| Full name | Renfred Leroy Dazel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 May 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Paulus Joubert Secondary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Renfred Leroy Dazel (born 4 May 1981) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. [1]
| Full name | Renfred Leroy Dazel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 May 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Paulus Joubert Secondary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Renfred Leroy Dazel (born 4 May 1981) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. [1]
Raised in Paarl, Dazel was educated at Paulus Joubert Secondary School. [2]
Dazel competed in the Currie Cup for the Boland Cavaliers and played on the South Africa national rugby sevens team from 2005 to 2012. He represented South Africa at two Commonwealth Games, won a IRB Sevens World Series title in 2008–09 and was one of the nominees for the 2009 IRB Men's Sevens Player of the Year. [3]
After retiring as a player, Dazel made the transition into coaching. He was appointed full-time coach of the South Africa women's national rugby sevens team in 2023, having previously held the role from 2013 to 2017. [4]
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblem is the Springbok, a native antelope and the national animal of South Africa. The team has represented South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the top-ranked rugby team in the world and reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup a record four times. Remarkably, the Springboks have won half of the Rugby World Cups they have participated in and are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
Jacobus Francois Pienaar is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After being dropped from the Springbok team in 1996, Pienaar went on to a career with English club Saracens.
Jake White is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the Springboks – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri Nations. White also coached the Under-21 Springbok side to victory in the Under-21 World Cup in 2002. He was coach of the Brumbies in the Super Rugby from 2012, but resigned with two years remaining on his contract in 2013 to return to South Africa. On returning to South Africa, he coached the Sharks for a single season, explaining he wanted to seek international opportunities. This arose in a technical role with the Tongan national team. After assisting Tonga in their 3 Test European Tour in 2014, White was announced as Montpellier's new boss, overseeing all coaching aspects for the club.
John William Smit, OIS, is a South African former professional rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the Springbok rugby union team and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played most of his senior career as a hooker, but also won 13 caps as a prop, where he had also played for South Africa's under-21 team. He retired from international rugby following the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the most-capped South African player ever, with 111 appearances.
Victor Matfield is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and captained the South Africa national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in Super Rugby. He is generally considered one of the best locks to have ever played for South Africa and had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha.
Rugby union in South Africa is a highly popular team sport, along with cricket and soccer, and is widely played all over the country. The national team is among the strongest in the world and has been ranked in at least the top seven of the World Rugby Rankings since its inception in 2003. The country hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and won again in 2007, 2019 and 2023.
The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby, the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rugby was disclosed in 2001 following the Annual Meeting of the International Rugby Board Council in Copenhagen, and the first ceremony was first awarded later that year. The International Rugby Players' Association also gives out awards, for Try of the Year, and Special Merit, as a part of the programme. As of 2021, they now present Women's Try of the Year.
Ian McIntosh was a Southern Rhodesian-born Zimbabwean rugby union coach. He served as head coach for the Springboks during 1993 and 1994.
Heyneke Meyer is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Leicester Tigers in England. Following his stint with the Boks, he also coached Stade Français. On 8 July 2021 he was announced as the new Director of Rugby for the Houston Sabercats of MLR.
Mzwandile Wanky Stick is a South African former rugby union footballer, and currently the backline coach for the South African national rugby union team.
McNeil Hendricks, also known as "Maccie", is a former South African rugby union player who played primarily as a wing. He starred in the movie Invictus, in which he played the role of Chester Williams.
Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen is a former South African professional rugby union player who previously played for the South Africa national team. He also previously played for Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championship, Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Pumas, Free State Cheetahs and Western Province in South African domestic rugby, the Cheetahs, Stormers and Bulls in Super Rugby and Toulon in the Top 14. He was an instrumental part of South Africa winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup and received the Man of the Match award in the final. Vermeulen played as a Number eight but he was equally adept at playing both blindside and openside flanker.
Cecil Sebastian Afrika is a South African rugby sevens player for the South Africa national team, where he plays at flyhalf. He also plays for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR).
Siyamthanda "Siya" Kolisi, is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team. Having formerly played for the Stormers and Sharks in South Africa, he currently plays for Racing 92 in the French Top 14. He generally plays as a flanker and a loose forward. In 2018, Kolisi was appointed captain of the Springboks, becoming the first black man to hold the position and eventually leading the South African Rugby team to victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final against England.
Pieter Stephanus du Toit is a South African professional rugby union player. Du Toit plays as a lock or a flanker for the South Africa national team and the Toyota Verblitz in Japan Rugby League One. After winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup with South Africa, he was awarded the 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year. He was awarded player of the match in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand.
Eben Etzebeth is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and the South Africa national rugby team. He made his international debut for the Springboks in 2012 and has since won more than 100 caps. His regular playing position is as a number 4 lock.
Villager Football Club was established on 2 June 1876 and so claims to be the second oldest rugby club in Cape Town, South Africa. Villager FC were scheduled to play against Stellenbosch Rugby Football Club in the first official match at Newlands Stadium after it opened on 31 May 1890. Many notable South African rugby players began their careers at the club, including Paddy Carolin, vice-captain on the 1906 Springbok tour to Europe, and former 800m track world record holder Marcello Fiasconaro.
Robert James du Preez is a former South African international rugby union player and former head coach of the Sharks Super Rugby team. His regular position was scrum-half.