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360º PERSPECTIVES | ISSUE 7 | 2020/2021
Rugby legend comes full circle after three decades » The new UWC Rugby coach Paul Treu is a globally respected giant of sevens rugby but still a relative newcomer to coaching the 15-member form of the game.
H
AVING STEPPED INTO THE SHOES OF CHESTER
WILLIAMS, the legendary Springbok and World Cup winner who tragically passed away in 2019, the UWC alumnus is not daunted at all by the challenge of following his famous mentor. Whatever the format or status of the game, whether it’s a touch rugby training session or a championship final, Treu approaches every game with the same cool precision and meticulous attention to detail. To Treu, winning is all about “executing the game plan”. Treu arrived from Swellendam in 1990 and found UWC’s rugby culture much to his liking, and played for the university while earning his undergraduate degree in education. He starred in the powerful Springbok Rugby Sevens team between 1999 and 2003 that
reached the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games and was captain of the squad that won the Wellington Sevens title in the 2001/02 season, coached by none other than Chester Williams. In 2004, Treu made the switch to coaching the Springbok Sevens and the team achieved massive success under his guidance, amassing 14 tournament wins in his nine-year tenure and the overall IRB Sevens World Series title in 2008/09. After years of traversing the world as a player and coach and coaching the Kenya Sevens team between 2013
< Paul Treu, the new UWC Rugby coach.
