Currie Cup dreams and American influencers

The stadium was buzzing, the Wellington troupe forming a ‘brass band’ rocked familiar local tunes and the Cavaliers were running wild inside the Boland Stadium.

As the local team took control of proceedings in the 11,000-capacity venue, the noise levels dwarfed the Lions’ support, which had been sparse in the rivals’ 62,000-seater Ellis Park stadium over the past few years.

With the score 29-10 in favour of the Cavaliers, at the final whistle, the spectators swarmed the pitch old-school style.

However, the real story was not the ‘Cinderella scenes’ on the playing surface.

It was the contrasting pictorializations in the two coaching boxes that illuminated the facts.

The Cavaliers box, with head coach Hawies Fourie, defence coach Charl Strydom and forwards consultant Pote Human, was a study of absorption and satisfaction.

In the Lions enclosure, head coach Mzwakhe Nkosi, forwards mentor Wessel Roux and backline strategist Wynand Ellis were depictions of frustration and bewilderment, as United Rugby Championship head Ivan Van Rooyen hovered in the background, adding to the confusion.

Hawies Fourie, 57, with more than two decades of first-class coaching experience, showed what can happen if his superiors allow him room to grow, instead of micromanaging their employees.

Having won back-to-back First Division titles and promotion to the Currie Cup, Fourie would have been justified in crowing about victory over an ‘international’ franchise.

However, for the Hoër Landbouskool Oakdale-schooled coach this is about the ‘big picture’ of growing Boland into a truly competitive team.

That is why his coaching panel makes such inspiring reading.

As the current head coach of the Boland Cavaliers, Fourie, is assisted by Alshaun Bock (backline and defence), Jacquin Jansen (kicking), Charl Strydom (defence) and Iver Aanhuizen (strength and conditioning).

Gerhard ‘Pote’ Human is there as a forwards consultant, plugging the gap left by the departure of Mornay Kurtz.

Human is currently head coach of the Houston SaberCats in America’s Major League Rugby, and is the former coach of the Bulls in Super Rugby and Currie Cup.

Defence coach Charl Strydom and Fourie come a long way, from their time together at the Cheetahs in 2007, with the former starting out as an analyst and for 10 years the defence coach.

“He has a lot of experience and we have a great relationship,” Fourie told @king365ed.

“To have great co-operation is a vital part of a successful coaching panel.

“If there is disunion in the coaching panel, it will filter through to the team and players. The results will show.”

When the Cheetahs discarded him this year, Fourie did not hesitate to get Strydom to Wellington, where he first ‘consulted’ two days a week and then he signed a contract for the Currie Cup.

“The players bought into his plans and his way of doing things.”

Human and Fourie also have an intriguing coaching history, mostly as rivals.

“We have never coached together before,” Fourie told @king365ed, adding: “I went to Griquas [in 2014] after he left in 2013.

“We coached against each other in the Varsity Cup, when he was in charge of Tukkies and I was at Maties.

“They beat us in the Final in 2017, with Pote [Human] as coach.”

There was a hint of Fourie joining Human in the coaching set-up at the Bulls, but that never materialised.

“He must be the most experienced forwards coach in the county, having achieved remarkable success.”

The Boland coach said it was a ‘no-brainer’ when Human’s services became available, even though it is a short-term deal only.

“His team in America [the Houston SaberCats] offered him a satisfactory contract after they reached the [Major League Rugby] Final.

“He will return [to Houston] for the MLR at the end of the year.”

Fourie said they wanted to secure Human’s services on a more permanent deal, but the success of the SaberCats meant that the subsequent offer was not something he could turn down.

With the MLR only restarting in December, the Cavaliers will have his considerable coaching expertise at their disposal.

“He is an incredibly hard-working person, and works very well with the players and is a 24-7 person.

“It is a privilege to have someone of his stature and skillset at our disposal.

“The influence he has on the team and the players was evident after just one week.”

Fourie, with more than two decades of coaching experience, is also well acquainted with the Cavaliers and the right fit for a team with a long-term vision.

“I had a good idea what I was letting myself in for,” he said of his first coaching stint in Wellington from 2002 to 2007.

“I have a big passion for the communities of the Boland region and their players,” he said.

After more than a decade in Bloemfontein and Kimberley, he wanted to ‘plough back’ into Boland and assist them to become professional and regain their Currie Cup status.

“It was all part of the motivation,” he said about the decision to return ‘home’ after he led the Cheetahs to the 2023 Currie Cup title.

