Springbok coach Peter de Villiers spent some time talking to the Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week players on Monday.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers spent some time talking to the Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week players on Monday.
De Villiers encouraged the 450 players in East London to believe in their natural rugby talent and always strive to represent South Africa at international level. The U18 Craven Week is currently taking place in East London, with all 14 regions under the South African Rugby Union taking part.
Grahamstown players who are representing the Eastern Province Country Districts side are Grant Prior, Brian Skosana, Robin Murray (all St Andrew’s), and Jade Bowles (Graeme College), while St Andrew’s director of rugby at St Andrew’s, is the EP Country Districts coach.
In their first match against the Leopards on Tuesday, the EP Country District side went down 20-27, with Skosana scoring both tries for his side.The twenty-two teams competing in the Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week spent time with the SA national coach at an evening organised by SA Rugby’s national safety program BokSmart and also had the opportunity to interact with him on a one-on-one basis.
De Villiers informed the U18s that as many as 20 current Springbok stars currently with the national squad participated in the Craven Weeks earlier in their careers.“Every player at a Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week should be proud of their selection to their respective sides,” said the Springbok coach.
“It is here where the national selectors could hopefully find and locate the future Springbok stars for the future.”The U18 teams also viewed a BokSmart DVD and were encouraged to play “smart” rugby by De Villiers and BokSmart project manager Wayne Viljoen.
“We want to encourage our players to continue in playing rugby, however we want them to play rugby the smart way,” said Viljoen.
“Our intentions are to start at junior level at U14 and it’s great that we have the opportunity to address all the boys that are competing at the Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week".
