Latest news with #Rassie
The Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Rassie Erasmus and Shukri Conrad: Powerhouses shaping South African rugby and cricket
The Springboks and the Proteas may just have more in common than first meets the eye, and that was the consensus reached by Rassie Erasmus and Shukri Conrad over good old-fashioned braai in Cape Town earlier this year. The respective national cricket and rugby coaches had a chat during the second Test between the Proteas and Pakistan earlier this year, when the topic of how the two different sporting codes could work together came up. The Springboks are currently in their second alignment camp ahead of a busy international season, while the Proteas are about to jet off to England to take on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at Lord's in London starting on June 11. What began as an informal chat quickly turned into a brainstorming session, the Proteas coach Conrad revealed. 'There's nothing quite like a good braai to break the ice,' Conrad told 'Rassie and I started talking about culture, pressure, leadership, and before the boerewors was done, we both realised we were playing the same mental game, just on different pitches.' Conrad and Cricket SA's high-performance managers last week attended a session of the Springboks' alignment camp to get a better sense of how the rugby side prepared for the new season. 'We're a week out from flying to London for our biggest final ever,' said Conrad. 'Being in that room with Rassie and his coaches gave us a mental sharpening. You see what makes champions tick—and it rubs off on you.'
The Star
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Ntokozo Makhaza's rags-to-riches progression from ‘nobody' to Springbok alignment camp
Mike Greenaway | Published 7 hours ago Ikeys coach and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck had the pleasure of telling Ntokozo Makhaza that Rassie Erasmus was making enquires about him, but the young wing thought Fleck was winding him up. 'Rassie called me and asked me questions about 'Makky'. He wanted his number,' Fleck told Independent Media . 'When I told Makky that the Springbok coach would call him, he thought I was joking. 'I had to convince him he was getting a call, and to relax and enjoy the experience.' Makhaza is the bolter who was called up to the Springbok alignment camp, which was held in Cape Town this week. The 23-year-old is a third-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, specialising in psychology. Last month, Fleck's Ikeys side won the Varsity Cup, and Makhaza was the Player of the Tournament, as he was last year too. Erasmus has been watching, and was so impressed with the wing's performance statistics – yes, Big Brother Rassie watches everything – that he called up Fleck to find out more. 'I was surprised when Rassie called in the sense that it is not often a player gets called up straight out of the varsity system,' Fleck said. 'Rassie wanted to know about the person: who the guy is, is he hard-working and coachable? Those are the first questions Rassie asked me,' the former Stormers coach said. 'I said '100 percent' to all of Rassie's questions. 'Mak is a very humble, hard-working, and a true gentleman. He has an incredible work ethic on and off the field.' Makhaza's Northwood High School coach, Grant Bashford, echoed Fleck's sentiments. 'What a lovely kid. He is one of the nicest kids you could ever meet,' Bashford, who assisted John Plumtree in his first coaching tenure at the Sharks, told Independent Media . 'One of the Sharks' scouts discovered this nippy little player down the KZN South Coast, and got him to Northlands Primary (the school is about 2km from Kings Park),' Bashford explained. 'He came to us at Northwood in Grade Eight. 'He was small, but explosive… a Cheslin Kolbe-type kid, with a huge work ethic,' Bashford recalls. 'He was always polite and humble. When the others were messing around, he was the last one kicking balls. He would be the first one in the gym.' Bashford recalls a brilliant performance by Makhaza in a historic win for Northwood, one of the smaller of the tier-one rugby schools in KZN. 'In 2019, for the first time ever, we beat Maritzburg College at Goldstones (their home ground). Our regular flyhalf had been off with his kicking. Mak took the ball and kicked it from everywhere.' Bashford thought Makhaza might go the sevens route. 'I thought his pathway might be to the Blitzboks. But times have changed, and I think Cheslin Kolbe has done so much for getting smaller guys recognised. 'In previous Springbok eras, small guys were overlooked. Cheslin has given the small X-factor guys hope that they can make it. 'Makky played KZN Schools at Craven Week from Northwood. I remember he was so focused in his matric year in going to university in Cape Town to further his education.' Fleck says Makhaza's goal-kicking for the UCT Ikeys has been phenomenal. 'He kicks at 85 percent in howling south-easters, and hits 95 percent on the highveld. 'I told Rassie that Mak has a few shortcomings, but Rassie said that is what his coaching staff is for,' Fleck continued. 'Rassie likes guys with a work ethic that he knows he can improve, especially with a guy like Tony Brown coaching the backs. 'Rassie can take an 80-percenter and turn him into a 100-percenter. He likes players that are prepared to go the extra mile.' Erasmus prefers hard-working wingers who chase, work back, and create opportunities. Fleck adds that Makhaza was almost lost to mainstream rugby, although he has now signed for the Cheetahs for the Currie Cup. 'Credit to him, he was Player of the Tournament last year, but had no provincial offers. He was thinking about sevens, but we said, 'Give it one more year'. 'He had another cracker year, and look at him now.'
