From player to coach, selector and rugby director, Ruan Jacobs has spent his career learning how to identify talent, develop people and build teams. Now, in Durban, he is putting all of that experience into shaping the next generation of Sharks.
There is a whole lot more to building a rugby team than what happens for 80 minutes on a Saturday. There are players to find. Players to develop. Players to retain. Cultures to build. Game models to understand. And, somewhere in the middle of it all, there is the difficult art of recognising a player who might become something special long before everyone else sees it. Ruan Jacobs has spent much of his rugby life learning exactly that. A former provincial player, school coach, talent identifier, selector and Director of Rugby, Jacobs has now brought all those experiences together in his role as Head of Recruitment and Retention at the Sharks.
But before the job title, there is the man.“I am a normal, average guy, I would like to say.”
However - behind this striking modesty - honesty, integrity and discipline are the values Jacobs that guide his daily habits. His rugby journey has taken him a long way from the “average guy” description. And now, his job is to help find the people who could shape the future of the Sharks.
FROM PLAYER TO BUILDER
Jacobs' playing career began at one of South Africa's leading rugby schools before he entered the Cheetahs system, where he spent three years as a junior. Provincial rugby with the Leopards followed, before a spell with Border Bulldogs in East London. By 2014, he had decided to call time on his playing career. But he wasn't finished with rugby.
He turned to coaching, beginning at Stirling High School while also becoming involved with Border at Craven Week and Academy Week level. It was here that another side of the game began to take hold. Jacobs wasn't only interested in coaching the players in front of him. He became fascinated by identifying the players who might eventually become the ones everyone else was watching.
His involvement with SA Rugby's Elite Player Development programme and national age-group structures gave him further exposure to talent identification and selection. Then came Glenwood High School in Durban in 2018 and 2019. Around the time the Green Machine was humming perfectly and churning out future Springboks. After that, a return home to Pretoria and Affies, where Jacobs progressed from coaching the junior teams to becoming Director of Rugby. By the time the Sharks came calling, he had accumulated experience from almost every angle. And that was precisely what made the opportunity so appealing.
LEARNING TO SEE THE GAME
What does Jacobs look for when he sees a player for the first time?
Not simply size. Not simply speed. Not simply whether the player can execute the skills expected of his position.
Instead, he looks for something more instinctive. “I think you look for the feel.”
Every position has its fundamentals which must be done well. Hookers must throw. Locks must jump. Flyhalves must kick. Scrumhalves must pass. Players need the physical and technical attributes required to progress.
But beyond those basics, Jacobs is searching for something that is much harder to teach.
“You look for a guy that has the feel, can just see, understands the flow of rugby.”
It is an instinct he believes not every player naturally possesses, but it can be sharpened either way. Some players simply seem to understand what is happening around them effortlessly. Sometimes, you can see it very early. “If you've got a guy with a feel for the game, you just know this guy's going to make it.”
Jaden Hendrikse is one example Jacobs uses - a player whose understanding of the game was evident from a young age, with Jacobs coaching him at Glenwood.
But instinct is only one part of the equation. Having worked across different levels of rugby, Jacobs has also learned to recognise what each level demands. Schoolboy first-team rugby is different from Under-20 rugby. Under-20 rugby is different from professional rugby. The URC is different again. And international rugby sits at the top of that ladder. Physicality. Intensity. Defence. Attack. Kicking. The question is not merely whether a player is good enough now. It is whether his attributes can survive the next level.
LOOKING FOR WHAT A PLAYER CAN BECOME
That is where potential becomes so important. When recruiting young players, Jacobs believes you are not simply buying what you see. You are investing in what you believe might be there. At different ages, that means asking different questions. Is he big enough? Is he quick enough? Can he execute the individual skills? Can he execute the team skills?
And then, as players progress, the available information becomes increasingly detailed. At URC level, recruitment can be much more specific. If a squad needs a particular type of player, the data can help identify exactly what that player needs to bring.
Carries. Tackles. Line breaks. Defensive work. The ability to execute within a particular game model. The Sharks have a dedicated analytics team to help Jacobs understand those requirements. But the numbers don't replace the eye. They sharpen it.
THE MACHINE BEHIND THE GAME
There is another reason Jacobs found himself drawn towards this side of rugby.
He enjoys the game on the field, but he is equally fascinated by what happens away from it.
“What we see on the field is one thing, and then there's a whole machine behind that that organises and builds teams.”
That machine is what interests him. The decisions. The people. The planning. The structures.
The way individual players are brought together and turned into something bigger.
“I think that's where my heart lies - in how our organisation builds into something special that creates something special for a community or for the town around it.”
It is an important distinction. Jacobs isn't simply looking for rugby players. He is helping build an organisation.
WHAT MAKES A SHARK?
Talent gets a player noticed. Character determines whether he fits. For Jacobs, the Sharks are looking for players with drive, who work hard, who are honest in their work and who are prepared to show up every day. Above all, they must be prepared to fight for the jersey. “You know, that type of durability you have to play rugby and play rugby for the Sharks.”
And that assessment starts long before a player signs anything. Sometimes, Jacobs says, you can understand whether somebody belongs simply by communicating with them. Because being a Shark isn't only about what happens with the ball in your hands. It is also about whether you want to be part of the place. And Durban is a very particular place. A rugby-loving province. A diverse city.
A stadium with generations of history behind it. “It's a very diverse place, which is, I think, what makes it special.” For him, that matters. Because the right player doesn't simply need to fit the team. He needs to fit the environment.
THE NEXT WAVE
Jacobs has arrived at the Sharks at a moment of significant change.
The Club has embraced a new identity and a new wave of ideas, while carrying a rugby history that stretches back more than a century. Those two things can coexist.
“We know exactly who we are as a rugby club at the Sharks.” The history remains.
What changes is the energy around it. “With the next wave, it brings new ideas and new energy.”
That includes coaching philosophies, a defined game model and a clear ambition for where the Sharks want to go. Jacobs' recruitment and retention work is directly connected to that vision. He isn't operating as a lone recruiter, picking players according to his own preferences.
He works closely with the coaching and rugby leadership to understand exactly what the Sharks need. “My retention and recruitment process is directly linked to that.”
The objective is straightforward. Build a squad capable of winning the United Rugby Championship. Build one capable of competing in Europe, making a run for the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. And make sure the players brought into that environment are aligned with how the Sharks want to play.
EYES EVERYWHERE
There is, however, one enormous advantage sitting on the Sharks' doorstep.
KwaZulu-Natal is rugby country. And Jacobs believes the Sharks have to make full use of it.
Schools. The Academy. The age-group teams. Sharks XV. Club rugby. The wider region.
Different players will find different routes into professional rugby. So why limit the search to one? The pathway is already producing players.Zekhethelo Siyaya. Vusi Moyo. Jaco Williams. Khuthadzo “Khuti” Rasivhaga. Janco Purchase. Lyle Matthews. Their journeys aren't identical. And that is precisely the point. Moyo and Williams have already progressed to the Springbok stage. Others are continuing to develop through the Sharks XV and the Academy, while Matthews represents another important route through club rugby.
Jacobs' philosophy is to keep every door open. “It's not just that we focus on one particular area because we know there's different pathways for different players.”
And perhaps the most important message for a young player hoping to make it to Durban is this: “We've got eyes everywhere.”
WHY STAY IN BLACK AND WHITE?
Finding the right player is one thing. Convincing him to stay is another.
For Jacobs, the answer begins with something that cannot be measured in a spreadsheet.
“I think it's the place.”
