Free State Player shines at under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Rugby Week
The under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo rugby youth week, currently underway at the Tshwane University of Technology, got off to a great start for Free State flank, Thian Du Randt, a pupil of Bloemfontein’s Grey College.
A highlight of the day yesterday was Free State’s surprisingly comfortable 48-12 win over Eastern Province for which Thian received the Powerade Power Through Player of the Match award.
According to Thian, Monday’s second half game against Eastern Province was great and he hopes that for the rest of the week he will continue to play good rugby.
Thian played in the Coca-Cola under-13 Craven Week three years ago, before moving on the Grey, a move he says has changed his life. “It is because of Grey that I have achieved what I have so far,” he said. “It is turning me into the man I am today. I love school and I am doing well both on and off the playing field.”
Thian’s father is none other than the great Os du Randt, double World Cup winner and assistant coach of the Cheetahs Super Rugby team.
He was 9 years old when his father gave up playing rugby, so he doesn’t remember much of his career, but he has grown up with a father that is a celebrity and everywhere they go he is greeted by people, so has become used to it and he would like to carry on where his father left off and keep the family name alive in the world of rugby.
He credits his mother for bringing him back to reality. “I would love to become a professional rugby player like my dad, but my mother keeps reminding me that education is as important as rugby and I will need a qualification when my playing days are over,” he said.
He is determined to do a BCom accounting degree when he finishes school. “If I follow a career in rugby I will have to study part time and it might take me a couple of years longer, but I will get there as one day I would like to take over my father’s trucking business.”
The youngster’s rugby career is moving forward quickly and he has had to give up another sport he loves, swimming, to focus on the one sport. “I swam for school and province but my focus must now be on rugby.”
Thian is enjoying the under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week. “Firstly there are 11 Grey players in the team so it is like playing for the school, but the others, who are mostly from HTS Louis Botha, are also fantastic people and there is a great spirit in the team,” he said.
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