Elite South African coach cheats death after shedding an incredible 101kgs

Imagine being the size of behemoth props, Uini Atonio or Ben Tameifuna, with 45kgs added on for good measure. That’s the burden Gareth Gilbert, head coach of the Netherlands’ women’s national team, has had to carry around for years.

Gilbert used comfort eating and boozing to mask personal traumas and before you knew it, one of the biggest movers and shakers in Dutch rugby, in every sense of the word, had ballooned to 196kgs.

Fearing for his life and concerned his over-sized frame wasn’t sending a good message to aspiring young athletes in the Netherlands rugby academy, Gilbert decided to take action.

Three years ago he had a gastric band operation and following drastic lifestyle changes, he now weighs just 95kgs.

“The clinical record (in the Netherlands) I think was 107kgs, and I managed 101,” Gilbert tells RugbyPass.

At first, not even close family members recognised him, and it’s only now that Gilbert is willing to share his remarkable story with RugbyPass.

Explaining the motivation behind his remarkable weight loss journey, Gilbert says, “I was standing in front of young players telling them they needed to do this and that if they wanted to become an elite athlete and I realised that I wasn’t practicing what I preached.

“I basically started living life like the boys I coached, the programme we run is based on values, and it’s saved my life to be honest.

“The beauty of rugby is if you live by the values of the game, every day, it can bring you so much happiness, joy and fulfillment.”

Gilbert’s battle against obesity was as much about what was going on in the top two inches, as those around his waist.

“Everyone sees the physical transformation but, at the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to the mental side of things,” he says.

“Before you have the operation you have to be in a mentally better space, and I had to lose 20kgs to show I was serious.

“They had a team around me, doctors and psychologists. who help you with your nutrition and stuff, to make sure you are well prepared.

“When you lose a lot of weight like this, there are a lot of of pros but also some cons when you have a gastric band operation.

“There is a danger that you replace one addiction for another, and it can easily get out of hand and become quite destructive.

“If you look at the stats with regards to gastric bypass, five years after the operation a lot of people are back to square one, which is not a good stat.

“But, for me, I am determined not to allow that to happen because I am really enjoying being in this space.”

As a child, Gilbert didn’t have a problem with eating, but a string of events in adulthood caused things to steadily spiral out of control.

“It was really in the last 15 years (before surgery) that I packed on the pounds,” he says.

“I think it was more emotional eating, and personal things that I didn’t deal with – serious injuries in my rugby career, the death of my mother and things like that.

“Food and alcohol and not living the way you should live caught up with me and it got to the time where I either I decided I need to change or I am going go down that path of losing my life,

“At 196kgs, getting up off a couch was strenuous. The decision was do something about it or die. It’s the best decision I have ever made.”

Paarl-born Gilbert has not only transformed himself but also the shape of Dutch rugby.

The son of a Botswanan chicken farmer, who played for renowned rugby institutions, Pretoria Boys’ High School, the University of Stellenbosch and Maties, left South Africa for the Netherlands in 2003 to play prop for RC ‘t Gooi.

He briefly returned home and played for Botswana in the African 2007 World Cup qualifiers, but most of the last two decades have been spent living and coaching rugby in the Netherlands.

The 45-year-old has had a huge impact with not only the national teams but with the creation of the National Training Centre in Amsterdam and the regional academies that feed into the senior setup.

The Dutch rugby landscape now is unrecognisable to how it was when Gilbert pitched up in his 20s, and the same can be said of his physical appearance.

“At rugby games, when I walk up to people and say, ‘how you are doing?’, you can see they don’t know it is me until I open my mouth and talk,” he reveals.

“You can include some of my own family members in that. My nieces and nephews say, ‘you’re not my uncle Gareth’, which I’ll take!”

Having led the Netherlands to second place in the Rugby Europe U20 Men’s Championship in November, Gilbert’s focus is now on improving the fortunes of the senior national women’s team.

“I definitely think I am a changed person. I think all the stuff I have gone through over the last few years has helped me to develop where I am at the moment,” he adds.

“Being vulnerable and open to talk about things with coaches, mentors and friends, and sharing stories and experiences that are difficult, are key to staying in this space.

“If I look my coaching now, it is so positive, I am really, really happy.

“It’s been a phenomenal journey with the boys, I’ve coached many of them since they were 10 years old.

“I finished up with them in November, and now I am with the women.

“I am diving head first into the women’s pathway and helping the game grow here.

“There are big plans for the Dutch women, with WXV and trying to qualify for the next World Cup.

“I am super exicted to be with this group. We have some phenomenal talent but also some amazing, amazing people.”