CLUB RUGBY NEWS - This year’s South Western Districts Super League season gets underway this Saturday, 5 April, when Riversdale Blues and local Pacaltsdorp club, Evergreens, lock horns in Riversdale.
Evergreens’ new coach, Ricardo Beukes, who is back where he started a quarter of a century ago, is positive that his team will do very well this season.
The 50-year-old’s appointment as head coach of the Multisure Evergreens Rugby Club, heralds the latest chapter in his long career.
Although Beukes has been instrumental in the recent successes of A division sides like Crusaders, he is delighted to have returned to his roots at the Pacaltsdorp club.
He rejoined the Green Machine after a 22-year absence and immediately helped secure Multisure Corporation as a partner as the club began its hunt for a sixth A section title.
Their first team finished top of the log in the B division in 2024 to regain their spot in the top tier.
Beukes’ career as an Evergreens player ended at the young age of 27 when he opted to spend more time with his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
But the sport was far from done with him. “It’s actually a funny story,” the coach says.
“About a year after I hung up my boots, I went down to the Evergreens fields. The B team’s coaches weren’t there at the time, so the guys asked me if I didn’t want to help out.”
Beukes, a rugby man through and through, did not need a second invitation to that party.
This “coincidence”, as he describes it, proved life-changing and in 2003 he was appointed head coach for the first time.
At the conclusion of his contract, he went on to enjoy a title-winning stint with Blanco United and served as assistant coach of Silverstars before going on an eight-year sabbatical.
In 2019, just 12 months after returning to coaching, he led Crusaders to the Super League A division title.
It was during this time that he met Multisure CEO Denton Goodford and the two clicked immediately.
When he was appointed Evergreens coach for the second time in November, the businessman was among the first he called.
“I wanted him to get on board as I could see how his business would fit the Evergreens brand.”
While it is still early days, Beukes is excited by what he had seen so far.
“We are still putting pieces of the puzzle together, but I’m confident we are going to build something great here.”
Beaukes says the first team’s promotion to the A division within weeks of being relegated, showed the resilience and talent within the club’s ranks of 120 registered players.
Goodford says the funeral cover provider had joined hands with Evergreens as it was one of the iconic rugby brands in the country and Multisure identifies with its values and community-upliftment spirit.
Evergreens will also feature in the Saldanha Super 8 Easter Tournament from April 17 to 21.
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