Ricky de Gouveia – Adelaide Gimnasium captain
Player Profile
Adelaide Gimnasium travel 30 kilometres out of town on Saturday to face local rivals Winterberg Agricultural College in a FNB Classic Clash. Ricky de Gouveia captains Adelaide.
Of Portuguese decent Ricardo de Gouveia was born in Cradock on 3 October 1987. His parents still live there where his father owns a pub and his mom a shop. Ricky went to junior school in his hometown before moving to Adelaide Gimnasium in Grade 8 (Std 6). Adelaide is a co-ed school of 400 pupils and Ricky moved there because he wanted to play his sport at a higher level and Adelaide is a technical college. Ricky lives digs in town, is currently in Grade 12 and is a school prefect.
Ricky plays No.6 flank and revels in the fetcher role. When he is not turning ball over Ricky enjoys defending. Not surprisingly his two heroes are arguably the two best flanks in the world Richie McCaw and Schalk Burger. Ricky has played for the first team for since Grade 9 (Std 7) when he got the first six of his forty-eight 1st XV caps. Adelaide have a small pack and a fast backline but their forwards stand back for no one and Ricky says they “have driven back opposition more than three times their size.” Saturday’s FNB Classic Clash is scheduled to be Adelaide’s last game of the season but with it being Ricky’s forty-ninth outing for the 1st XV, the school are hoping to arrange one more game to allow him to obtain 50 caps.
Adelaide have had a bit of an up and down season but are currently in good form. They started the season with two wins at the Despatch Festival but went through a slump in the second term as they tried a few personnel changes. A tour to Cape Town, where they won two of their three games, proved critical in building team spirit and reviving their fortunes. Since returning they have amongst others recorded impressive wins over Grens and Hangklip. Ricky highlighted those two games as their best of the season.
Adelaide have won the last five derbies in a row against Winterberg and although Ricky is both honoured and excited to be leading the 1st XV at inter-schools he says he wishes Adelaide got to play against more of the big rugby schools. Another derby win on Saturday may help get Ricky and Adelaide one step closer to their dream of mixing it more regularly with the big boys.