IOL News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Ntokozo Makhaza's rags-to-riches progression from ‘nobody' to Springbok alignment camp
Ntokozo Makhaza UCT Ikeys star Ntokozo Makhaza was chosen as the Varsity Cup Player of the Season for the second year in a row. Photo: BackpagePix Image: BackpagePix Ikeys coach and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck had the pleasure of telling Ntokozo Makhaza that Rassie Erasmus was making enquires about him, but the young wing thought Fleck was winding him up. 'Rassie called me and asked me questions about 'Makky'. He wanted his number,' Fleck told Independent Media. 'When I told Makky that the Springbok coach would call him, he thought I was joking. 'I had to convince him he was getting a call, and to relax and enjoy the experience.' Makhaza is the bolter who was called up to the Springbok alignment camp, which was held in Cape Town this week. The 23-year-old is a third-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, specialising in psychology. Last month, Fleck's Ikeys side won the Varsity Cup, and Makhaza was the Player of the Tournament, as he was last year too. Erasmus has been watching, and was so impressed with the wing's performance statistics – yes, Big Brother Rassie watches everything – that he called up Fleck to find out more. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'I was surprised when Rassie called in the sense that it is not often a player gets called up straight out of the varsity system,' Fleck said. 'Rassie wanted to know about the person: who the guy is, is he hard-working and coachable? Those are the first questions Rassie asked me,' the former Stormers coach said. 'I said '100 percent' to all of Rassie's questions. 'Mak is a very humble, hard-working, and a true gentleman. He has an incredible work ethic on and off the field.' Makhaza's Northwood High School coach, Grant Bashford, echoed Fleck's sentiments. 'What a lovely kid. He is one of the nicest kids you could ever meet,' Bashford, who assisted John Plumtree in his first coaching tenure at the Sharks, told Independent Media. 'One of the Sharks' scouts discovered this nippy little player down the KZN South Coast, and got him to Northlands Primary (the school is about 2km from Kings Park),' Bashford explained. 'He came to us at Northwood in Grade Eight. Ntokozo Makhaza Ntokozo Makhaza (front row, last on the right) in the successful Northwood High School First XV of 2019. In the floppy hat (middle row) is Grant Bashford, a former Sharks assistant coach under John Plumtree. Photo: SUPPLIED Image: SUPPLIED 'He was small, but explosive… a Cheslin Kolbe-type kid, with a huge work ethic,' Bashford recalls. 'He was always polite and humble. When the others were messing around, he was the last one kicking balls. He would be the first one in the gym.' Bashford recalls a brilliant performance by Makhaza in a historic win for Northwood, one of the smaller of the tier-one rugby schools in KZN. 'In 2019, for the first time ever, we beat Maritzburg College at Goldstones (their home ground). Our regular flyhalf had been off with his kicking. Mak took the ball and kicked it from everywhere.' Bashford thought Makhaza might go the sevens route. 'I thought his pathway might be to the Blitzboks. But times have changed, and I think Cheslin Kolbe has done so much for getting smaller guys recognised. 'In previous Springbok eras, small guys were overlooked. Cheslin has given the small X-factor guys hope that they can make it. 'Makky played KZN Schools at Craven Week from Northwood. I remember he was so focused in his matric year in going to university in Cape Town to further his education.' Fleck says Makhaza's goal-kicking for the UCT Ikeys has been phenomenal. 'He kicks at 85 percent in howling south-easters, and hits 95 percent on the highveld. 'I told Rassie that Mak has a few shortcomings, but Rassie said that is what his coaching staff is for,' Fleck continued. 'Rassie likes guys with a work ethic that he knows he can improve, especially with a guy like Tony Brown coaching the backs.
