Rudolf August Wilkens Straeuli (born 20 August 1963 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) is a former South African

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 ...

player and coach and currently the

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of the Lions Rugby Company. He played in the positions of flanker and Number 8, making ten test appearances for

in 1994 and 1995. He was the coach of the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

rugby team in 2002 and 2003. He also played for the provincial team in the

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 ...

and

Super 12 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 ...

competitions.

Playing career

Straeuli played his first in provincial rugby in 1990 for and from 1993 he played for . During 1993 he also toured with the

South African Barbarians South African Barbarians is an invitational rugby union club styled along the lines of Barbarian F.C. It was formed in 1960 by Frank Mellish, the former 1951–52 Springbok selector and manager, together with former Natal Rugby Union President, ...

to the United Kingdom. Straeuli made his debut for South Africa on 9 July 1994 against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, in which he also scored a

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. In all he played 10 tests, including representing South Africa in the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

, before his career ended on 18 November 1995 against

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Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

. In 1997 he joined the

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

rugby club in England.

Test history

World Cup Final

Coaching career

In 1998 he transitioned from player to coach at Bedford.

Coastal Sharks

Staeuli coached the Coastal Sharks for the 2001 and 2002 seasons in the

tournament. In his first season in charge, he led the team to a runner up finish, having finished in last place the season before.

Springboks

In 2002, Straeuli took over as the head coach of the Springboks. He won his first four games, with two victories over , a 20-point victory over and a convincing 60–18 defeat of . However, the team subsequently suffered several defeats against the bigger nations, losing 30–10 to , 21–6 to , 53–3 to and 52–16 to during his reign. He coached the Springboks during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, a campaign that saw South Africa failing to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time. Straeuli was forced to resign shortly after the tournament when details of his infamous

Kamp Staaldraad Kamp Staaldraad (Afrikaans words, translated idiomatically as ''Camp Barbed Wire'') was a military-style "boot camp" organized as a "team building" exercise for the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks (or Boks), during their pr ...

training camp came to light. Overall Straeuli coached 23 tests and won only 52% of them, one of the worst records for a South African coach. He also won only two out of the 17 games played against the top six teams in the world.

Accolades

In 2006 he was inducted into the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

Sport Hall of fame.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Straeuli, Rudolf 1963 births Living people South African rugby union coaches Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Golden Lions players Bedford Blues players South Africa national rugby union team coaches University of Pretoria alumni Rugby union players from Pretoria