This podcast features a compelling discussion with professional rugby player Sintu Manjezi, who shares his journey back to South Africa and his experiences in various rugby environments. He emphasizes the importance of family and support systems as key reasons for his return, alongside his admiration for the Bulls franchise. Sintu reflects on his challenging career, including significant injuries and transitions between teams, while highlighting the resilience needed to overcome setbacks. He offers valuable advice for aspiring players, stressing the blend of determination, confidence, and discipline necessary to succeed in professional sports. The episode also delves into the cultural differences between South African and UK rugby environments and the importance of adapting to new team dynamics.

The podcast features an engaging conversation between Renaldo & Sintu, delving into the journey of a professional rugby player currently with the Blue Bulls. The discussion begins with the player's motivations for returning to South Africa, emphasizing the importance of family and support systems in his life. He shares how the camaraderie within the team has fostered a positive environment, making it one of the best experiences he has had in his career. The conversation then shifts to his rugby journey, detailing how he started playing at a young age and progressed through various teams, including the Southern Kings and Glasgow Warriors, before returning to the Bulls. Throughout his journey, he faced setbacks such as injuries, which taught him valuable lessons about discipline, resilience, and maintaining a long-term perspective on his career.

Sintu reflects on the challenges young athletes face when breaking into professional rugby, stressing the need for determination and readiness when opportunities arise. He recounts his own experience of being unexpectedly called up for a Super Rugby debut, highlighting the importance of hard work and preparation. The dialogue also touches on the differences between South African rugby and UK rugby, with a particular emphasis on the structural support provided by the Bulls organization, which he believes sets them apart from other teams. The player expresses gratitude for the resources available to him and encourages aspiring rugby players to remain focused on their goals while adapting to the cultures of the teams they join.

As the discussion wraps up, Sintu offers insights into the future of South African rugby, particularly regarding developmental structures and opportunities for younger players. He identifies the need for more pathways for those who might not make it through traditional junior systems, advocating for tournaments that could provide exposure and experience. The episode concludes on a lighter note, with discussions about pre-game rituals, favorite meals, and personal challenges, showcasing the player’s personality beyond the field. This multifaceted conversation not only highlights the player's professional experiences but also provides a motivational blueprint for aspiring athletes in the competitive world of rugby.

Takeaways:

• Sintu moved back to South Africa primarily to be closer to family and support systems.
• The importance of determination, confidence, and discipline is crucial for aspiring professional athletes.
• SIntu emphasizes the need for adaptability when transitioning between different rugby teams and cultures.
• Building strong relationships within a team contributes significantly to a positive team environment.
• Injuries can be tough, but maintaining a long-term perspective is essential for recovery.
• Setting and achieving personal goals is key to navigating the pressures of professional sports.

One of my biggest reasons to move back was because I missed my family and I wanted to be around family and that support system that I had.

How is the guys enjoying everything?

And I mean, what's the positive that you take out of that?

If you ask anyone in the team, this is one of the best team environments that we've got.

Everyone's a friend with everyone here.

Tough as opponent you've played against.

Remember the final Kalbrink was as hard as nails.

Alric Low.

I've had a few when he was at Kings.

I mean, what would you say as a professional ATP player, someone that's been through the system and that's visited a couple of teams and played across the world?

What would your advice for someone?

You've got to have determination, but you've got a little bit of like, arrogance and confidence about yourself.

Hey, Situ, nice to have you on the podcast today.

We're just going to chat a bit about your journey.

If you could just tell the listeners and the guys watching just who you are and where you're currently playing.

Cinti Manchesi.

I'm currently playing photocom pools here in Pretoria.

Cool.

So if you can give us a bit of an overview from your journey for the last couple of seasons.

I know you were with Glasgow as well and then obviously moved back to the Blue Bull.

So what was your reasoning behind moving back to South Africa?

I think you've played overseas for as well.

I think you.

I mean, it's a good environment, it's nice to be overseas in the UK, especially with the benefits that come.

But unfortunately for me, one of my biggest reasons to move back was because I miss my family and I wanted to be around family and that support system that I had.

Unfortunately, I couldn't.

My parents, my brother came up once, but I really didn't really have that connection that I had this side.

So that was one of the reasons that I came back also.

I mean, blue Pools is one of the best franchises in South Africa and the world at the moment, I believe.

So it was an easy step to come back and something that I've been.

I'm glad I've made the decision to come back and I'm enjoying my time being back in Pretoria.

That's good.

