Conraad Britz - FNB Player of the Week
Player profile
Conraad Britz of Oakdale Landbou, South Western Districts and South Africa is our FNB Player of the Week.
Conrad was chosen as a flank for the Young Eagles at the Craven Week, a week when yet again there were many excellent flanks but Conraad was one of the two chosen for the South African Schools side which played against France and then against the South African Academy side.
The other SA Schools flank was Pieter Meyer of the Blue Bulls while the Academy flanks were Johan van Deventer of the Golden Lions and Kirwan Frieslaar of Eastern Province, a vastly talented quartet of flanks.
Conraad had not played a match 15-man rugby till he came to Oakdale. His primary school was at Herbertsdale, near Mossel Bay where his father is a dairy farmer. The school was too small though it managed a Sevens team.
At Oakdale Agricultural School in Riversdale, one of South Africa's great rugby schools, he started as a flank, had a short spell at fullback and then settled in as a strong, robust, hard flank. At Under-16 he went to the Grant Khomo Week for South Western Districts Under-16 and this year he was a Craven Week in Bloemfontein, which he enjoyed.
The SA Schools side had two matches. They thrashed France Under-18 52-13 and then lost the Academy side. He really enjoyed the SA Schools experience playing with "a lot of nice guys", the special occasion – and the pocketmoney that went with its as the young men get a first taste of professionalism.
For Conraad the highlights of his rugby career so far have been making SA Schools and beating Boland Landbou. It was only 8-6 but still cause for great joy in Riversdale. The latter happened in Riversdale, the first time Oakdale have won this fierce Interschools in seven years.
By and large the Oakdale side has had an up-and-down year. Good, they were very good; bad, they were horrid. They played 16, winning 11 and losing 5. Scalps included Daniël Pienaar and, of course, Boland Landbou. They gave Outeniqua a tough time of it.
Along the way there have been coaches who have meant a great deal to Conraad – Frans Marais, the former provincial centre and now a schoolmaster, and Andre Otto, the 1st XV coach at Oakdale.
Piet Cloete of Outeniqua was the South Western Districts coach at Craven Week and says of Conraad: "He was outstanding. I have a really high regard for him. He is fast, a great fetcher and strong. He comes from a tough farming family, important farmers in Herbertsdale. Nobody messes with them."
Next year Stellenbosch beckons. Wanting to be a farmer, Conraad is going to Elsenburg and hopes to continue serious rugby with the Maties. "My life is rugby," he says. And his hero is a Matie – Schalk Burger, the Springbok flank.
Conraad Johannes Britz was born in Mossel Bay on 26 July 1987. His father played for South Western Districts Juniors in his day, and the whole family is supportive of Conraad's rugby and ambitions.
