DUBAI // A student from Dubai will take the next steps today towards his dream of playing professional rugby after accepting an offer to join one of the leading unions in South Africa. Stephan Venter, a centre who captained the Arabian Gulf's Under 18s side, completed his International Baccalaureate at Dubai International Academy last month.
Now he plans to dovetail his further education, studying at Stellenbosch University and attending the Western Province Rugby Institute, the academy which is a major production line for the Stormers Super 14 franchise. "I am really nervous," Venter, who only started playing senior rugby in the Gulf League at the start of this year, said yesterday. "You always are whenever you go into a new system and a new way of doing things, but I am definitely up for the challenge. It is just another step up I have to make."
Venter, 18, has been regarded as one of the leading young players in the Gulf since he relocated to Dubai with his family two years ago. He was given his head in senior men's rugby at the turn of this year when he lined up at centre for the Dubai Hurricanes, and even earned a run out for the unofficial Gulf second string, the Gulf Barbarians. He flew to Cape Town last night, having turned down an invitation yesterday from Ulster to enrol in their academy in Ireland.
Even as astute a judge as Jeff Wilson, the former New Zealand wing who earned 60 caps for the All Blacks, believes Venter has a future in the game. Wilson tried - unsuccessfully - to persuade the teenager to consider a switch to full-back during his recent stint at the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand (Iranz). Venter followed in the footsteps of a number of the game's top players, such as Francois Steyn, the Springbok full-back, when he attended the prestigious academy in Palmerston North earlier this month.
As such, he had the benefit of some high-profile tutoring. "The specialist coaches came in the second week, and we went to do back-line drills with George Gregan," the former Australia scrum-half, Venter said. "He threw a pass to me and I stopped straight away. The boys were asking, 'Steph, why did you stop'? "I looked at them and said, 'You know what, boys, I just received a pass from George Gregan.' Something like that, money can't buy. It was amazing."
The three-week clinic was an eye-opener for Venter, who plans to read human movement science at Stellenbosch starting in January. "On the morning I got there, I immediately thought there were some pretty big guys there," he said. "On average they were 22 or 23 years old, and they were all with an academy already. "I initially thought I might not be able to cope with this, but I did. The main thing I got out of the academy was that I am much more capable than what I think I am. I can do much more. Here [in the UAE], you can't compare yourself to other professional players.
"The trip to New Zealand gave me the opportunity to do that." Venter is not the only one who believes he is capable of making the professional ranks. "He now knows what it takes," Brian Allen, the head coach at Venter's club, the Hurricanes, said of the trip to New Zealand. "It is not just some fanciful, pipe-dream. He knows he can step up. He is an exceptionally skilled player, and he also works hard.
"I have absolutely no doubt that, given a few breaks, with his work ethic and approach, I could [soon] be sitting in the best seat at Ellis Park [Johannesburg], watching him play against the Wallabies [Australia]." His gene pool helps. Venter's father, Jan, played club rugby on the wing in his native Gauteng in South Africa, and has overseen his son's development as a coach of the Dubai Exiles colts.
Furthermore, George van Rooyen, his maternal grandfather, played for the distinguished South African club Diggers, before later becoming a Springbok selector. pradley@thenational.ae