Rebels recruit Gideon Koegelenberg doesn’t have to worry about safety after leaving Durban for Melbourne
Living in a gated community with barbed wired fences and security cameras wasn’t enough to make Gideon Koegelenberg feel safe from the crime in Durban. That’s why the South African jumped at the chance to join the Rebels.
Super Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Super Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It was the sort of headline you don’t want to read about the place where you live.
“Durban — Murder up. Rape up. Home robbery up. Carjackings up.”
Watch every match of the 2020 Vodafone Super Rugby Season LIVE & On-Demand on KAYO. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
That’s how the crime statistics around Gideon Koegelenberg’s home city were reported last September.
So when the phone call came from Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels offering the South African a contract, the giant lock didn’t have to think twice.
Originally from Cape Town, Koegelenberg spent two years playing in Italy before joining the Sharks in Durban.
He had been there for 18 months and re-signed for another three years.
But the chance to remove the daily worry about the safety of his girlfriend, Jessie, and desire to further his Super Rugby career made the move across the world an easy one.
“I was on to it as quick as possible and asked for a release (from Durban). The fact I can be at a training session not worried that someone is going to break in to the house, that (Jessie) is safe, is very comforting,” Koegelenberg said.
“I don’t have to check up on her every 15 minutes. She can go to the shops and get home again safely. You have to be on it, vigilant (in Durban), and that’s just one factor of it all.
“Day to day it takes some pressure off, some weight off your shoulders, to know that your family and friends are safe and you can just go about your day with relative ease.”
Standing 200cm and weighing 120kg, Koegelenberg, 25, casts a significant shadow, enough potentially to keep any nefarious types at bay.
But even living in a gated community, he worried most when he was on the road.
Barbed wire on fences, which you “have to have”, and security cameras couldn’t negate all the worry.
There had been “incidents” with his family, too, so the new freedoms he and Jessie have found in Melbourne have been life and career-changing.
Koegelenberg spent his first three months in Melbourne on his own, but was introduced to local rituals by his fellow South African, Rebels teammate Mees Erasmus.
“On my first night here I had a chicken parma, chips and a Carlton Draught,” he said.
“I was very happy with that. It was delicious.”
The apartment he shares with Jessie, who arrived two weeks ago, is in the heart of Richmond and the pair are exploring at every opportunity.
Koegelenberg even bought a motorbike to get around.
A wine buff, he’s already toured the Mornington Peninsula and bought a couple of bottles for a “special occasion”.
He could have indulged after his first start with the Rebels, which came in last week’s win against the Highlanders in Dunedin.
But he opted to save it, hoping something more special was in his Melbourne future playing for a team he thinks is only going “up”.
“We’ve been getting better every match,” he said.
“That’s the only thing you can ask for. I couldn’t be happier.”