So just give us a bit of a.

I mean, just an overview from the beginning.

So, I mean, where did your love for rugby originate?

And, I mean, who's been your biggest influence growing up to kind of get to that journey where you want to take on rugby professionally?

If I start about my rugby journey, I probably started playing rugby when I was about five or six in east London Soborne.

One of my fondest memories is I think I was playing.

We're playing like a touch rugby game or something like that, and I was just playing rugby.

I think it was during a Springbok game, like, you know, like on a.

You go watch the game at a club or something like that, and then you get to play as kids afterwards.

And I remember being young and telling myself, flip, how nice would it be if I can play for my country one day or become a professional rugby player?

And fortunately, I've been able to become a professional rugby player.

And the journey from there onwards.

I went to Eastern Province Academy after high school.

I played three years there, played for the Southern Kings, and then unfortunately they closed down.

Then I moved to Krikwa for a year and then I moved to Cheetahs in 20.

I moved to Cheetahs for two years.

I was at the pools over Covid and then 21.

I moved to Glasgow for two years and then I'm back here.

Right.

Yeah.

So, I mean, obviously you've.

You've had a bit of a journey as well.

I mean, obviously having those setbacks in your career and obviously changing from team to team, I mean, what have you learned from.

From that in terms of kind of resilience and obviously giving a bit of just feedback to younger guys, obviously listening and obviously also that same journey, trying to play rugby professionally, like, what have you learned and what have you taken from all of the different moves and setbacks you've had over your career?

If I talk about the setbacks, I mean, I think you've had a few big injuries, so like an ACL injury or anything like that is quite a long time away from the game.

So I think the most important thing is about discipline and setting yourself goals especially.

I had an aclt in, I think it was 21.

I think I had my ACL tear.

So I was out from January 21 all the way to the end.

That was really tough.

Mentally.

You go through phases of being good, go through phases where rehab and everything's going well, then your knee doesn't feel good.

I think you've got to understand that everything is just in a moment and you've got to look at the bigger picture of where you can be and what you want to become because it's easy to fall into a mentality of flip my career is done, or flip the team's not doing well and I'm not part of that or, you know, you just go out of rugby and out of focus and out of being the best athlete you can become.

So I think it's always important to, when you have big injuries, always want to come back the best athlete, but you've also got to put that into your daily life, is what you eat, how you eat, how you train, how you look after your body.

Do you do recovery?

I mean, I remember when I was young, 21, 20 years old, and the older guys emphasized, yeah, if you want to play an extra three years, start your recovery now, and you all laugh and you're like, haha, whatever, whatever, and you get to about 30 years old, 29 years old, and you actually realize how the importance of making sure that your body is good, going into training sessions, eating well, to make sure that you recover.

So that's.

That's one thing that I can speak about.

The setbacks in rugby, the moves, obviously, moving from team to team.

I don't think it's been that difficult for me because when moved to Glasgow under Franco Smith, so he had.

I played under him at Cheetahs and so that made that relationship a bit easier when you know, the head coach and he's known you for some time before, but moving from team to team, I think the most important thing is to always start on a fresh page.

Don't think because you've come from this team and now you're going to this team that they're going to see you in a certain light.

You've got to earn your stripes, if I can put it like that, in that team.

And by earning your stripes, I think you've got to always come in ready to show that you working hard, to show that, you know, you're part of the team, to show that you're willing to sacrifice for the team, especially for anyone that's looking to move overseas as a South African or any other person, you become a foreigner there.

So being a foreigner is you, technically.

No, I don't say an outside, but you're a foreigner.

So you've got to show, you've got to be committed to the culture, which is a bit of a difference.

You've got to be committed to the lifestyle that they live.

And it's not a negative thing, it's just we as South Africans do things a little bit different to how people in the UK do things and you just got to be able to adapt and be part of that.

Yeah, I mean, you've touched on that now, obviously, when you got some tips from the senior guys, what's your.

I mean, what was your key challenges you faced as a young player trying to break into professional rugby?

I mean, if you look at the dynamics in South Africa and where we are without junior structures, I mean, what type of challenges did you experience as a young player trying to get to that professional leg?

I think as a young player, you, you always eager to show and you sometimes don't understand that your time will come if you work hard at it.

So my, for me, my biggest thing was like, flip, I feel like I'm ready.

I want it now.

I want the opportunity.

I want the opportunity.

Then.

I didn't get those opportunities initially.

Then you kind of like, oh, flip, it's not going to happen.

