New gems for 'evolved' Cheetahs
Like many of the players in his squad, new Free State Cheetahs Currie Cup coach Rory Duncan is determined to make his mark in South Africa's premier domestic competition.
Duncan, a veteran of more than 50 first class games for the Cheetahs (in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby), will make his Currie Cup debut as a coach when the Bloemfontein team start their campaign against newcomers the Pumas in Nelspruit on August 9.
And he will rely on a very young and inexperienced side.
Not only is he likely to be without the services of several senior players on Springbok duty, but a number of Super Rugby stalwarts have departed overseas.
Among those missing are Bok flyhalf Johan Goosen (to Racing Metro), midfielder Johann Sadie (Docomo Red Hurricanes), No.8 Philip van der Walt (Biarritz), fullback Hennie Daniller (Zebre), utility back Riaan Smit (Oyonnax), lock Andries Ferreira (Zebre) and prop Rossouw de Klerk (Glasgow Warriors).
Adriaan Strauss will be on Bok duty – although he and other Boks might be available for the latter stage of the Currie Cup – before the hooker moves to Pretoria at the end of he year.
Other players likely to be on international duty for a large part of the season include Lodewyk de Jager, Cornal Hendricks, Willem le Roux, Teboho Mohoje, Ntando Nyakane and Coenraad Oosthuizen.
However, Duncan is not concerned about the departures.
"What I have focused on is the players that are here for the Currie Cup," he told rugby365 in an interview during the build-up to the Currie Cup season.
"It is going to be exciting," the 37-year-old former lock said, adding: "It is great working with a lot of the new players in the squad."
Like any coach worth his salt, Duncan's main goal is winning Sir Donald Currie's prestigious donation to South African rugby.
"You obviously go into the competition to win it, not just to compete.
"However, we want to set new standards of professionalism, both from a management and player perspective, and create a new culture in Free State and drive on those principles.
"If you don't do that you don't win."
He said the Cheetahs have put a lot of "time and effort" into improving their defence, which was a major cause for concern in their failed Super Rugby campaign.
"Hopefully we'll see the fruits of that when we kick off our campaign," he told rugby365, adding that they feel they have a number of strengths in the team.
"We are hoping to surprise the opposition with the way we are going to play," he added.
Duncan, who still played until two-and-half-years ago, was the Director of Rugby at Grey High in Port Elizabeth before moving back to Bloemfontein at beginning of the year.
He said he was fortunate enough to work with some very good coaches.
"I played in my early days when Allister Coetzee was the coach at Eastern Province , then I played under Rassie [Erasmus] at the Cheetahs, I also played under Naka [Drotské].
"A guy like Alan Solomons [at the Kings], with his management ability was another.
"I took what I learned from all of those coaches, they all had some influence on my coaching career."
Duncan started his career at the Sharks, representing them in the Vodacom Cup in 1999 and 2001. He then the joined the Mighty Elephants [EP] in 2002, where he played for four seasons before moving to the Free State Cheetahs in 2006. Between 2008 and 2010, he had a spell at Japanese Top League club Yamaha Júbilo, before returning to the Eastern Province Kings for the 2010 Currie Cup season.
He announced his retirement as a player at the end of 2011, before joining Grey High School as a Director of Rugby.
After returning to Bloemfontein at the beginning of this year, he coached their Vodacom Cup and Under-21 sides and was then appointed Currie Cup coach – with Super Rugby mentor Naka Drotské set for a spell abroad to look into international coaching structures.
Cheetahs Currie Cup squad: Ryno Benjamin, Clayton Blommetjies, Philip Botha, Renier Botha, Martinus Burger, Neil Claassen, Adriaan Coertzen, Peet Coetzee, Jean Cook, Luan de Bruin, Lodewyk de Jager, Stephen Dolo, Philip du Plessis, Willem du Plessis, Ockert du Toit, Gabriel Engelbrecht, Cornal Hendricks, Henry Immelman, Cameron Jacobs, Vincent Jobo, Tertius Kruger, Pieter Labuschagne, Nicolaas Lee, Willem le Roux, Herculaas Liebenberg, Frederick Mason, Teboho Mohoje, Thato Ngoza, Ntando Nyakane, Caylib Oosthuizen, Coenraad Oosthuizen, Sarel Pretorius, Johannes Prinsloo, Raymond Rhule, Jacobus Roux, Kevin Stevens, Jan Strauss, Francois Uys, Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), Hendrik Venter, Jacobus Venter, Shaun Venter, Petrus Vermeulen, Elgar Watts, Carl Wegner.
By Jan de Koning
