Meet the head of the all- female team who put a spring in the step of the Springboks.
Rene Naylor and her physiotherapy team, Vivian Verwant and Tanushree Pillay, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure coach Rassie Erasmus’ squad was in peak condition throughout the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Rene, 48, from Belhar, graduated from the University of Cape Town and started her rugby career with Silvertree Rugby Club which was based in Mitchells Plain at the time.
Although no one in her family actually plays the game, they are all huge fans.
“I was always interested in rugby, our family watches rugby and my granny was a big Naas Botha fan,” says Rene.
“I was super excited to start my first rugby job at Silvertree; that is where I learned most of my skills.”
She worked out of a small container on the field where they didn’t have lights at night, so they would use a car and a generator.
STRETCH: Rene Naylor ensured the Boks were at peak condition. Picture: Supplied
One of her clients invited her to help out at the club and before she knew it, she started her stint with Western Province and later with the Springboks.
The single mother of a six-year-old boy, Cullin, joined the Bokke in 2008 and says her main role is injury prevention and injury management.
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The Springboks were crowned world champions after their 32-12 pak slae over England in the final in Yokohama.
“This was the highlight of my career, winning the world cup. This is my third world cup with the Springboks and it has to be third time lucky,” she says.
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“It was a lot of hard work going into it, it was something that we worked on for 614 days. It was the plan since 2018 with Rassie and the coaches.”
Rene says that this was a special victory because it didn’t just feel like a victory of a tournament or rugby match, it felt like a victory for all South Africans.
She says she didn’t expect to get a job with the Springboks, but in 2008, she got a call from former coach Peter de Villiers who asked her if she was interested in the job and the rest is history.