Nico Serfontein

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Nico Serfontein
Personal information
Full nameNicolas Serfontein
Born (1968-10-16) 16 October 1968 (age 50)
South Africa
Playing information
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1995 South Africa 10000
Source: [1]

Nico Serfontein is a South African rugby football coach and former rugby league footballer who represented South Africa at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

South Africa Republic in the southernmost part of Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Rugby football refers to the team sports of rugby league and rugby union.

Rugby league Team sport

Rugby league football is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of rugby, it originated in Northern England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules progressively changed with the aim of producing a faster, more entertaining game for spectators.

Contents

Playing career

Serfontein played rugby union as a Blue Bulls junior. Nico's main claim to fame in rugby league was his stint in the early nineties at Hemel Hempstead, a Hertfordshire based club in England. In 1995 he played rugby league for South Africa at the 1995 World Cup. [1]

Rugby union Team sport, code of rugby football

Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts at each end.

Blue Bulls South African rugby union team

The Blue Bulls, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province.

The South Africa national rugby league team are a rugby league football team that represents South Africa. South Africa to date have competed at two Rugby League World Cups in 1995 and 2000 but have failed to win a game in the competition.

Coaching career

Serfontein later became a successful rugby union coach, coaching the Blue Bulls' Vodacom Cup and junior sides. [2] While at the Bulls he won two Vodacom Cups, three Under-21 titles finals and two Under-19 titles. [3]

Vodacom Cup

The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. Mobile communications provider Vodacom was the title sponsor for the entire duration of the competition.

In 2011, he was signed by the Golden Lions to run their junior programmes. [4]

Golden Lions rugby union club

The Golden Lions is a rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup. The team is governed by the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU), and was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. The GLRU also operate a side in the Super Rugby competition, the Lions, who also draw players from Griquas.

He has been involved with the Baby Boks under former coach Eric Sauls and at the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship. [5]

The South Africa national under-20 rugby union team are South Africa's junior team at national level. They have been competing in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship since its inception in 2008. This Under-20 tournament replaced the previously-held Under-19 and Under-21 Rugby World Championships. Prior to 2018, it had been the country's "next senior" (second-level) 15-man national side, but World Rugby no longer allows member unions to designate age-grade sides as "next senior' teams.

2012 IRB Junior World Championship

The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South Africa between 4 and 22 June 2012 by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of 12 nations played in the tournament. New Zealand came into the tournament as defending champions. South Africa were crowned 2012 champions after defeating New Zealand 22 - 16 in the final on the 22 June at Newlands Stadium.

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References

  1. 1 2 Nico Serfontein rugbyleagueproject.org
  2. ↑ Injury woes for Bulls and Blue Bulls mg.co.za, 9 January 2009
  3. ↑ Coach Nico Serfontein a huge boost for Lions lionsrugby.co.za
  4. ↑ Lions sign top coach sun.com.na, 12 January 2011
  5. ↑ Nico Serfontein irb.com
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