WSU ALL BLACKS SCRUMHALF DESCRIBES WINNING BRUTTEN CUP AS DEFINING UNIVERSITY CAREER MOMENT

Hoisting the Castle Lager Brutten Top Ten trophy in 2025 proved to be one of the most memorable and consequential moments in the rugby career of Thembela Folo, the current WSU All Blacks starting scrumhalf.

Folo, whose 2026 FNB Varsity Shield season got off to a sensational note in a frustrating draw against visiting FNB Wits last week, bursts with pride as he relives the moments that defined the WSU All Blacks’ all-conquering season that saw the team go unbeaten as they marched to their first Brutten Top Ten title last year.

“Being part of a team that won the Brutten Top Ten is one of the most defining moments of my rugby journey at the University level. Playing rugby at university has been a game-changer. On the field, it has taught me discipline, teamwork, and grit. Off the field, it shaped my time management, leadership skills, and friendships,” said the third-year Sports Management student.

The diminutive scrumhalf, who hails from Kempton Park in Gauteng, first took up rugby at the tender age of 10 at Laerskool Kreft after days on end playing backyard rugby with friends who were just as enthused about the sport.

His exploits on proper rugby fields for his primary school team would also prove quite significant – feats that eventually saw him make the under-12 provincial Valke team.

“I started taking the sport seriously after I made the U-12 Valke provincial side and saw that I could make a career for myself in rugby. I would technically say my rugby journey began at Laerskool Kreft Primary School,” said Folo.

His burning passion for rugby would see the scrum-half taking up the sport at Birchleigh High School, also in Kempton Park, where he’d meet the individual Folo describes as the most influential person on his rugby career, his high school rugby coach, “Mr Lourence”.

“The person who had the biggest influence on my development as a rugby player was Mr. Lourence, who was my high school coach at Hoerskool Birchleigh. He was my coach throughout almost my whole high school career before I moved to another high school,” he said.

Equally crucial to his ascendancy in the rugby ranks was his family – specifically his mom and brother, who’ve made countless sacrifices over the years to see their son and brother pursue his rugby dreams to the fullest.

Folo’s sensational blitz to the try-line during the FNB All Blacks’ 27-27 draw against FNB Wits at Sisa Dukashe Stadium was, as the scrumhalf claimed, testament to the team’s readiness for what promises to be yet another gruelling and unforgiving season of FNB Varsity Shield rugby.

“We have been preparing intensively for the Varsity Shield tournament, as a team we are in good space both mentally and physically, and looking to play to our strengths as well as representing our university with pride. This season I want to be an attacking threat, contributing more to the team's attacking plays and giving it my all on the field,” he said.

Above all else, Folo places team unity and camaraderie – an integral part of any team’s aspirations to make a serious attempt at winning the FNB Varsity Shield, and subsequently qualifying for the top-tier FNB Varsity Cup, where the most supreme university rugby talent competes.

“Team unity is everything in tournaments like Varsity Shield. When we're united, we feed off each other's energy, trust each other on the field, and play way above our individual games. It's not just about winning; it's about lifting each other up, having each other's backs, and making memories together,” he concluded.

By Thando Cezula