Cardiff Coach Van Zyl heading home with pride

Van Zyl, born in Nelspruit in the north east of South Africa and moving at a young age to a farm in Fouriesburg in the eastern Free State will be bringing his Cardiff Rugby team to Pretoria, the city where his rugby career took off.

Van Zyl has played for the South African administration Capital as well as in Witbank and Bloemfontein with the Cheetahs. On top of that there was along stay at Benetton.

His sporting path brought him to Wales. He arrived in Cardiff as a forwards coach in the siummer of 2024 and stepped up to the hot seat just before the start of this season.

He has guiided the Cardiff team to 10 wins from 16 games in all competitions.

Friday sees Cardiff taking on the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, with a trip to Durban to take on the Sharks the weekend after.

The 47-year-old Van Zyl readily admits he is proud to be at the helm as he heads back to the land he calls home.