Rugby that rocks with Gustav
Gustav attended Scottburgh Primary, before going on to Westville Boys' High School.
The 2021 FNB Varsity Cup has kicked off with a few South Coast stars featuring in this year’s competition.
One of the standouts so far has been Gustav du Rand of Scottburgh, the vice-captain of the North West University Eagles (FNB NWU Eagles), formerly known as NWU Pukke.
Gustav attended Scottburgh Primary, before going on to Westville Boys’ High School.
“I got into playing rugby mostly because of my dad, he was a great inspiration for me. I started at the age of nine, in grade 3,” he said.
Gustav is studying sports science and this is his second season of FNB Varsity Cup.
He plays hooker but is also used as a utility forward on the flank.
“The experience has been quite something and the vibe from playing a home game, with family and friends watching, plus the spectators, was electric, unbelievable,” he said. (Pre Covid-19, of course).
He also thoroughly being given the opportunity to go on tour, for example to Maties, and was looking forward to more tours in the future.
Du Rand has had a stellar season thus far, having been named ‘The Player That Rocks’ (man of the match) in their second round game against the University of Free State (Shimlas).
This was a match that saw him score a try, gain 25 metres from six carries, claim five first/second breakdown arrivals and make nine tackles.
Although he never earned the opportunity to represent his home province at a provincial level, the Scottburgh born earned his first provincial cap for the Leopards at U19 and U21 level.
He has also represented the North West based franchise at the opens level in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge.
Du Rand has managed to balance his rugby with social life and studies but admitted it had been especially difficult due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“One of the biggest challenges so far has been dealing with the fact we can’t have any fans. We are a bunch of guys who like to socialise with our peers. However, we’re not really allowed to go to out to restaurants or wherever too much.”
However, despite all this his focus has not shifted for the main task at hand.
“This season so far we have gotten off to a solid start but there’s a lot to learn still,” he said.
The team has won three out of four games so far this season.
Certain matches are televised on SuperSport1.
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