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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)

References

  1. ^ Butler, Lynn. "Dave Wessels backed by Rassie, leaves WP role to be SA Rugby's general manager". Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. ^ Butler, Lynn. "Dave Wessels backed by Rassie, leaves WP role to be SA Rugby's general manager". Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Rebels appoint David Wessels as new Head Coach" (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. 29 September 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Wessels packs brains in the SA Rugby set-up". IOL. 17 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b "David Wessels Appointed Head Coach of the Western Force" (Press release). Western Force. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Spirit unveils coaching squad for Buildcorp NRC" (Press release). RugbyWA. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  7. ^ "One Percenters: Rebels emerge as Slipper's possible new home". Rugby.com.au. 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Wessels packs brains in the SA Rugby set-up".
  9. ^ Butler, Lynn. "Dave Wessels backed by Rassie, leaves WP role to be SA Rugby's general manager". Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Coaching Staff". WA Rugby. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  11. ^ Butler, Lynn. "Dave Wessels backed by Rassie, leaves WP role to be SA Rugby's general manager". Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  12. ^ Barbeler, David (27 April 2013). "Wessels switch means same old line in defence". The Canberra Times. Fairfax. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Force snare SA defence coach". Sport 24. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Force cut after arbitration finds in favour of ARU" (Press release). Australian Rugby Union. 11 August 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Club Update: Wessels Stands Down as Melbourne Rebels Head Coach" (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  16. ^ on, Published (16 March 2024). "Wessels lands top job with SA Rugby". SA Rugby magazine. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  17. ^ "All you need to know: Vodacom URC Grand Final". The Stormers. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  18. ^ Butler, Lynn. "Dave Wessels backed by Rassie, leaves WP role to be SA Rugby's general manager". Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Stormers weather Bulls' early onslaught to win inaugural URC title". 18 June 2022.
  20. ^ "https://melbournerebels.rugby/about/about-us/history". www.rugbydatabase.co.nz. Retrieved 16 May 2024. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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