure in the game in South Africa.
Born on 5 October 1984, has been in the national team coaching structures since 2016, even though he was briefly discarded by Allister Coetzee, before Erasmus saved him from slipping into obscurity.
He captained the South African Sevens team during the 2008–09 World Series, which saw the team win the series title for the first time.
He was named the Eastern Province Under-21 assistant coach in 2013.
Stick became the head coach of the Eastern Province Under-19 team and their team for the 2014 and 2015 domestic season, guiding the Under-19 to their first-ever Under-19 provincial title in 2015.
In December 2015, he was appointed as the backline coach of the Southern Kings team for the 2016 Super Rugby season, and joined the Boks in the same capacity in April 2016.
A former captain of the Blitzboks, he led the national Sevens team to their first World Series title in 2009.
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