Tuks’ Varsity rugby coach wants players to find a balance in life
The highly regarded Nico Luus will coach the Tuks rugby team in the Varsity Cup in 2020.
It is still early days, but Tuks’ new Varsity rugby coach Nico Luus seems to have a Midas touch.
Since 2018 Tuks has not lost one game in the Carlton Cup or Volcano Cup-leagues. With Luus as the head coach Tuks managed to win 31 out 32 games. The team’s only blemish is a draw this year against Centurion. Tuks also managed to pull off a spectacular win in Stellenbosch against Maties during the USSA-final.
When one talks to Luus, it is easy to understand why Tuks keeps on winning. Rugby, coaching and people are his passion and not necessarily in this order.
“I love to work with people and to get them to enjoy what they do. If you can create a good vibe within the team, the rest is easy. I strive to be a mentor to the players first and then a coach. Sometimes you achieve more by having a sympathetic ear listening to players than by pure coaching,” Luus explained.
When it comes to team selection, the only criteria that matter to Luus is a player’s attitude.
“What really matters, is if they are prepared to listen and learn. I don’t believe in pure talent. Blikkies Groenewald, who is one of my mentors, once said: ‘the best player is not necessarily the right one when it comes to selecting a team’. This statement has already been proven to me over and over,” he said.
Luus got definite ideas as to the kind of rugby he wants Tuks to play.
“I firmly believe in having a set structure within which the players are free to express themselves. I will admit to being a fan of traditional student rugby, which means the ball will never be kicked only for the sake of kicking. It is also important to me that Tuks does not get stereotyped as playing only a certain kind of rugby,” said Luus.
If there is one thing Luus truly can relate to, it is dedication – actually sacrifice spelt in capital letters. Like many youngsters, he dreamt about playing for the Springboks one day. It did not happen, but he was more than an excellent provincial player representing the Falcons and the Lions.
Throughout his playing career, his parents kept reminding him that no rugby career is going to last forever. Luus took their advice to heart. It, however, came with significant sacrifices. When playing for the Lions, he would start working at 06:00 in the morning. By 09:30, he would be at the training session. Then he would rush off to work again only to be back for the afternoon’s training. Still, that was not it. In the evenings he would pay attention to his day job again.
“I am truly grateful today that I committed to both playing rugby and building a career. Even now, my days are divided into coaching and working for Nedbank. I try and emphasise to young players the importance of finding a balance in life,” he explained.
Luus is 1.99 metres tall. So, it stands to reason to think that he always played as a forward, but it is not so. At school, he was playing flyhalf. He describes himself as having been a kicking flyhalf.
Not a lot of people would know that after finishing school, Luus went to England to play cricket. He used to be quite a useful fast bowler.
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