Batho Hlekani’s high school rugby coach has given SA Rugby credit for intervening to make him more than just another young player with promise.
The former Junior Springbok and current Lions loose forward’s stock continues to rise as he puts in consistent, eye-catching performances in the Vodacom URC and EPCR Challenge Cup.
Graeme College coach Jonty van der Meulen told News24 how a frank intervention while Hlekani was still a teenager proved to be a turning point in his career.
Van der Meulen says while Hlekani always stood out as a gifted player, there was a moment at the age of 17 when his work rate and involvement fell well short of the standard required at the elite level.
“There are so many talented players, and you hope they’ll break through,” Van der Meulen said. “But I must give credit to SA Rugby. They picked up on Batho quite early.”
According to Van der Meulen, SA Rugby’s Elite Player Development (EPD) structures wasted no time in acting after identifying concerns during a match in Makhanda.
“Nico Serfontein and the guys from the EPD team came to Makhanda when Batho was 17,” he explained. “Batho was quite poor in that game; he was lazy and didn’t have enough involvement.”
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What followed was a no-nonsense review session that compared Hlekani’s output to that of another leading loose forward of the same age group.
“We looked at the match and compared his stats to JF van Heerden – carries, running metres, second efforts – and that was a big wake-up call for Batho,” said Van der Meulen.
“He was a good player, but in that game, he waited for the match-shining moment instead of doing the hard graft.”
Van der Meulen believes that moment of accountability fundamentally reshaped Hlekani’s approach to the game, and laid the platform for his progression to Junior Boks level and beyond.
“SA Rugby’s meeting with Batho changed him,” he said.
Photo: Lions Rugby
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