The new TuksRugby Varsity Cup team captain, Sango Xamlashe, may be perceived to be loud on the rugby field as he is constantly talking. But take time off and listen. There is a reason why Xamlashe is doing what he is doing. He is encouraging his teammates, advising them, wants the team to win. It is what rugby is about for him. 

Xamlashe compares his continuous talking to a pilot coming in for a landing. 

"There are always a lot of variables at stake when an aeroplane approaches the landing strip—no room for error. That is why the captain must be informed at all times. I see my role on the rugby field as the same.

"I am an excellent communicator. I could talk all day on and off the field. I think communication brings calmness to everyone on the field as they need to know what is happening. It is when things become silent that things tend to go wrong."

This not shying away from extra responsibility is one reason why TuksRugby's head coach, Nico Luus, decided on Xamlashe as captain. He will share the responsibility with Jaco Bezuidenhout.

Xamlashe is the first black player who will captain Tuks ahead of the 2021 Varsity Cup season. Nqubeko Zulu, who represented Tuks during the 2011 and 2012 Varsity tournaments, fulfilled the same role for Tuks during the Carlton Cup tournament.

The young captain's rugby CV is impressive. He represented the Junior Springboks in 2018 and he was part of the Blue Bulls U-21 team that won the 2019 SA Rugby U-21 Championship.

The SA Rugby Magazine tips Xamlashe who hails from the Eastern Cape to be a Springbok international in the making. Writing - "Xamlashe is an asset to any team with his upper-body strength and pace off the mark, making him deadly at the outside centre".

Xamlashe has recently changed positions and started to play as a flyhalf. 

"My DNA as a rugby player is still that of a flyhalf. I strive towards being tactically astute. 

"The one good thing about last year's COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was that it gave me time to reflect about the way rugby is changing and how you, as a player, must evolve to adapt to it. No one of us can ever afford to rest on our laurels. There is always something to improve on." 

According to Xamlashe, he cannot wait to take to the field again. 

"It is nearly a year since we last played. Needless to say, we are all dying for an opportunity to be between the four white lines. Especially since we don't know if we will get a chance to play rugby again after Varsity Cup. We can only hope."

DID YOU KNOW? The Tuks captain was once a sprint canoe racer.

"From the age to 18, I was an avid canoeist. I competed provincially. When I was 16, I had an opportunity to be at a training camp in Germany. Unfortunately, I literally outgrew the sport. I got too big to fit in a sprint canoe, but I plan to take up the sport after rugby."