Date of birth | 1982 (age 41–42) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place of birth | Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | St Stithians College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Wessels (born 1983 [1]), is a South African-Australian professional rugby union football coach. He is currently General Manager of High Performance at SA Rugby. [2]
He was previously head coach of the Melbourne Rebels team that compete in the Super Rugby competition. [3] Before moving to Melbourne, Dave became the youngest head coach in Super Rugby history [4] when he was appointed head coach at the Western Force, [5] in Perth and co-head coach of the Perth Spirit in Australia's National Rugby Championship. [6] South African born, Wessels is a naturalised Australian citizen. [7]
Wessels was born in Cape Town, South Africa, he then moved to Johannesburg where he attended St Stithians College before enrolling at Cape Town University where he completed a Masters in Information Technology. [8] He was a defensive consultant under Rassie Erasmus [9] to the Super Rugby team the Stormers in 2008 and 2009, before being appointed as an assistant coach at UCT (Ikeys) in the Varsity Cup from 2009 to 2011. [10]
He moved to Australia as an assistant coach [11] to the Brumbies under head coach Jake White in 2012, and had a significant influence on the rejuvenated Brumbies with the team conceding the fewest points in the Australian Conference and the second least in the Super Rugby competition. [12] [13] He joined the Western Force as the senior assistant coach for the 2013 Super Rugby season. [10] [13] Wessels was appointed, alongside Kevin Foote, as co-head coach of the Perth Spirit winning the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship in 2014. [6]
Wessels became the caretaker head coach of the Western Force for the last three games of 2016, before being appointed as head coach for the 2017 Super Rugby season. [5]
Following the Australian Rugby Union's decision to exclude the Force from Super Rugby after the 2017 season, [14] Wessels joined the Melbourne Rebels as head coach in September 2017, signing a two-year deal with the team. [3] He coached the team for three and a half seasons before departing ahead of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition in 2021. [15]
Wessels then returned to Cape Town and was appointed as Head of Rugby [16] for the DHL Stormers, [17] overseeing a very successful period at the club which saw them win the inaugural URC ( United Rugby Championship) competition and host the final in back-to-back seasons. He was headhunted for the role at SA Rugby [18] by two-time World Cup winning coach Rassie Erasmus.
Wessels holds various club records, including 'most winning seasons [19] [20]' at his previous three clubs (Western Force, Melbourne Rebels and DHL Stormers)
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Date of birth | 1982 (age 41–42) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place of birth | Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | St Stithians College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
David Wessels (born 1983 [1]), is a South African-Australian professional rugby union football coach. He is currently General Manager of High Performance at SA Rugby. [2]
He was previously head coach of the Melbourne Rebels team that compete in the Super Rugby competition. [3] Before moving to Melbourne, Dave became the youngest head coach in Super Rugby history [4] when he was appointed head coach at the Western Force, [5] in Perth and co-head coach of the Perth Spirit in Australia's National Rugby Championship. [6] South African born, Wessels is a naturalised Australian citizen. [7]
Wessels was born in Cape Town, South Africa, he then moved to Johannesburg where he attended St Stithians College before enrolling at Cape Town University where he completed a Masters in Information Technology. [8] He was a defensive consultant under Rassie Erasmus [9] to the Super Rugby team the Stormers in 2008 and 2009, before being appointed as an assistant coach at UCT (Ikeys) in the Varsity Cup from 2009 to 2011. [10]
He moved to Australia as an assistant coach [11] to the Brumbies under head coach Jake White in 2012, and had a significant influence on the rejuvenated Brumbies with the team conceding the fewest points in the Australian Conference and the second least in the Super Rugby competition. [12] [13] He joined the Western Force as the senior assistant coach for the 2013 Super Rugby season. [10] [13] Wessels was appointed, alongside Kevin Foote, as co-head coach of the Perth Spirit winning the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship in 2014. [6]
Wessels became the caretaker head coach of the Western Force for the last three games of 2016, before being appointed as head coach for the 2017 Super Rugby season. [5]
Following the Australian Rugby Union's decision to exclude the Force from Super Rugby after the 2017 season, [14] Wessels joined the Melbourne Rebels as head coach in September 2017, signing a two-year deal with the team. [3] He coached the team for three and a half seasons before departing ahead of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition in 2021. [15]
Wessels then returned to Cape Town and was appointed as Head of Rugby [16] for the DHL Stormers, [17] overseeing a very successful period at the club which saw them win the inaugural URC ( United Rugby Championship) competition and host the final in back-to-back seasons. He was headhunted for the role at SA Rugby [18] by two-time World Cup winning coach Rassie Erasmus.
Wessels holds various club records, including 'most winning seasons [19] [20]' at his previous three clubs (Western Force, Melbourne Rebels and DHL Stormers)
{{
cite web}}
: External link in |title=
(
help)