179:, who captained Natal and the Springboks in the 1960s, recalled that "Izak van Heerden was streets ahead of his time...We had a genius as a coach. He sought players with two great qualities: an ability to think, and the flair to make decisions on the field... His teams played this instinctive, fantastic, expressive brand of rugby...His great philosophy was that the ball was the advantage. He taught us to treat every piece of possession like a nugget, and he would say, no one kicks a nugget away...the most important thing is to keep the ball."
80:. Van Heerden was interned in prisoner-of-war camps in North Africa and then in Italy. He escaped from a camp near Rome and evaded capture for nine months in the surrounding hills, until rescued by British forces He returned to teaching and coaching after the War and was appointed coach of the Natal provincial team. Whatever Van Heerden had lacked in physical prowess in rugby, he made up for by his tactical brilliance.
134:. Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour, it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as
173:, was quoted as saying Izak van Heerden "was truly light years ahead of the rest." Christie openly acknowledged Izak van Heerden's influence on him, and to using his thinking as a blueprint for his own team, saying "Most of what you hear the modern coaches saying, and the phrases they use, were first coined by Izak."
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Izak van
Heerden came along, but he propelled them into a completely different orbit from their neighbours in Chile, Uruguay and elsewhere. More than half a century later, in 2015, twenty-four past and current Puma team members visited Durban High School to honor the coach who had transformed their game.
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in 1962, in which the Lions were comprehensively outplayed (losing 3–0), Van
Heerden's massive input was not required. Possibly The fact that he had never been a Springbok meant that later on, he was passed over as a choice to coach the national side, because it was wrongly assumed that good players
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Van
Heerden's greatest legacy, perhaps, was to turn the Pumas into a truly respected national side. Despite the ups-and-downs of the Argentine side, Van Heerden's team are considered a benchmark of what the Pumas are capable of achieving. Argentina was already the rugby power in South America when
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Van
Heerden would frequently turn up to training sessions with Natal straight from school, donning the glasses, tweed jacket, or conservative dark suit and silk bow tie that he wore at school. This was one of his many foibles, which endeared some people to him, and alienated others. He was a big,
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Van
Heerden's fame grew elsewhere as a result, particularly in the British Isles, where reports filtered through about the rugby "guru" with the golden touch. Somehow his growing reputation worked against him in South Africa, and other than one series against the
138:. Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the
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burly man, with a humorous, witty manner, a sharp temper, and a repertoire of ripe language which he used freely in both the classroom and on the rugby field. He looked every bit the rugby player.
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After his coaching career, Van
Heerden went back to teach at Durban High School, where he was eventually promoted to vice-principal. He died suddenly in his office at the school in 1973.
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If Van
Heerden was an unsung genius at national level in his homeland, it was Argentina that gave him the chance to flourish, and show exactly what he was capable of.
186:, has become a coaching Bible around the world. Several of the strategies he devised during his rise to prominence, when he masterminded Natal's victory over
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in 1953, have become parts of the modern high-speed, high-intensity game. Richard Bath describes him as "the thinking man's coach." Van
Heerden also wrote
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57:). While there he had moderate success playing at loose forward for the University team in 1934. He then became a school master at
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He was a successful coach and trained many prominent players. Amongst the South
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team for his unconventional, fast-moving style. His tactical innovations have had lasting influence on the game of rugby.
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365:"South Africa's best Rugby Brain", Natal Mercury Durban High School Centenary Supplement, 1 June 1996, p.25
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But Van Heerden's success with Natal was only a foretaste of what was to come.
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along with another well-known Durban High School schoolmaster and rugby coach,
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22:(August 1910 – June 1973 (aged 62–63)) was a South African
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Wyllie ways of Pumas bear print of a Springbok man of vision
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The Springbok rugby player with a top ten Comrades finish
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coach, and player, remembered for his successes with the
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16:South African rugby union player & coach
560:World War II prisoners of war held by Italy
530:Argentina national rugby union team coaches
192:Coaching, Practising and Training for Tries
376:"SA Rugby Player Profile – Tommy Bedford"
155:and good coaches were one and the same.
53:at the Natal University College (now the
451:"SA Rugby Player Profile – Snowy Suter"
426:"SA Rugby Player Profile – Trix Truter"
401:"SA Rugby Player Profile – Keith Oxlee"
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194:(Durban: Drakensburg Press, 1966), and
49:Van Heerden qualified as a teacher in
241:Boks and Pumas set for historic clash
169:, who coached the Springboks for the
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502:DHS 140th anniversary rugby festival
251:Hoskins backs Pumas for Tri-Nations
132:first visit to South Africa in 1965
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545:South African rugby union coaches
565:Escapees from Italian detention
535:Rugby union players from Durban
575:Expatriate rugby union coaches
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489:"Pumas honour old Natal coach"
478:Cape Town. Jonathan Ball, 2015
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590:Sharks (rugby union) coaches
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196:Tactical and Attacking Rugby
182:Van Heerden's masterpiece,
55:University of KwaZulu-Natal
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264:The Complete Book of Rugby
198:(Wellington: Reed, 1967).
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430:South African Rugby Union
405:South African Rugby Union
380:South African Rugby Union
42:Van Heerden was born in
152:British and Irish Lions
28:Argentina national team
570:South African escapees
476:The Springbok Captains
266:(Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997
44:Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal
283:Mainstream Publishing
262:Bath, Richard (ed.)
171:1995 Rugby World Cup
285:, Edinburgh, 2007,
474:Edward Griffiths.
130:prepare for their
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491:. 19 August 2015.
291:978-1-84596-255-5
221:Cecil (Bill) Payn
140:Junior Springboks
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106:Snowy Suter
102:Trix Truter
98:Keith Oxlee
46:, in 1910.
24:rugby union
514:Categories
356:Bath, p 62
257:References
144:Ellis Park
136:Hugo Porta
188:Australia
128:the Pumas
78:Bill Payn
63:Afrikaans
38:Biography
209:See also
126:to help
74:Benghazi
30:and the
68:During
460:26 May
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162:Legacy
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