And you kind of relax thinking it's not going to happen.

And then I'd kind of relax because I was playing, I think it was Vodacom cup or something like that, at Southern Kings and then unfortunately, and then I kind of relaxed thinking, flip, I'm not going to get up.

I was training with the super Raggedy squad thinking I'd never get an opportunity.

Then Dion calls me a week before, he's like, yeah, listen, I'm going to.

You going to play against the Lions next week, Super Rugby debut.

And I was like, completely shocked from, you know what I mean?

Like, I didn't expect that to happen.

So I think, always work hard, always.

You never know when your opportunity is going to come, make sure that you're ready for it when it does come.

And I think if someone's looking to break into ranked, it was a little bit different for me because I kind of had to go to Krigwas and kind of make a bit of a name for myself.

They go to Cheetahs, make a bit of my name for myself there, then kind of work back into the big four union.

So I think always be willing to put yourself into difficult places, uncomfortable places, because when you uncovered comfortable and you put yourself into difficult places, that's when you learn a lot about yourself and who you are and overcoming those creates a bit of a callus for you to push on to greater things.

Yeah.

I mean, obviously you've played at Glasgow now and obviously you've been around with some of the smaller unions in South Africa.

Now, back at the Bulls, I'll be looking at all of the different unions and our teams do things differently.

I mean, what would you say?

I mean, what sets south african teams apart from a UK based team and obviously looking at the smaller unions, I mean, why do you think could change for those unions to be better as well.

I don't have any criticism for any other unions that I've been at, but I think the way the bulls do it in terms of a managerial point of view and a structure point of view is probably one of the best that I've been around.

We've got a good team manager who looks after you from as soon as you arrive to whatever you need.

You've got.

They've got a very good kid sponsor.

You've got a very good boot sponsor.

You've got meals prepped, you've got the facilities you've got.

So everything's there in terms of being at the pools of, which is why it was an easy, an easy decision for me to come back, because it's.

They give you everything.

It's about how you take those opportunities that you have in front of you to make the most out of everything.

I mean, they can give you all these things, but they can't make you want to be the best athlete that you can be.

So when I'm in the gym, I make sure that I'm training as hard as I can, looking after my body and the way we do recovery is very important this side as well.

So it's.

I've got to make sure that I make the use of my facilities and my surroundings.

Yeah, I mean, obviously there's a great culture that's been created.

The Bulls, I mean, what do you say is the biggest factor and change that's happened over the last couple of seasons?

I know you haven't been there the whole time, but obviously coming into an environment like that, I mean, how is the guys enjoying everything?

And, I mean, what's the positive that you take out of that?

Yeah, so I've been playing at the Curry cup at the moment and I think we, after the Lions game this past weekend, we kind of all sat down and were like, yeah, listen, gents, this is, if you ask anyone in the team, this is one of the best team environments that we've got.

Everyone's a friend with everyone here, you know, I mean, there's no, like, clicks.

Sometimes you get clicks in terms of certain people, chill with certain people.

Like, I can walk around and wherever I see, I'll have a conversation with them.

It'll be not just a conversation about rugby, it will be, how's your weekend?

How's everything going?

So we've got a really good team environment and it's about how hard we bring work off that team environment to bring success in the Carry cup.

So I think that's what we've got right now.

That's what we've been trying to drive for these next three weeks left of the Curry Cup.

I mean, how do you balance the expectations placed on you guys from a personal and a performance and obviously growth, you obviously want to grow as a player.

How do you kind of balance all of their expectations?

What do you do as a player?

Yeah, funny enough, I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago and I was like, if I, if I was 18 years old and I look back on my career now, what would I think of myself?

And I was like, you know what, I've really achieved a lot from being that 18 year old because when I was 18 it was, look, I hope I can stay in rugby and make this a career.

And I've been able, I've been fortunate enough to, one, travel around South Africa and go to you, the UK, to play rugby.

I've been able to be in different teams and be able to win in different teams and I've been able to join, make good friendships in different teams that I've come from.

So I look at that and I'm like, I've achieved what I want to achieve.

So just, I think it's.

To answer your question, it's about setting goals and pushing yourself to get to those goals.

And then once you get those goals, set new goals.

But don't be afraid to say, look back and be like, I've achieved this and I can push on to more.

So don't always.

That's where the pressure comes.

Because the pressure comes is you'll get into a situation of, I'm not doing well, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that.

