The Western Province Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch welcomed the 2016 group on Tuesday with the message that the hard work starts now.
The Institute is celebrating its 10th year in 2016, and the new crop of talent is possibly the most exciting yet with 10 SA Schools players and four SA Academy players amongst the 42 to take up residence at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport this year.
The playes were welcomed by the President of the Western Province Rugby Football Union, Mr Thelo Wakefield, who underlined how important the next generation of players is to fulfilling the vision of becoming the best rugby franchise in the world.
“At Western Province we try our best to develop and invest in youngsters,” said Mr Wakefield.
“We have a high performance vision, 2020, that says we want to be the best rugby franchise in the world, and we are striving towards achieving that goal.
“That is not just lip service, it is a real desire to be the best. We are very particular about who we appoint at Newlands. We want to be a high performance organisation in all of our processes, systems and procedures.”
Western Province Director of Rugby Gert Smal also addressed the players, and while he declared himself very happy with the talent in the group, he made it clear that the challenge is to make the most of that talent by putting in some hard work.
Smal commented: “A lot of work has been done behind the scenes to get these players here which is not easy because there are a lot of unions in South Africa competing for players, so I am very happy with the group that we have got.
“If we want to build a special team and special squads in Western Province we need players who have talent and can work hard.
“Hard work always beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard.”
Commercial Manager of the Institute, Andri Stander, echoed Smal’s sentiments, and expressed hope that the players would be able to make the most of this opportunity by putting in the hard work required.
“Our biggest focus is on recruiting a group that you know you can create a winning culture with, and we believe we have got that, ” said Stander.
“We have got a very strong group on paper, in fact it is our strongest since inception, we have got 14 SA Schools players which is a record for us, but also great individuals – lots of first-team captains, headboys and strong leaders.
“The philosophy is that to succeed you need talent and a high performance set-up, but most importantly you need to want it and to work hard to get there.
“Everyone here has talent, everyone is in the same environment and has the same opportunities, so now the only thing that counts is hard work.”
THE 2016 WESTERN PROVINCE RUGBY INSTITUTE INTAKE:
(In alphabetical order)
Ashwyn Adams – Prop*
Stephan Annandale – Prop
Juarno Augustus – Loose forward
Imraan Andrews – Loose forward
David Brits – Centre*
Jordan Chait – Flyhalf
Ruben de Villiers – Lock*
Zain Davids – Loose forward/Centre*
Matthew Dahl – Scrumhalf**
Shane Farmer – Hooker
Jandré Grobler – Flyhalf
Wikus Groenewald – Prop
Munier Hartzenberg – Wing
George Lourens – Utility back
Nico Leonard – Wing*
Tristan Leyds – Fullback
Lee-Marvin Mazibuko – Prop
Ryan Muller – Wing/fullback**
Reitumetse Mogojo – Wing
Xolile Mdlokovana – Utility back
David Meihuizen – Lock
Thomas Meyer – Loose forward/Lock
Ricky Nwagbara – Loosehead prop
Cyprian Nkomo – Centre**
Marco Niemandt – Centre
Troy Payne – Utility back
Brandon Salomo – Scrumhalf
Cornel Smit – Centre**
Bertus Smith – Prop
Joa Swart – Loose forward/Lock
Jordan Sesink Clee – Lock
Carlu Sadie – Prop*
Johan Visser – Flank*
Ernst van Rhyn – Lock/Loose forward*
Adriaan van der Bank – Flyhalf
Dean van Tonder – Loose forward
Etienne van Dyk – Hooker
Herman van Dyk – Fullback
Cobus Wiese – Loose forward*
Jondré Williams – Scrumhalf*
Matthew Wiseman – Hooker
Kuyenzeka Xaba – Loose forward
Stephan Annandale – Prop
Jandré Grobler – Flyhalf
David Meihuizen – Lock
* SA Schools
** SA Academy