The Citizen
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Proteas learn from world champion Boks
The Springboks welcomed Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad to their alignment camp in Cape Town yesterday. The Proteas management joined the morning sessions in a shadowing capacity as they prepare for the World Test Championship final against Australia in London. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus was delighted to welcome Conrad and his key personnel to the camp, and said their presence served as a fine example of how South Africa's national teams could learn from one another as they all strive for success on the international stage. 'Shukri and his team have a massive assignment coming up in the World Test Championship against Australia at Lords in a little under three weeks, and we hope that inviting him and his management team to our alignment camp will assist them as they put the final touches in place for the extravaganza against Australia next month,' said Erasmus. 'I firmly believe in having our national coaches working together and sharing ideas, as we all have the same goal in mind – to make the country proud – so we are thrilled that they took time out of their busy schedules to spend the day with us. 'Hopefully, we can see a lot more collaboration between all our national coaches in the future.' MORE: Bavuma expects 'drama and fire' in WTC final Conrad was equally excited about the opportunity to join the Springboks for the day and said: 'It was very inspiring for us all, especially if you look at the history of the Springboks and what they achieved in the last two world cups, which they won back-to-back. They are obviously doing a lot right, so we wanted to see what that is and also learn from one other. 'It's great learning from the different sporting codes, so it was not just about learning from them, it was also a case of us sharing ideas, and that was always the intention when Rassie and I first started chatting. ALSO: Rassie said something that stuck with me – Conrad 'It's a week before we leave for what is our biggest final ever, I'd like to think, and sitting in, listening, and chatting to some of the players and the coaches, and going through the presentations they did and noticing the common threads that go across both platforms was fantastic,' Conrad added. 'The language is pretty much the same, and also the implementation of certain things, such as the fact that playing for the Springboks and Proteas has to be the biggest thing.' The post Proteas learn from world champion Boks appeared first on SA Cricketmag. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.
16-05-2025
- Sport
Springbok July test match tickets: Fans shocked at prices
Tickets to the Springboks' July test matches are officially on sale, but many fans have claimed that the prices are unaffordable. The South African national rugby squad will play two test matches against Italy at Loftus Versfeld and the Nelson Mandela Stadium before facing off with Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium. The back-to-back games will take place between 5 and 19 July. On Friday, 16 May, tickets for the Springboks' July test matches officially went on sale via TicketMaster. 5 July – SA vs Italy, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 12 July – SA vs Italy, Nelson Mandela Stadium, Gqeberha 19 July – SA vs Georgia, Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit Although a limited number of tickets were priced at R200 and R350 – which quickly sold out – others cost up to R4 000. On TikTok, Springbok fans have shared their frustrations with the cheapest July test matches being sold out. Others have bemoaned having to fork out thousands to watch their favourite team play. X user @ulinxi jokingly said: 'For R4 000 – Am I going to be next to Rassie or Siya, or will I be the ball? How did we get to this point? Is this the price we pay for being winners?'. Others had similar sentiments… '4k? We'd better be able to play a few minutes on the pitch.' 'They better allow me to take Damian Willemse and Mapimpi home.' 'For two hours? Am I Sol Kerzner?' 'Can we use Pay Just Now?' @ulinxi I'm still waiting for someone to say SIKE. Yhoo amabhokobhoko 😭💔 #greenscreen #BokTickets #fyp #rugby #springboksrugby #tickets ♬ original sound – Elungile Mbanjwa Meanwhile, SA Rugby has warned the public to buy their Springbok July test match tickets only via Ticketmaster. The organisation has specifically warned rugby fans not to fall victim to fraudulent sites like Viagogo and Instatickets. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
