Nelson Mandela University, known as Madibaz, are gearing up for their return to the Varsity Cup rugby competition under new coach Andre Tredoux.
Tredoux, whose coaching career spans over twenty years, has a glittering list of teams he has coached at university, national level and international levels such as NWU-Pukke, Shimla’s Young Guns, Freestate Cheetahs u19s, as well as NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes (Japan) and Slava Moscow (Russia) were he further developed and broadened his coaching philosophy.
Coach Andre Tredoux. Photo courtesy: Varsity PostThe 42-year-old relished the challenge of coaching the Madibaz side. “We are really excited to prepare the boys for Varsity Cup, we have a quality coaching team who are working hard to get the team ready. Covid has posed some different challenges, but the players have really been committed in difficult circumstances,” he said.
After being relegated in the 2017 Varsity Cup competition and being demoted to the league below (Varsity Shield), Madibaz has a point to prove in the up-coming Varsity Cup competition once games commence. This year’s competition will be played behind closed doors in a bio-secure environment, in staggered fashion at two different locations from the beginning of April up until the end of May.
“We understand that Varsity Cup is the best of the best and are committed to work as hard as possible to compete well in the competition, we have a game by game approach and are looking at smaller process goals and then the log will look after itself,” said the newly appointed head coach Tredoux.
Nelson Mandela University (SA) Madibaz rugby team battling it out in the Varsity Shield in 2020The team finished on top of the Varsity Shield log in the 2018/19 season where they won all their games with bonus points but fell short in the final against Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
In 2020 having played only four games, the Madibaz side halted play due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with a stroke of luck the 2019 and 2020 season log standings were combined resulting in the promotion of the team to the illustrious Varsity Cup.
Tredoux who enjoyed playing rugby himself as a youngster says: “We have some really exciting players; the team is more important than stars. However, Temba Boltina, Luyolo Dapula, Aya Oliphant are a few players to look out for.”
The Madibaz Sport department are encouraged by the inclusion of Tredoux, “We are very excited with the appointment of Andre Tredoux. He brings a vast array of experience and knowledge of the game of rugby, having coached in North West University, Toyota Free States Cheetah Under-19 and Rugby Club Slava Moscow in Russia, just to name a few. We believe in his rugby philosophy and we are excited about implementing it. He will be working with a mixture of a young and experienced coaching staff,” said Thabiso Letselebe who heads the Strategic Projects at Madibaz Sport.
“The spirits of the team going into the Varsity Cup campaign are extremely high taking into consideration we have a very young squad, who are determined to showcase their talents on the field of play. We all share the same goal and vision, as a team and also as an institution. We want to restore the dignity and integrity of Eastern Cape rugby while working together with other institutions within the Eastern Cape,” he went on to add.
Hoping for a fruitful season for the Eastern Cape side who look to make their mark on the Varsity Cup competition once again!
Nelson Mandela University (SA) Madibaz rugby team ready for action
