Germiston High School rugby coach Bless Nyatsanza was selected as head coach of the Gauteng rugby team ahead of the National Summer Ball Games in KwaZulu-Natal.
Nyatsanza, who previously coached Ekurhuleni West College (EWC) during league games held mostly at Germiston Stadium, led the provincial squad through a tough campaign.
The Gauteng team finished in fourth position in the tournament after a 21-28 defeat against the Northern Cape.
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During the round-robin stage, they secured victories against North West (26-0), KZN (36-5), and Mpumalanga (46-0) before advancing to the semi-finals against the Western Cape.
Reflecting on the tournament, Nyatsanza said his team fought bravely and lost by small margins. He expressed his delight at being appointed head coach.
Nyatsanza noted that the tournament highlighted the country’s talent, adding that his squad included 30 young players hungry for success.
“We had our training sessions before we left to make sure that all selected players gel in together. We had players from different teams so we had to work out the chemistry,” said Nyatsanza.
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“This was a big opportunity for me and for the team as we were going there to defend our title. As a coach to be given such an honour and responsibilities, it is truly humbling.”
“We had a strong team and very committed boys who wanted to win, but the nature of the game is win or lose.”
Nyatsanza said EWC finished second on the league log table, with four boys selected for the provincial squad.
“One boy was dropped from the squad because of an injury, so we were left with three,” said Nyatsanza.
Nyatsanza also coached the Germiston High School rugby team to their cup semi-finals earlier in the year.
Germiston High went head-to-head for the title of ‘Kings of Germiston’ when they faced Afrikaanse Hoërskool Germiston (AHG) in a friendly match. AHG’s juniors defeated Germiston High 28-0, while Germiston High’s senior team lost 14-5.
Following those losses, Germiston High progressed to the school league semi-finals.
Nyatsanza said that although the boys were nervous at first, they quickly grasped the rules and nature of the sport.
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“The boys understood that the loss against AHG was supposed to motivate them. We finished second in the Lions Rugby Union league – Group 5B and lost in the semi-finals against Curro Krugersdorp High School.
“We had to quickly correct our structures and gain our confidence to play according to our strategies. We are looking forward to the next season and building back to one day being crowned champions.
“We had a strong showing in the league, losing only to one team,” said Nyatsanza.
The tournament featured other sports, including basketball.
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