ONE OF THE GREATS
Consistent performance and form has pushed former UWC student Kurt-Lee Arendse well ahead of the pack By Robin Adams
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Kurt-Lee Arendse is destined to be one of the greats of South Africa.” Lofty praise for the former UWC rugby winger from one of the finest backline players this country has ever produced – Breyton Paulse. “In my opinion, guys like Kurt-Lee come around every 40, 50 years. He certainly is a rare breed.” And Paulse’s not the only one who’s been impressed with Arendse. “In addition to his exceptional talent, he is such a humble guy,” says sport agent Shafiek Mouton. To understand why Kurt-Lee Arendse, the young man from Paarl, is held in such high regard, we have to go back to the early days of his career. Arendse is only 25 years old but his passion for the game was evident from an early age. During his days as a high school learner at Paulus Joubert Secondary School in Klein Nederburg, Paarl, it was a mix of fancy footwork and superb reading of the game that earned him a spot in the school’s first team. Later, Arendse was drafted into the Boland and eventually Western Province junior sides, where he featured in several big competitions. By 2017, Arendse was running out for the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The late, great Chester Williams, who was the university’s coach at the time and who had a knack for spotting
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