Finding enough hours is a challenge the mental coach of the TuksRugby, John-Laffnie de Jager, faces daily, but he will never complain. What matters to him is making a difference in young people's lives. 

Apart from motivating rugby players to be the best they can be, De Jager is coaching three of South Africa's talented under-18 tennis players to get a top hundred international ranking. Still, that is not all. He has been asked by one of the top female women's double tennis pairings in the world to assist them in winning more matches.

"I actually need to be with doubles combination on tour, but I will do so later. Up to April, my focus is to help Tuks retain the Varsity Cup title."

For the record, tennis is the sport in which De Jager excelled. He was considered one of the world's best doubles players in his playing days. He represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics losing in the semifinals. Contested the French and Australian Open's mixed doubles finals and played in the men's doubles semifinals in Australia, the USA, and Wimbledon. In 2000 he was ranked 11th in the world. 

De Jager has been passionate about rugby from when he can remember. That is why he did not hesitate when Nico Luus (Tuks head coach) asked him to get involved with the Varsity Cup team. 

As a mental coach, he wants athletes to always see the glass as half full and not half empty. So, after Tuks lost to Maties in their first Varsity Cup encounter, he still wanted the players to take the positives - the things that work - from the game. 

"No loss is ever only bad. 'Tough times don't last, but tough people last' is one of my favourite quotes. Success is about marginal gains, in other words making sure that you are doing the little things right. 

"When explaining this to players, I often use the example of the dos and don'ts of driving a car. There are certain basic things every driver need to understand and do. If they don't, there is a real chance that they will crash. The Tuks players still, at times, tend to get things wrong. Like 'stepping on the brake' when there is a need to accelerate.

"The reality in rugby is that players can't always expect a coach to tell them how to scrum or what to do in line-outs . . . when to pass the ball. Therefore the aim is to get the players to consistently do the small things correctly. They should always strive to be better this week than last week. Discipline and attitude are vital to this."

The TuksRugby mental coach is also a firm believer in embracing challenges, especially during the current pandemic.

"COVID-19 is real, but the biggest mistake anyone can make is to continuously worry about how it might impact your life. Negativity is never good. The challenge I have put to the players is to see the glass as half full rather than half empty,"