Allen Erasmus Drotské (born 15 March 1971), commonly known as Naka Drotské, is a South African former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who played as a hooker. He played for the South Africa national team, the Springboks, 26 times between 1993 and 1999.

Playing career

Provincial

Drotské played as a

flank Flank may refer to: * Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen ** Flank steak, a cut of beef ** Part of the external anatomy of a horse * Flank speed, a nautical term * Flank opening, a chess opening * A term in Australian rules football * The ...

for the Schools team at the 1989

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...

tournament and gained selection for the South African Schools team. In 1992 he made his provincial debut for Free State, also playing as a flank and during the 1993 he converted to the playing position of hooker. Drotské moved to the for the 2000 provincial season and also played the in the Super Rugby competition. In 2001 Drotské signed with

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

to play for the club until 2003 and the following year he started in the 2002 Powergen Cup Final at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, as London Irish defeated the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

International

Drotské played his first test match for the Springboks on 13 November 1993 against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in Buenos Aires, a game the 'Boks won 52–23. He was a member of 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 ...

winning squad, playing in one match and was also a member of the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

squad. During the 1999 World Cup, he played in six matches for the Springboks.

Test history

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Drostké coached the in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

between 2007 and 2015. He announced his retirement from coaching on 8 May 2015 to pursue other business interests.

Personal life

In November 2018, Drostké was shot during a robbery in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, and was left in a critical condition.

References

External links

Springboks site 1999scrum.com statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drotske, Naka 1971 births Living people People from Setsoto Local Municipality White South African people South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Free State Cheetahs players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from the Free State (province) 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players London Irish players South African expatriate rugby union players in England Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein