SaberCats Davy Coetzer tied for Highest Scorer in MLR

By Aaron Wilson

Davy Coetzer has remained a step ahead of the competition all season for the SaberCats.

Coetzer has emerged as a consistently dangerous scoring threat for the 5-1 SaberCats, and he’s tied for first in Major League Rugby with 61 points. He has four tries to rank fifth in the league and 19 successful goals kicked to rank third in the league.

“He’s a little warrior,” SaberCats director Heyneke Meyer said. “He’s played better and better.”

The 5-foot-7, 194-pound South African native and fly-half has made strides in his game in his second season with the SaberCats. He scored two tries to open the match’s scoring in a 40-28 victory over Rugby ATL. And the SaberCats are prepping for a home match Saturday night against the Utah Warriors after a road win over the Chicago Hounds.

Coetzer credited his teammates and coaches for his individual success and advanced strategy honed in practice sessions and meetings.

“I think it’s the boys as well as the coaches, the team, the training, working on situations we think we’re going to get in the game,” Coetzer said. “From management down to the players, that’s all helping me out. I think it’s the work, the training that we do in the week and the support. It’s just finishing what we trained during the week.”

Coetzer has speed, skills and confidence working in his favor.

And his teammates are cheering him on as he continues to get the job done.

“Davy Jones, that’s what we call him,” Gerrie Labuschagne’ said. “He’s amazing, one of the best I’ve played with. If he keeps on doing wha the’s doing, he might play for the World Cup. He’s an amazing person, amazing player. And he’s going to keep on growing.”

Coetzer played 1,131 minutes in 15 starts last season for the SaberCats and scored 83 points on three tries, 28 conversions and four penalty goals. 

Coetzer, 24, a native of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, went to Selborne College where he played water polo and rugby.

He has previous experience with the Junior Springboks at the World Rugby Under 20 championship and also played with the Western Province squads. He then played for the Blue Bulls’ South African rugby championship team and the University of Pretoria Tuks in varsity cup competition before joining the SaberCats.

“I like attacking,” Coetzer said. “One thing I will say is all the credit goes to the coaches. I’ve been working on the kicking game, developing that. That’s one thing I’ve worked really hard on. I’m very excited for the rest of the season. 

‘I think we’ve only scratched the surface of the potential of this team. I love it. I love playing with these boys every Saturday. We’re extremely tight. We call each other brothers, and we literally mean it.”

*Photos by BigShots SnapShots