Rugby Captains. In our series on sport captains, Schools That Rock talks to Reverence Ihenacho. Reverance is the captain of Curro Vanderbijlpark, Primary School’s 1st rugby team. Today Reverence scores our sixth try in this rugby captains series for schools in South Africa.
“I started playing rugby when I was five years old. The reason I am so passionate about playing rugby, is because it is such a physical and mental sport.
I currently play left wing, but I’ve played other positions as well. The first time I was appointed as rugby captain, was in 2015 and now I am the captain of our schools’ 1st team.
I would say that the qualities making a good rugby player is skill, hard work and dedication.
Our team has one training session per week. Currently I do not have a personal training schedule. My individual highlight playing rugby for myself, I would say chipping the ball, catching it and scoring.
Most stressful game
As rugby captain, my most stressful game to date was Curro Vanderbijlpark vs Noordskool. The reason was because our team did not follow our game plan.
The best decision I took in my life, was to play rugby over any other sport because the hard work pays off.
My current short term goal is to pass my exams with great results. My current top 5 priorities in life are study, learn, to be healthy, rest and to play rugby.
The game as rugby captain which I had my worst experience, was nerve wrecking. What I’ve learned from that game is that things don’t always go your way. I usually motivate my team by encouraging them to follow the game plan. I also tell them that our opponents are human like us, so we have no reason to be scared.
What I’ve learned about teamwork from my past experiences on teams, as well as rugby captain, is that everyone has a different talent that has to be sharpened.
My advice for new rugby players is to do your best, work hard and trust yourself. When I see a teammate struggling with learning a new move, position or play, I will help him learning the new move, position or play and also give him advice on how to improve.
I think my coach and teammates will describe me as a play maker.
Best advice
The best advice I have received from my coaches is ‘don’t pressurize yourself, have fun.’ I would say hard work and dedication made our team achieve the things it did successfully.
I want to develop my performance moving forward by practicing my skills and my kicking. I believe the greatest challenge faced by today’s sport participants, is courage. Not many sport participants have courage.
What excites me most in life is my academics. My single greatest highlight would be playing for the u13 Valke XV team. The professional rugby player I would like to have coffee with, is Cheslin Kolbe because he is a fast thinker and a dynamic player.
Should I have to describe myself in one word, magnificent.“
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