Former Stormers scrumhalf Nic Groom has explained why Junior Boks flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed went largely unnoticed last year.
Ahmed, who’s about to turn 20, starred as South Africa retained the Junior World Championship title after stepping into the No 10 jersey following Vusi Moyo’s call-up to the Springbok squad.
That came after he had attended a Bok alignment camp and started for South Africa A against Zimbabwe.
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Groom, who coached Ahmed at Wynberg Boys’ High, says the talented playmaker was already destined for bigger things before injuries and circumstances pushed him out of the spotlight.
“He seems to have flown under the radar this past year and there are a couple of reasons for that,” Groom told News24.
“Yaqeen was 19 in matric last year, which meant he couldn’t play Craven Week and he was injured for bits and pieces of the year,” he explained.
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Groom added that Ahmed was already in contention for the Junior Boks squad last season but, together with coach Kevin Foote and SA Rugby’s general manager of high performance Dave Wessels, made the decision to prioritise his schooling over the Junior World Championship.
“I know he was part of the SA U20 squad when he was in matric, but Kevin and Dave Wessels, along with Yaqeen, made the decision they wouldn’t take him to the World Cup so he could focus on his studies.
“They made that call and it was the right one; I’ve got massive amounts of respect to those coaches for doing that.”
Photo: @SAJuniorRugby/X
The post Why Yaqeen flew under the radar appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Former Stormers scrumhalf Nic Groom has explained why Junior Boks flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed went largely unnoticed last year.
The post Why Yaqeen flew under the radar appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
