French connections win player's heart

[caption id="attachment_35173" align="alignright" width="405"] SKIPPER'S CALL: Former Grey High pupil Jacques Naude, who captains second-division rugby team Dax in the south of France, yells instructions during a match.[/caption]

HE has learnt the language, helped take a struggling rugby team to the top of its division and married a local girl – so it is not surprising that former Port Elizabeth man Jacques Naude has captured hearts in his adopted France.

His face has become a regular feature in the press, no mean feat in a country which typically prefers its heroes to be homegrown.

The former Grey High pupil's father is Professor Piet Naude, outgoing deputy-vice chancellor and academic at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), where his mother Elize also works.

The young man is heading a leadership programme for the university's top students and is the captain of second-division team Dax in the south of France, a team which last season counted Bulls and Lions players JacquesLouis Potgieter and Marius Delport among its members. - Nicky Willemse