He was the 56th Springbok captain. A tenacious workhorse whose blonde head was visible everywhere on the field. A mobile hooker with enough torque to dig up an entire rugby field for a full 80 minutes. A leader.
At the start of the Allister Coetzee era as Springbok coach, Adriaan Strauss was called up to lead the national team. This decision was widely lauded, and although 2016 will not be remembered as a year for the Boks to crow about, no fingers have ever been pointed at Strauss.
He hung up his international boots at the end of 2016, and his provincial boots followed in 2018. Eyebrows were lifted, because Strauss had not yet run out of steam. However, this inspiring team player for the Cheetahs and the Bulls had a plan.
Adriaan joined ITEC in Bloemfontein when he was still a player, and there he cut his teeth in the business world in the company of Valentine Rantsoareng, André Venter and Chris Badenhorst. Yes, the Free State legends André Venter and Chris Badenhorst. The former probably the toughest rugby player the Springboks have yet produced. The latter, also a Springbok, a try glutton with an insatiable appetite for crossing the try line.
“I just continued in the business world where I left off,” says the veteran of 66 tests in the green and gold.
Adriaan registered for his MBA studies at the North-West University (NWU) in 2022. “Firstly, it is a prestigious qualification. It makes you think differently, it changes your approach, and that is exactly what I was looking for. An MBA gives you the opportunity to learn and to grow. I enjoy the financial aspect of my work and I would like to make better decisions in that field. Secondly, there is the NWU, its reputation and the fact that the MBA is internationally accredited.”
Does he think his time in the rugby trenches will help him in the business world?
“There are lessons you learn on the rugby field, but all businesses differ and require different management styles and techniques.”
Adriaan is only 36 now, yet a return to the field is out of the question.
“Sometimes I miss the game. I miss being among the guys. But I had my time, and if I get the opportunity to play again tomorrow, I definitely will not do it,” he jokes.
Then there were also the opponents, magicians and clowns.
“I always had a lot of respect for Richie McCaw as player and captain, and for the way in which he conducted himself. Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers were some of the toughest guys against whom I played. I will be able to tell my children one day that I played against a few really hard men. Jean was also one of the funniest guys and full of pranks, although he calmed down a lot when he became Springbok captain. At the Cheetahs, Heinrich Brüssow and Lood de Jager were the clowns.”
Among the most talented players he also mentions Lood de Jager, who was well-known at the NWU for his pranks on and off the field, and Willie le Roux.
Just goes to show.
Adriaan Strauss
