Profile: Ryno Gerber

The Tralies will be hoping to make it three in a row this year when they play Jim Fouché and captain Ryno Gerber thinks they have the side to do it.

The Sentraal first XV has had a falry up-and-down season but Gerber thinks that his side is starting to get the results that they wanted.

"We had a disappointing loss against Strand early in the season but since then we have been improving.

"We lost narrlowly to Waterkloof in a game that I thought we could have won but since then we have played good rugby," Gerber added.

Playing the game from a young age, Gerber has always been a forward – starting on the side of the scrum and gradually making his way to the centre of it.

"I started playing rugby as a flank but then when I got to high school I moved to hooker and have loved playing there," he said.

Gerber is no stranger of provincial representation and has been a member of the Free State Grant Khomo Under-16 team as well as the Free State Under-18 Academy Week side.

This derby against Jim Fouché is a game that Gerber looks forward to each season because of the spirit in which it is played.

"Our game against Jim Fouché is always a fun game played in a great spirit and is always a nice flowing game of rugby.

"Last year we won but it was a great game," Gerber mentioned.

As a hooker and a captain Gerber likes to see himself as filling the John Smit role in his side and he hopes he can make as much of an impact on his team as Smit did in the past.