Springbok Sevens Rugby legend Fabian Juries says he is enjoying the fact that he can help spread the gospel of rugby in Central Asia.
Juries, who scored 179 SVNS Series tries – joint second most alongside another ex-sevens star Cecil Afrika – for the Blitzboks, is in his third year as coach of Kazakhstan’s Women’s Sevens team.
Try Scoring Ace
The former winger did not only make waves in sevens but is also well-known for scoring the best Currie Cup Premier Division try of the 2000s when, playing for the Cheetahs against the Bulls at a packed Loftus Versfeld in 2009, he sidestepped past several Bulls defenders before dotting down close to the poles.
The Makhanda (Grahamstown) born player, who also represented the Junior Springboks, was also well-known for his try-scoring exploits in Super Rugby and represented the Bulls, Cheetahs and Stormers in the old version of Sanzaar’s big franchise rugby competition.
Journey into coaching Juries retired from sevens in 2010 but still played fifteens for a couple of seasons longer before deciding to officially hang up his boots and make the move to coaching.
Before deciding to coach the Kazakhstan Women’s Sevens team, Juries got his first notable coaching gig in Dubai with the Apollo Rugby Skills Academy, where he also helped pay in forward in terms of developing the game in a country that does not have a historical rugby playing footprint, besides sevens.
However, he admits that it can be tough to teach a game that is still foreign to people in a country like Kazakhstan, especially amongst women.
In an exclusive interview, Juries tells TelecomAsia Sport:
Yes, it is my third year with girls here in Kazakhstan, and I can see the team getting to grips with how we want to play the game. And because the game of rugby is still so foreign to them, it does take a bit longer to build that understanding of how we are trying to do things, but it is a lekker (nice) challenge.
Juries on coaching in South Africa
Yes, I would definitely want to make a move back home to continue my coaching career, but I don’t know if a move to become a fifteens head coach is quite where I am at in my journey. I would definitely love to get an opportunity in sevens and if an opportunity in fifteens comes along, it would probably be as an assistant attack coach.
Blitzbok Rookies Impress Juries
Although he has his hands full with moulding the Kazakhstan’s Women’s team into world beaters on the sevens stage, Juries admits he does still make time to watch his former Blitzboks team play in the SVNS Series.
And some of the latest graduates of the Blitzbok squad like 19-year-old Gino Cupido and Quewin Nortje has impressed Juries after watching them in action in this past weekend’s Hong Kong tournament.
I think Quewin is going to make a big impact on the SVNS Series circuit for years to come and then Gino, who made his debut this weekend, has the potential to be a real attacking weapon for us in the future.
Hong Kong Heartache
However, Juries was a bit disappointed to see his old team not break their duck when it comes to winning in Hong Kong, after securing ninth place on Sunday’s final day of fixtures and also seeing Argentina make history by winning in the Asian state for the first time.
According to him the Blitzboks are showing signs of up-and-down form creeping back into their game, where teams of the past regularly reached cup knockout rounds and finals of a tournament.
Teams like Uruguay, who beat in the pool stages and playoffs for ninth place, are teams we are expected to beat regularly. I think when we faced Australia and New Zealand [in Pool play], our intensity levels just dropped and that is because we are still showing inconsistent form at tournaments. And that leads to a drop-off in confidence and we need to get back to playing with a higher intensity in the remaining two tournaments.
When it comes to Hong Kong I can’t quite put my finger on why we struggle to win our first tournament there. I think we have reached the final there three times in the past. One of my dreams as a Blitzbok was to win in Hong Kong, but I was also an unfortunate loser in a final against New Zealand in 2008. It is now one of my biggest dreams as a Blitzboks supporter to see us win the tournament.
SVNS Series title up for grabs
With two tournaments in Singapore and Los Angeles (United States) still to be played in the 2024/25 SVNS Series, Juries believes the Blitzboks can still pull a rabbit out of the hat and be crowned the overall champions.
Under the new competition rules that the SVNS series governing body, World Rugby, adopted in 2023, the winner of the Los Angeles tournament will be crowned champion.
Last season, France won the final tournament in Madrid and was crowned overall champion, despite Argentina topping the log after winning the most tournaments during the 2023/24 season.
Juries says he is still not a fan of the new competition rules as well as tournaments that are being stretched over three days and feels teams who perform consistently throughout a season, are getting the short end of the stick.
