A true NWU-Pukke man
The gentle giant, Attie Strauss, is at his best when he spends time with his forwards in a coaching session at the NWU-Pukke Rugby Institute.
The former Matie (1984) won two caps for the Springboks against the Jaguars in the same year. Doc Craven lured him to Maties after his Cape Town club, Villager, almost demolished the Maties in a club game.
The thoroughbred 'Nawakwalander' was born on the historic farm Soetwater in the Calvinia district. He finished his primary school career at Calvinia and attended Boland Agricultural High School in the Paarl.
Attie cannot even remember the number of games he played for WP where he had to compete with the legendary Hempies du Toit for a place in the starting line-up.
After a serious neck injury, he retired from the game, moved to Vanderbiljpark where he joined the human resources team at Iscor. He concentrated on his racing pigeons and he did very well in competitions.
He was contacted by a local club to take over the coaching. One thing lead to another and he was approached by the Vaal Triangle management to play for them. He played a number of games before a knee injury forced him into retirement again.
When André Markgraaff established the Puk Rugby Institute in 2000, Attie was appointed as junior coach - where he did sterling work with the junior forwards.
The likes of Brok Harris, Wicus Blaauw, Ronnie Uys, Jaco Engels, BG Uys, Aranos Coetzee, Bees Roux and Rayno Gerber have all - at some point - benefited from his ample experience.
He told varsitycup.co.za: "I want to help players to reach their full potential. It's not about me, Attie Strauss. It is all about the players and their success. That is my passion."
Attie's son, Koos, who represented the Leopards at the 2010 Craven Week, has been contracted by the Golden Lions and he is currently studying at the University of Johannesburg. Like his dad, he is a mean competitor in the front row.
Attie and his former junior coaching partner at the Pukke, Hannes Esterhuizen, have joined forces again after Rudy Joubert decided to take a two-week leave of absence following his team's poor start to the 2011 Varsity Cup.
Said Attie with a smile: "Hannes is a very busy coach. I will probably not get time for my beloved pigeons for the rest of the Varsity Cup season!"
By Piet de Jager
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