#TuksRugby: Coach Riaan vd Merwe believes women sevens can medal at World Student Games

Posted on January 21, 2019

Delta Drone TuksWomensRugby7's is currently the best club team in South Africa, and that can be ascribed to one man’s passion which is Riaan van der Merwe, the head coach.
 
From the very first day he got involved with the team in 2002 his quest was to find ways to get the team to play better consistently. 
 
He certainly succeeded. After establishing Tuks as the top women’s sevens team in South Africa Van der Merwe decided it was time to take on the “world”. It did not take long for Tuks to start winning international tournaments. Last year they won two of the four finals they contested.
 
All of this has not gone unnoticed. The Tuks head coach has been appointed to coach the South African women’s sevens team that will be competing at the World Student Games in Italy.
 
It should be no surprise that he is already talking about what should be done to ensure the team brings back a medal. Van der Merwe truly believes there are enough talented players to ensure they get to play the semi-finals. It is just a matter of making sure the right combinations are at play.
 
To say that Van der Merwe is a die-hard rugby fanatic would be an understatement. His is rugby besotted. Realising this one would have expected him to have aspirations to coach a men’s team, but he is not even contemplating it. 
 
“I have been brought up with the concept that everyone deserves a fair chance in life. As far as I am concerned it is certainly relevant to sports as well. There is no justification for any female athlete or team to ever settle for second best opportunities."
 
It has been rumoured that it can be challenging to coach women's sports teams. Van der Merwe begs to differ.
 
“I am always amazed at how quickly women’s players get to understand the basics of rugby. It is not strange for a player switching sporting codes to master the intricacies of tackling and passing. I have had players who would join Tuks having played no rugby ever going on to playing internationally and scoring tries within mere weeks.
 
“Megan Phillips is a good example. She only started playing in April last year. In May Megan toured with Tuks playing three international tournaments in two weeks. She scored and tackled like a pro.  She just returned from a training stint with the Springboks Sevens. She is not our only success story.”
 
Van der Merwe’s passion has led to him making significant sacrifices. Last year he took 40 days from his work as an attorney to tour with the Tuks team at high personal cost to himself. However, he is not complaining.
 
“There is something to be said when you realise that in a small way you are changing people’s lives for the better.”
 
The one challenge Van der Merwe has not yet managed to fulfil is to get more women to take up sevens rugby. 
 
“Sevens rugby is one of the most exciting sports. Everyone can play it and impact on the game. It is not as in most other sports where only certain players get to hog the limelight. In sevens, everyone gets to score."
 
- Author Wilhelm de Swardt

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