Izak van der Westhuizen, head coach of the Toyota Cheetahs' junior teams, has been promoted to Forwards Coach of the senior team, for all the competitions in which they participate.
Van der Westhuizen played as a lock for the Cheetahs in more than 100 games between 2007 and 2012. He also gained overseas experience after running on the field in 24 matches for Edinburgh in Scotland.
In 2015 he became involved in coaching the Cheetahs' junior teams where he worked with coaches like Joe Beukes, MJ Smith, Daan Human, Albert Keuris and Melusi Mthethwa on various teams. He assisted the Currie Cup team in 2018 and 2019 with lineouts.
Apart from his role as coach and Cheetah Academy Manager, Izak has also been a SARU – EPD Level 1 Talent Identification Coordinator in 2015 and a SARU – EPD Level 2 Talent Identification Coordinator from 2016, emphasizing his ability not only as a coach but as an identifier of special talent as well.
Izak’s contribution to the team's processes going forward will be valuable.
Van der Westhuizen will take over from Corniel van Zyl, who has accepted a long-term offer from a club in England. There is increasing international movement of players and coaches in professional rugby. This is a normal phenomenon in a commercial sport with more and more international competitions.