Frans Ludeke (born 24 April 1968) is a

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach, currently the head coach of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Top League side Kubota Spears. having previously coached the and the in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. Ludeke, who coached the Bulls between

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, coached the side to two Super Rugby titles, in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. He additionally coached the Blue Bulls and the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

in the South African

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

competition. Ludeke is the most experienced coach in Super Rugby, haven coached 149 matches, 125 Bulls and 24 Cats, in his 9-year career in the competition. Ludeke has over 30 years of experience in coaching, having started in 1987 coaching Hoërskool Vorentoe before a brief sting coaching English clubs. In 1997 he coached the RAU Under-21 team as well as the Transvaal Under-19s with

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

. In 1998 he was appointed coach of the RAU first team and in 1999 he became head coach of

SWD Eagles The South Western Districts Eagles are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournament. They represent the Southern Cape (Garden Route & Klein Karoo regions) and play out of Outeniqua Park i ...

. In 2000 he became assistant coach to

Heyneke Meyer Heyneke Meyer (born 6 October 1967) is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Lei ...

with the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

for the

2000 Super 12 season The 2000 Super 12 season was the fifth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2000, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seas ...

, and joined Harry Viljoen for the Springboks tour to Argentina and Europe. In 2001 he was named South Africa Under-19 coach, before being named

head coach. He became the Cats head coach in 2001 ahead of the

2002 Super 12 season The 2002 Super 12 season was the seventh season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2002, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular sea ...

, but was sacked following a very poor season, seeing the Cats finish second to last with just 1 win. He returned to the Cats in 2006, but in a repeat of 2003, Ludeke was sacked just 1 season into his contract. It also saw his Golden Lions contract terminated with immediate effect. In November 2007, Ludeke returned to the coaching fold, being named head coach of the Bulls for the

2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...

. It saw Ludeke remain at the helm for 8 years, which included a re-sign of his contract in 2013. However, with 1 year still on his contract, Ludeke stepped down as Bulls head coach in 2015. In July 2015, it was announced Ludeke would join the Fiji national team coaching set-up ahead of the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, working with the forwards and lineouts and kickoffs.

Personal life

In April 2013, Ludeke's wife Anelia gave birth to triplets, Juan, Micaela and Daniéle Ludeke. They also have an older daughter Izebella born in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludeke, Frans Afrikaner people Living people South African rugby union coaches 1968 births