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Pote to coach Shimlas

rugby20 October 2020 13:20| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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Pote Human © Gallo Images

Former Bulls Super Rugby coach Pote Human has been appointed as the new coach of Shimlas for the 2021 season.

This will be the second time the well-travelled Human has been in charge of the University of Free State’s team.

Human, who has won the Varsity Cup with Tuks before, and served as Heyneke Meyer’s assistant coach when the Bulls won the Super Rugby competition in 2007, has a long and varied rugby CV and will feel at home at Shimlas.

He played for the Cheetahs 80 times in his youth and also coached Griquas in the Currie Cup.

According to Human, he has always had a “soft spot” for the Free State, where he coached at club, university and provincial level.

Human will join up with the Shimlas team on 2 November, and takes over from former Springbok flanker Hendro Scholtz, who resigned due to work pressure. Scholtz continues as assistant coach.

“Bloemfontein has wonderful people and the FNB Shimlas have a great management team.

I have known Jaco (Swanepoel), who coached my son Gerhard at Grey College, since my years as Shimla coach.”

Human coached the Shimlas from 2000 to 2004.

“I am particularly proud that the Shimlas won the FNB Super Bowl tournament (similar to the Varsity Cup), the Bloemfontein club championship trophy and the National Club championships in 2004.

“Several of the young men who played for Shimlas at the time, including Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthrö Steenkamp, ??CJ van der Linde, Ruan Pienaar and Wian du Preez, later became Springboks.”

His coaching career began in 1994 as forwards coach, under the late Nelie Smith, at the Free State.

The Free Staters reached the Currie Cup final that year, where they lost to the then Transvaal in Bloemfontein. Human then coached the Police Rugby Club in Bloemfontein before joining Shimlas in 2000.

“Pote is a seasoned coach who will bring something new to the team,” says Swanepoel, Head of Rugby Coaching and High Performance Sports at the UFS. “As a former Shimla coach he also knows the culture of the team. The UFS FNB Young Guns was the leading team in the Varsity Cup for u.20 teams this year, so there is ample talent for him to work with.”

Jerry Segwaba, president of the Free State Rugby Union, says Human’s appointment is an investment in the future. “The FNB Shimlas have always been an important link in Free State rugby’s chain, which starts at schools and extends to university and club rugby to professional rugby.

“Pote and his coaching team will play an important role in developing quality players for the Cheetahs’ senior teams. We welcome him back home and wish him all the best.”

Ryno Opperman, chairman of the board of the Free State Cheetahs, also has a high regard for him. Opperman played under Human as Free State captain.

“He is the right man at the right time for the job,” he says. “His appointment is a vote of confidence in the future of Free State rugby. The Free State Cheetahs are the Currie Cup champions and must keep on developing talent for the future.

“It is encouraging to see players and coaches like Pote, Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn returning to their roots in the Free State.”

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