4 minute read
Rugby legend comes full circle after three decades
HAVING STEPPED INTO THE SHOES OF CHESTER WILLIAMS, the legendary Springbok and World Cup winner who tragically passed away in 2019, the UWC alumnus is not daunted at all by the challenge of following his famous mentor.
Whatever the format or status of the game, whether it’s a touch rugby training session or a championship final, Treu approaches every game with the same cool precision and meticulous attention to detail. To Treu, winning is all about “executing the game plan”.
Treu arrived from Swellendam in 1990 and found UWC’s rugby culture much to his liking, and played for the university while earning his undergraduate degree in education. He starred in the powerful Springbok Rugby Sevens team between 1999 and 2003 that reached the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games and was captain of the squad that won the Wellington Sevens title in the 2001/02 season, coached by none other than Chester Williams.
In 2004, Treu made the switch to coaching the Springbok Sevens and the team achieved massive success under his guidance, amassing 14 tournament wins in his nine-year tenure and the overall IRB Sevens World Series title in 2008/09. After years of traversing the world as a player and coach and coaching the Kenya Sevens team between 2013 and 2014, he returned to Cape Town and a five-year stint on the coaching squad of Western Province Rugby. Thirty years after walking onto the UWC rugby fields for the first time, Treu returned as UWC Rugby head coach in 2020, after the post had been vacant for a year following Williams’ untimely passing.
“I was looking for a different challenge. It’s not like I was looking for work. And I thought to myself, I played here [at UWC], the team didn’t do so well in the Varsity Cup competition, and I hadn’t been a head coach in 15s rugby yet. This was a wonderful opportunity to come in and make a difference in people’s lives, and for them to taste some success,” he says. After Williams led the team to promotion from the Varsity Shield to the premier student competition, the team had a disappointing campaign last year, finishing second from bottom.
“This year we want to finish as high as we can,” Treu says in a determined tone. “Our immediate goal is to stay within the Varsity Cup. This was supposed to be a relegation year, but now with COVID it is going to be over two years. So the points accumulated this year and next year will determine who will be relegated.”
With Treu’s experience of building teams into successful units and an exceptional eye for spotting talent, the coach is quietly confident, all the more so as he feels the team is well supported by the university.
“I must say, the university has really come to the party with all the things that I have requested. They have gone out of their way to make sure that we could put together a support team and the equipment, systems and processes to give the players the best opportunity to do well,” says Treu. “It’s the first time we’re training with GPS technology. We’re recording our practice sessions and we bought analysis software. It’s about building sustainability. We’ve achieved a lot over the last couple of months.” Treu says he isn’t one for big motivational talks on match day or any pre-match rituals.
“The team talk is always the same. Whether you’re ahead or not, you always stick to your processes. And that’s all that you can say to the guys. Because you’ve been there before. You’ve done the training. You know the drill. Just keep doing what we do. If the opportunity to win is there for the taking, we take it. Just keep the faith and keep believing. Because on game day the players need to take charge, they need to take control.” In a sense, Treu’s approach to training on the field mirrors his approach to higher learning in general, making him an excellent sports and academic role model to the young men in his charge. With a Higher Diploma in Education (UWC), Honours in Education (Stellenbosch University), Master’s in Educational Psychology (Nelson Mandela University) and a Master’s in Sports Directorship (Manchester Metropolitan University), Treu says: “I’ve always put a big premium on learning. It was never about how many degrees you have. It is about continuously learning.”
A true believer in paying it forward, the married father of two girls is assisting Japan’s Women’s Rugby team as a consultant, to prepare for the next Olympic Games.
