Kitch Christie - Early Career

Early Career

Christie returned to South Africa after his education, when he joined the Pretoria Harlequins club as a flanker. While his playing career was uneventful, it was during his time with the Harlequins that Christie began developing his coaching skills. It was the start of an enduring association with Quins—broken only by a spell as coach of the Glenwood Old Boys in Durban—during which he coached them to a number of trophies as well as serving as a Northern Transvaal selector.

In 1980, Christie spent the South African winter (Northern Hemisphere summer) in the United States, coaching the Chicago Lions club. Although he spent less than three months in Chicago, he made a lasting impact on the club, leading them to the Midwest regional crown.

In 1992, having been denied the opportunity to coach at Northern Transvaal, Christie accepted an offer from Louis Luyt, then the president of the Transvaal union, to take the reins there. Luyt would go on to play an important role in Christie's later career.

It was at Transvaal that Christie was to establish himself as one of the finest coaches in South African rugby, leading the team to one of their most successful periods in their history. Transvaal won back to back Currie Cup titles 1993 and 1994, their first wins in the competition since 1972, as well as winning the inaugural Super 10 title in 1993. In 1993, the team won all four of the competitions they entered (Currie Cup, Super 10, Lion Cup, M-NET Night Series). The team, with Francois Pienaar as captain, was to form the nucleus of the Christie's Springbok team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, providing 13 members to the Springbok squad.