But you, this player in this situation, and if you look five years, three years ago, you weren't in that situation, you weren't being, you weren't able to be in that situation to get that pressure.

So you've got to, I don't know, just look back on yourself and be like, listen, I've.

And find confidence in the hurdles that you've been able to overachieve.

Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at myself and obviously retiring and I mean, looking ahead from my point of view, there's a lot of changes that I think can potentially happen in South Africa and, you know, smaller unions and teams.

I mean, what do you see from your kind of backgrounds and where you come from and obviously the teams you've played with, what improvements would you like to see happen in south african rugby, particularly in kind of the development level that we have at the moment.

Oh, you got me on my toes a bit.

Yeah.

It's hard to say because the structures for me are there the Curry cups there.

But I think maybe there's a bit of a shortfall when the URC kind of happens and there's no curry cup rugby because back then we were able to get Vorticom cup.

When I was at Krikoz, there was a bit of Vodacom cup that led into Curry cup.

You know what I mean?

So you got a bit more game time for guys to come through.

Now it's become a bit more difficult because the Curry cup is kind of twelve weeks and then I'm nothing too sure what happens after that because they trying to find a space for the Curry cup and there obviously isn't a concurrent tournament happening during the URC at the moment.

I think maybe if they could find a way to develop and it's not necessarily for the guys that are under 19, under 21.

It's the guys that are.

That don't break through at those ages.

So you know what I mean?

It's those guys that maybe they need to try find something or tournament to do.

I think there was a super sport challenge that used to run as well.

So those are kind of good catch points for players to get seen and maybe if I could train and try find a tournament for that.

Cool.

And on a bit of a lighter note, to go for people to get to know you.

But I mean, what's your go to meal before big game?

I always enjoy a steak wrap.

Yeah, steak wrap.

So I'm kind of.

I'm lactose.

So I kind of try to look after my, my what I eat before the game.

So I normally just have the steak wrap or anything like that.

That's just no dairy or anything like that for me before the game.

Toughest opponent you've played against?

Yeah, I can name like a couple.

Like when I was at Cheetahs, I remember the final.

Kalbrink was as hard as nails, Ulrich Low.

I've had a few.

When he was at kings and I was at cheaters, he was quite tough.

I'm going overseas.

I'm trying to think of guys.

Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of guys, guys that I've trained with as well, like are toughest now.

So I mean, yeah, it's.

I don't know.

I don't really have a guy that I'd say he was the toughest opponent that I've really faced, to be honest with you.

Yeah.

And any challenge that you've got that no one knows about?

I'm a decent baker, I'd say.

I mean, I used to bake when I was younger with my mom, so I'm a decent baker.

Yeah, decent Baker.

Cool.

And, I mean, just the last one.

What would your advice be for someone that's kind of breaking through?

I know we spoke about it a bit earlier, but, I mean, what's the one piece of advice you would give to someone that's really kind of got a desire, especially looking at the last couple of weeks and, I mean, where the Springboks are at the moment, I mean, it's unbelievable the way that they're playing and how they're inspiring for Africa and the younger generation.

What would you say as a professional athlete, player, someone that's.

That's been through the system and that's visited a couple of teams and played across the world, what would your advice be for.

For someone?

I think you've got to be a little bit of.

You've got to have determination, but you've got to have a little bit of, like, arrogance and confidence about yourself, because if you determine and you mix that with a bit of confidence, let me say confidence, you'll be in situations where you'll back yourself and you never know who's watching.

I mean, I looked at, I think, a couple of weeks ago, they were talking about Ben, Jason Dixon.

I think he was playing for seconds or thirds.

Paul Rousse, if I'm correct, and he went through Varsty cup, and he's a Springbok now.

So you never know how your journey may be.

You don't have to be in first team, you don't have to make SA schools, you don't have to make SA under 20, for that matter of fact.

It's about being determined and just having a goal and just being confident.

When you're on the field, you play with confidence, you show confidence and you never know who's watching you and you can get picked up from anywhere.

I think in South Africa, there's many opportunities.

In the UK, there's many opportunities.

There are guys in France playing there, there's many opportunities.

So it's about being determined and being, I'd say determined, disciplined and confident.

If I could name three words.

Yeah.

Cool.

Thanks.

No worries.

Thanks for joining us today.

And it's great hearing a bit from your journey and your story and, I mean, we look forward to looking at you all season coming forward and also, yeah, hopefully see you up here soon again and have a bit of a more catch up as well.

No worries.

Appreciate it.

I'm.