Rudolf August Wilkens Straeuli (born 20 August 1963) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

administrator, and a former player and coach. He is currently the CEO of the Lions Rugby Company. He played in the positions of flanker and Number 8, making 10 test appearances for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1994 and 1995. He was the coach of the Springboks rugby team in 2002 and 2003. He also played for the provincial team in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

and Super 12 competitions.

Playing career

Straeuli played his first in provincial rugby in 1990 for and from 1993 he played for . During 1993 he also toured with the South African Barbarians to the United Kingdom. Straeuli made his debut for South Africa on 9 July 1994 against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, in which he also scored a try. In all he played 10 tests, including representing South Africa in the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

, before his career ended on 18 November 1995 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

. In 1997 he joined the

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. History Foundation and 19th century Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...

rugby club in England.

Coaching career

In 1998 he transitioned from player to coach at Bedford.

Coastal Sharks

Staeuli coached the Coastal Sharks for the 2001 and 2002 seasons in the Super 12 tournament. In his first season in charge, he led the team to a runner up finish, having finished in last place the season before.

Springboks

In 2002, Straeuli took over as the head coach of the Springboks. He won his first four games, with two victories over , a 20-point victory over and a convincing 60–18 defeat of . However, the team subsequently suffered several defeats against the bigger nations, losing 30–10 to , 21–6 to , 53–3 to and 52–16 to during his reign. He coached the Springboks during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, a campaign that saw South Africa failing to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time. Straeuli was forced to resign shortly after the tournament when details of his infamous Kamp Staaldraad training camp came to light. Overall, Straeuli coached 23 tests and won 52% of them, one of the worst records for a South African coach. He also won only two out of the 17 games played against the top six teams in the world.

Accolades

In 2006 he was inducted into the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

Sport Hall of fame.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Straeuli, Rudolf 1963 births Living people South African rugby union coaches Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Golden Lions players Bedford Blues players South Africa national rugby union team coaches University of Pretoria alumni Rugby union players from Pretoria Sharks (rugby union) coaches 1995 Rugby World Cup players South African expatriate rugby union players in England Alumni of Hoërskool Menlopark