Fourie then assisted the back-to-back First Division champion Cavaliers to regain their Currie Cup status after almost a decade in the second tier First Division.

A more significant consideration is that his wife, Jeanne, who is qualified in the fruit industry, struggled to get gainful employment in Bloemfontein.

“She compromised many years by following me around chasing my dreams,” Fourie told @king365ed, adding: “It was my turn to allow her to follow her passion and support her.”

The Boland Rugby Union’s significant equity partnership with the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport and a consortium led by the Motsepe family laid a foundation for future success.

This partnership, announced in October 2023, involves the Motsepe consortium and SAS acquiring a 74 percent stake in Boland Rugby’s professional arm, with the Boland Rugby Union retaining the remaining 26 percent.

“There were many aspects for success in the professional era in place, but there was also a lot of work to be done to compete with the big franchises.

“However, there are still many aspects that need attention,” Fourie said, pointing out that the Cavaliers’ gymnasium facilities are embarrassingly inadequate when compared to what their rivals have at their disposal.

“I’m convinced those are aspects we will have up to the acceptable standards in the next year.”

The on-field success was not just a pipe dream for Fourie, even though his employers were willing to give him some leeway to secure Currie Cup promotion.

“It was vital that we had to use the first opportunity,” he said, adding: “The longer you hover in the second tier [First Division], the bigger that gap between you and the top tier [Currie Cup] teams will grow.

“It would have become substantially more difficult to breach the gap.

“That [promotion at the first shot] was my goal from the outset and while the [equity] partners said they are not in a hurry, and it is a long-term project, it was vital for me that we get the Cavaliers in the top tier as soon as possible.”

Some of the challenges they are confronted with – apart from improved facilities and a more stable playing roster – is perhaps getting an ‘invite’ to an international competition.

However, for those opportunities, the local unions are at the mercy of the South African Rugby Union jefes at their Plattekloof HQ in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.

“The Pumas and Griquas have been trying for years to get a foot in the door,” Fourie told @king365ed, adding: “They have been at the top table for a number of years already.

“The Cheetahs have been there [in Super Rugby and Pro 14], and they are still struggling to get more than four games a year in the EPCR [Challenge Cup].

“We would love to get an opportunity, but it is not easy.

“Our first goal was to play Currie Cup, do well and then put ourselves in a position that if an international opportunity arises, that Boland is also part of that conversation – not just the Cheetahs, Griquas and the Pumas.

“We must ensure we are ready and prepared if such an opportunity does arrive.

“We want to be deserved, it should not just be a case of somebody feeling sorry for us.”

It has been an anomalous return to the country’s Premier division for the Cavaliers – an opening round (37-35) win over the Cheetahs, followed by a disenchanting loss (39-48) to Griquas, and this past Sunday’s poignant (29-10) win over the (until then) table-topping Lions.

With the halfway stage of the league approaching, the Cavaliers are joint first (on 11 points) with the Pumas and Cheetahs, followed by the Bulls, Lions and Griquas all one point further back.

Fourie admitted the two home wins were an absolute minimum requirement, but with only one home game remaining – against the Bulls in Wellington on Sunday – there is little margin for error.

“We made it difficult for ourselves against Griquas in Kimberley,” he said of the disappointment of the lost opportunity of an away win in Kimberley.

“That is why we took the risky route against the Lions this past Sunday and kept charging for a four-try bonus point, instead of just playing for a win, even when the game was safe already.

“To keep playing until the 84th minute for the fourth try tells you all you need to know about this team,” the coach added.

“The goal, from the outset, was to give ourselves a chance to reach the [Currie Cup] play-offs and we are still in the race.

“With just one home game in the last four rounds, it will require a huge effort from us to get at least two wins for a potential semifinal spot.

“We are competitive and in a good position.

“We are almost there [up to the required standards], but we probably need about a 10 percent improvement.”

Fourie wants to build a squad that has a realistic chance of winning the Currie Cup in 2027.

While he will never say no to an ‘international’ opportunity, but for the next two years, at least, he has hitched his wagon to the Cavaliers cause.

“I’m certainly not scouring the web and firing off CVs,” he said.

“I have a set goal here [in Wellington] and working hard at achieving that.

“It is very different here than some of my previous coaching assignments, where it was very performance-driven.

“This is more about the big picture of Boland Cavaliers, the community and the players.

“I’m working towards assisting other people achieving their goals and dreams, rather they chasing my own visions.”

@king365ed
@rugby365com

* Picture credits: Boland Rugby Media/Ernest Kilowan