Former Springboks Jongi Nokwe and Keegan Daniel are among 50 coaches — 48 from South Africa and two from Zimbabwe — selected to attend World Rugby Level 3 coaching courses in Pretoria and Cape Town in November.
The courses, run under SA Rugby's Participation & Development Department, follow the successful completion last month of the country's first standalone World Rugby Level 3 course dedicated to women coaches.
The 50 attendees are drawn from unions across both northern and southern regions. The northern group includes coaches from the Blue Bulls, Free State, Golden Lions, Griffons, Griquas, Leopards, Limpopo, Pumas, Valke and Zimbabwe. The southern group covers Boland, Border, Eastern Province, Griquas, the Sharks, SWD, Western Province and SADF.
Nokwe and Daniel both attend under the Western Province and Sharks banners respectively.
Senior Manager for Training and Education Hilton Adonis, who will facilitate the courses, outlined a curriculum covering periodised season planning, game and player analysis, player profiling and team selection, patterns of play, game plan and tactical development, player welfare, training session design and coaching team management. Attendees will also be required to meet performance benchmarks through coaching sessions and match observations within their own team environments.
General Manager of Participation & Development Ian Schwartz framed the initiative within SA Rugby's broader drive to build coaching depth at all levels. "World Rugby Level 3 represents an important step at the higher end of the coaching pathway, and investing in coaches at this level strengthens the knowledge, leadership and quality of coaching across our game," he said.