“I love rugby and started playing it when I was nine years old,” said Dauw Steyn.
“I realised my passion and talent for this sport at that tender age and have since embraced it.”
Steyn, from Lambton, said his career as a rugby player has caused him to travel quite a lot.
“I have had my fair share of travelling; I went to Durban where I played for the u-21 Sharks team, in Portchefstroom I played for the Leopards, in the Carrie Cup, on the senior side, and now I am fresh from Hong Kong,” he said.
Steyn did not play only rugby in Hong Kong.
“I enjoyed my trip to Hong Kong and, besides playing rugby, I taught English and did a bit of coaching as well,” he said.
“Being a teacher in Hong Kong wasn’t a hassle for me, as I was an English teacher at Delville Primary and a rugby coach as well, so I had experience.”
“I realised my gift of working with children when I was a teacher and coach in Delville.”
Steyn said the u-10s he coached was the same u-11 team he coached in 2013, and in the two years he was with them they won the Golden Lions League twice and the Super Twelve League.
“The team lost only three games in two years; I have a feeling that I have a gift for coaching,” he explained.
“Coaching the u-16 side in Honk Kong was a bit more challenging as I had to have an assistant coach to translate but even through that challenge the team hasn’t lost a game.”
The other element that supports Steyn’s thought of streaming into full time coaching is the injuries he sustained throughout his career.
“Although I have a number of achievements from my rugby career I must say that it was a rocky one as well because I suffered a lot of injuries throughout,” shared Steyn.
“As most aspiring rugby players, if not all, the dream is to be a Springbok player but looking at the injuries sustained I think reaching the top seems not for me as a player, but maybe as a coach.”
“I haven’t lost all hope of being a rugby player, I got an offer to join the Limpopo Blue Bulls for the Vodacom Cup Campaign 2015, I am interested but that will all depend on the results that will come from the scans I underwent as I stained another injury in my last game in Hong Kong.”
“I am currently busy with physio, the scan results and physio might suggest that I go for an operation, so if everything including the operation is not sorted within a month I might not be joining Limpopo Blue Bulls.”
Steyn told a GCN journalist that the injury he sustained is a groin injury.
“This injury is common in kickers, most kickers suffer from it, it is also known as the kickers groin of Sports Hernia, the operation will not be a big one but if you don’t attend to t it might get ugly, so I hope for the best as I await the results.”
Steyn is passionate about the sport and appreciates all the support that he received from his agent, family, friends and the Germiston community.
“I would like to say thank you to everyone that supported my rugby career, especially my parents Roelie and Charmaine Steyn for all their love and support over the years,” he said.
In other news, Steyn and his friend Ryno Hendricks are in the process of organising rugby clinics in Germiston.
“I chose to work with Ryno as I have played with him over the years and we get along,” he said.
“I want to give back all the knowledge and experience I gained to the children, so all the schools and parents in Germiston should look out for them.”
For more information about the clinics send Steyn an email at dauw.steyn.sa@gmail.com.
