The Boland Cavaliers have officially confirmed the appointment of Hawies Fourie as head coach, effective from 1 March.
In an official press release from the professional arm of Boland Rugby, it was confirmed that Fourie will be leaving his position as Cheetahs coach to head up a new coaching staff at the Cavaliers.
Alongside Fourie, four assistant coaches have been confirmed, including Alshaun Bock (backline and defence), Mornay Kurtz (forwards), Jacquin Jansen (kicking) and Iver Aanhuizen (strength and conditioning).
Fourie leaves the Cheetahs after coaching the Free State side to a Currie Cup title in 2023 and a round of 16 finish in last season’s European Challenge Cup, in a four-year stint with the team from 2019.
He will be returning to Boland, who he represented as a player in 1994 and 1995, and where he started as a professional coach between 2002 and 2005.
“It’s special to come back to the very union where it all started for me, as a coach,” an excited Fourie stated.
“There is no reason why we cannot get back into the top six teams in the country, and that will be my aim when I get back in Wellington.
“I am thankful to the Cheetahs, I have coached there for 13 years, nine of which was with Naka Drotské and four as the head coach.”
In 2007, Fourie was appointed as the Free State Cheetahs’ backline coach for the Currie Cup and Super Rugby sides. It was a role he would occupy for seven seasons before accepting the Griquas’ head coaching role and winning the Currie Cup competition as an assistant in 2007.
Fourie returned to the Western Cape as the head coach for Maties in the Varsity Cup a role which saw him win the coveted Varsity Cup for the Stellenbosch side, a record fourth and fifth win in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He returned as the head coach to the Free State at the end of the 2019 season.
Fourie’s appointment comes after the Boland Rugby Union unveiled a private equity partnership with the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport and a consortium controlled by the Motsepe family, last October.
The new partnership has the Motsepe Consortium and SAS owning 74 percent of the Boland Rugby professional arm with the Boland Rugby Union retaining 26 percent.
Among Boland’s directors are former Springboks Gio Aplon, Schalk Burger and Neil de Kock.
Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
The post Fourie leaves Cheetahs for Boland appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
