Andre Human became the head coach of the Uzbekistan national rugby team in October 2020.
Andre, good afternoon, thank you very much for taking the time for our interview.
I think many people will be interested if you tell us a little about yourself.
Where are you from?
South Africa
At what age did you start playing rugby?
When I was 8
What year did you become a coach?
In 1998, Club 4:21 Side
How did you get into rugby?
In South Africa, most boys play rugby from an early age, it starts in primary school so I started playing rugby from those times.
What are your plans with the national teams of Uzbekistan for this year?
To be more competitive and win matches
How do you assess the training of our athletes?
Every training session the players must do and learn something new. They need to progress into better rugby players that will lead to a better rugby team.
Have you had experience in other areas?
I am a qualified secondary school mathematics teacher and also had a few businesses over the years.
If you hadn’t gone into the sports field, what do you think your profession would be now?
Business owner
Would you like if your children to start playing rugby too?
It depends if they want to play rugby. I have one daughter and she played field hockey.
What pleases you the most in your work? What situations, on the contrary, are frustrating?
I love rugby and I love coaching. What pleases me the most is to see young players develop into fine young adults with good values and become good adults and parents. For me, rugby is more than just what happens on the rugby field – It is way of life
Do you like our country?
I like Uzbekistan. This is a new feeling for me, the people here are friendly and help when they can. Only here the difference in language it’s a little difficult, but this is the essence of the experience.
And finally, what recommendation or advice would you give to athletes who want to play rugby professionally, but are afraid and hesitate?
Important: Professional rugby is a tough business. Many very good rugby players in the world play professional rugby.
Remember: Playing professional rugby means this is your job and you get paid to do it. That means you must do it very well!
To become a professional rugby player you must:
– be very talented at playing rugby
– you must be mentally tough
– you must be a team player
– Willing to work very hard
Great advice. Thank you! It was nice to talk with you!
Press-Secretary of the Rugby Federation of Uzbekistan M. Abdumalikova