Cobus pienaar

How Gideon Peters: In Pretoria, a city where rugby is a religion, young Gideon Peters was once on the fast track to becoming another hero of the sport. But cut to now, and Peters finds himself in the nets of the Delhi Capitals, the side where he’s training with them in IPL 2026.

Peters' journey from tackling forwards in rugby to unleashing 140 km/h thunderbolts with the cricket ball was orchestrated by his mentor, Cobus Pienaar. Pienaar, the Director of Cricket at Waterkloof High School and nephew of former Proteas legend Fanie de Villiers, convinced Peters that his future lay in hurting batters with pace rather than being battered on the rugby field.

“I finished with the (Northerns) Titans as a player and started at Waterkloof. He was basically in Grade 11 when I took over the cricket programme. He had a strong rugby background and was in the Blue Bulls setup as well. He played fullback or wing in the outside backs. His feet were always magic. He was very good on the attack and obviously good under the high ball because of his cricket background.