Moorosi Tsiane
The Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) has appointed Edwin Brand of South Africa, as the new national rugby team head-coach.
Baholo Chimombe previously held the post on an interim basis, according to the FLR Secretary General, Litšitso Motšeremeli.
“Chimombe is also a player and was only holding the position on an interim basis, as we were waiting for Brand’s contract with his Ladybrand-based team to come to an end,” Motšeremeli told the Lesotho Times this week.
“The coach has signed a two-year, performance-based contract with us that will run until 2017.”
The target for Brand, Motšeremeli added, was for Likatola—as the national rugby team is also known—to win next year’s home Tri-Nations tournament also featuring Swaziland and Botswana, as well as a Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) competition again scheduled for 2015 in either Nigeria or Zambia.
“Brand’s main mandate is for us to win the Tri-Nations tournament to be played here in Lesotho on a date yet to be set, and the CAR tournament to be held in June in either Nigeria or Zambia.
“If he fails to win any of the two tournaments, we will also look at the overall performance of the team during his term before deciding on whether to renew his contract or not,” Motšeremeli said.
Meanwhile, Motšeremeli said as part of developing rugby in Lesotho, the FLR would continue conducting lessons at the newly opened Mafeteng Rugby Centre. The Centre was officially opened on Saturday last week.
“We are on a mission to develop rugby in this country and we held lessons for those interested in the sport in Mafeteng last weekend and we will be continuing with the training, to enlarge our player-selection base.
“There will also be a rugby workshop to be conducted by South African rugby facilitators on 18 August in Maseru.
We expect players and administrators to attend the workshop, and participants would be presented with certificates,” said Motšeremeli.
