Deysel, Drotské steal the CC show
Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:24
Powerhouse Sharks flank Jean Deysel and Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské have been rewarded for their recent efforts in the Currie Cup, winning the August Player and Coach of the Month awards respectively.
Deysel and Drotské were each rewarded with R10 000 (US$1,280) in prize money, whilst they were also presented with exclusive miniature replicas of the Currie Cup trophy.
Deysel missed the start of the Currie Cup because of a hand injury sustained in a pre-season friendly against the Griffons, but a series of powerful displays has seen the 23-year-old make the No.7 shirt his own, much to Sharks coach John Plumtree's delight.
Kiwi Plumtree, himself a former Sharks flank of some repute, recently said of Deysel - after a Man of the Match display against the Griquas: "The guy has got Springbok written all over."
The Coach of the Month is voted for by a five-man panel of top media personalities in South Africa, whilst all eight coaches in the Currie Cup were asked to nominate their Player of the Month for August - as they did last month and like they will be asked to do until the end of this season in October.
They cannot nominate their own players.
Deysel picked up two votes, eventually edging out Nick Köster (WP), Earl Rose (Lions), Wikus van Heerden and Deon Stegmann (both Blue Bulls) and the Boland Cavaliers' Dries van Schalkwyk - all of whom earned one nomination each. Interestingly enough, all the players nominated - except Rose - are loose forwards.
But Deysel, who tips the scales at 103 kg and stands 1,92 m tall, was typically modest about his performances.
"It's great that the opposition coaches have noticed me. I think that's the best thing about this award," Deysel said.
"I'm enjoying my rugby a lot at the moment. John Plumtree and the coaches at the Sharks have backed me up, but it's just been great being back out there with my body in
good shape and the enjoyment factor
right up there, too."
For Deysel, and the Sharks, the next few weeks are shaping up as the key ones as the top teams look to secure those crucial home semifinal places.
"It's make or break in the next few weeks," he said. "The Boks are coming back, at the Sharks and at the other teams too, but that's why I play this game - to test myself against the best players out there... and I wouldn't want it any other way."
Cheetahs coach Drotské, meanwhile, has guided his team to five successive victories in the series. The Cheetahs, the defending champions, have not lost a match since going down 31-23 to the Blue Bulls in mid-July.
The men from Bloemfontein are currently in third place on the log, just one point behind the second-placed Sharks and two points adrift of the table-topping Blue Bulls.
Drotské, a former Springbok hooker and the ex-head coach of English club London Irish, received three out of five votes for his efforts in charge of the Cheetahs, just pipping Lions boss Eugene Eloff to the honour.
Television analyst and commentator Owen Nkumane, one of five members of the well-respected media voting panel, explained his rationale behind voting for the Free State Cheetahs coach.
"My nomination is based on consistency and the fact that they've played three games this month and won all three - with two of them coming away from home," he said.
Nkumane's fellow panelists are once again Mtutuzeli Scott (SABC radio commentator), David O'Sullivan (Rugga Zone host), Clinton van den Berg (Sunday Times sports editor) and senior Rapport journalist JJ Harmse.
Harmse also explained his thinking behind voting for Drotské: "He has done wonders in bringing the younger players through. He lost his star performer in [Heinrich] Brüssow and yet this has not stopped his side from performing."
Drotské, however, was quick to pay tribute to his team, saying: "It's a great honour, but credit must go to my players and my management team. I guess when the team plays badly the head coach attracts a bit of heat, so maybe it's not a bad thing to earn some praise when the team plays well!"
But Drotské also warned that the 2008 Absa Currie Cup season is far from over.
"September is the month," he added. "There's just two points between us the Sharks and the Bulls and we'd obviously love to get that home semifinal."
The impressive thing once again has been Drotské's ability to blood some talented youngsters, with the likes of Heinrich Brüssow (July's Currie Cup Player of the Month), Robert Ebersohn and Wilton Pietersen all impressing for the Cheetahs in 2008.
"It's important to get the balance right between young and old," explained the Cheetahs coach.
"We're lucky to have the likes of Wian du Preez, Hendro Scholtz, Chris Rossouw, Eddie Fredericks and Bevin Fortuin around - it's just so much easier to blood the youngsters when they have the older heads around to guide them."
