Elixirr is an award-winning global consulting firm working with clients across a diverse range of industries, markets, and geographies. Founded in 2009, the firm set out to be the ‘challenger consultancy’ and do things differently than the large corporate consultancies dominating the industry – a driving ethos that is also at the heart of the URC. Across #OriginRound, they will be presenting us with 5 profiles of players from our 5 territories. Next up is Vodacom Bulls star, Kurt-Lee Arendse.
The ability to change direction is one of life’s, and rugby’s, most crucial skills. Being able to adapt to changing scenarios is frequently a differentiator in successful careers. When done well on the rugby pitch, changing direction quickly can enable attackers to break through defensive lines and turn games on their head.
Luckily for Kurt Lee-Arendse, he has both abilities in spades.
Throughout his rugby career, Arendse’s origins have been rooted in change. The Bulls flyer boasts a rugby resume that few can rival. He’s an Olympian, a World Rugby Sevens Series player, and a World Cup winner. His journey is a case study in the importance of adaptability.
Kurt-Lee Arendse was born in Cape Town in 1996, almost a year to the day that Francois Pienaar famously raised the Web Ellis Cup at Ellis Park and South Africa were anointed world champions for the first time.
The South African victory has been seen by many as a watershed moment in both the country and sport’s histories, and Arendse grew up in a key period of change for South African rugby as the Boks established themselves once more as a world rugby force. He was educated at Paulus Joubert Secondary School in Paarl and quickly made a name for himself on the schoolboy circuit. In 2014, he was selected by the provincial Boland Cavaliers’ sevens team and competed in that year’s South Africa Rugby Union U18 sevens competition.
In 2017 Arendse joined the University of West Cape (UWC) where he was coached by the late Bok legend Chester Williams – a key member of that 1995 winning squad.
At UWC he helped ‘The Blue and Gold’ to win the 2017 Varsity Shield whilst studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree. Despite his freshman status, he was named Player of the Tournament. He would go on to represent UWC in the 2018 Varsity Shield and the 2019 Varsity Cup tournament – the highest level of university rugby in South Africa.
His appearances in the blue and gold started to get him noticed – but not by the National Union squad.
Instead, Arendse’s rugby sevens prowess caught the attention of the SA sevens squad and their head coach Neil Powell. He received his first ‘Blitzbok’ call-up in 2019 and made his debut at the Vancouver Sevens tournament in March of that year. Over the course of the next two series, Arendse would continue to develop his game on the sevens circuit, and in 2020 he was included in the Blitzbok’s squad for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Despite this success, Arendse soon found his options increasingly limited as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of almost every sevens tournament. Faced with the prospect of no immediate work, Arendse had to adapt and in 2020 he joined the Pretoria Bulls franchise.
Some observers were initially concerned that Arendse’s side and comparative lack of recent 15’s experience would hamper his performances. At 5’9 and 80kg, Arendse did not fit the typical mold of the ‘modern’ rugby union winger where size has increasingly become a differentiator. Despite the success of his compatriot Cheslin Kolbe, fears remained that Arendse’s success in the sevens’ pitch would not translate to the fifteens’ game.
Those fears were quickly proved unfounded.
In his first season in the URC, Arendse made more clean breaks than any other player and was 4th in defenders beaten. In 2022 he made his second South Africa debut – this time for the fifteens squad against Wales. Between August and November of that year, he scored 7 tries in 6 appearances for the Boks, including a brace against Italy.
Arendse has utilised his rugby sevens skillset to devastating effect in the fifteens game.
His ability to not only find gaps in opposing defences but also to create these through his game-breaking step can trace its origins to his Blitzbok days. In the URC has the highest carrying grade of any winger (93.4) and he is ranked 4th currently on the URC Top 100. Over the past couple of seasons, his average tries per game of 1.05 per game is the 9th highest in the league.
His defense is also not to be overlooked, with his incredible tackle on Reiko Ioane in the World Cup final being of particular note.
Arendse’s success is a testament to his adaptability and skill at changing direction. Throughout the various junctions of his career so far, Arendse has used the circumstances around him to his advantage and taken the opportunities presented to him. He does the same on the pitch, exploiting gaps in defenses that few can see and using his incredible pace and step to break down opposing structures.
Don’t let his size fool you – the Blitzbokker Bull can change a game in an instant.
>>>Story courtesy of www.unitedrugby.com<<<
