Dolphins’ diesel tractor

The first game of the 2017 rugby season is rapidly approaching in March and The Courier caught up with one of the big front row boys for the Ballito Dolphins.

Muzi “Maximus” Luthuli is the Dolphins’ loosehead prop and all-round hard man.

Originally from Maidstone in Tongaat, the 25-year-old told The Courier that it is not only the playing of the game he loves so much, but also the brotherhood that is built up within the team.

“Of course, the few changing room beers after a tough one are also pretty good,” Maximus admitted. Currently an IT technician at Spill Doctore RSA, he matriculated in 2009 from Northwood High in Durban, where he started playing rugby in grade nine.

He then furthered his studies at CTI Education Group and continued his rugby career by playing for the Durban North Crusaders U20 A side.

Maximus has been a proud Dolphin for the last five years, having come into the team when they still had an U20 league.

Last year he had a bit of a shock with a compressed spinal injury that lead to him missing out on the second half of the season but said that he is fully fit for 2017 and is ready to dominate this year.

“I have played first team rugby in the bulk of my rugby career and I had the honor of wearing the Investec international jersey after a growling, hardworking, intense week,” said the 2014 Dolphin’s forward player of the year.

He was also the captain of the very successful 2015 Dolphins Seven’s side. Maximus said his dream team to play for would be the Sharks, “it’s been a dream of mine to play in the black and white since high school.”

One of his most memorable games was against a strong PMB Collegians side in the first leg of the league.

“The Collegians had just come down from the premier division, so we knew it was going to be a tough fight.”

The Dolphins won that match with a physical 24-10 performance. “That day our forward pack was extremely strong and we pushed them back off their own ball in the scrums.”

While he does not have a pre-game good luck charm, he does listen to music at least two hours leading up to the game to get himself pumped up. Maximus shows great versatility in the front row, playing loose head, tight head and hooker – as long as he can get right in his opponent’s faces.

“As a front ranker, it is important to do a lot of strength training as well as explosive work.”

“Some of us front rowers aren’t built for speed – so we have to be that diesel powered tractor that just keeps going.”

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