South African (school and club) rugby
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I didn't want to clutter our NZ school or club rugby threads with stories coming from South Africa. So I decided to start a new thread, because there may be stories about rugby in South Africa that are also relevant to us in NZ.
This column is a good example of that; I've only copied and pasted some paragraphs.
Schoolboy rugby losing fun factor
In his first column for SA Rugby magazine, former Springbok STEFAN TERBLANCHE maintains schoolboy rugby is becoming far too professional in South Africa.With the competitive and professional nature of particularly rugby at school level we unfortunately lose too many kids who want to play, but don’t want to make a career out of it. And, at the other end of the stick, we lose too many players at school who thought they could make a career of it. It’s a situation any sport can ill afford and if you don’t believe me look at club rugby as it is literally bleeding to death in all rugby-playing provinces. You will be surprised to see that many schoolboys are only allowed to play rugby – and no other sports – with all-year round pre-season training, specialised rugby fitness sessions, special hours of schooling and classes. All the while supplementing normal wholesome meals with creatine, whey proteins and who knows what else (you don’t want to open that can or worms now but we will soon) and a rugby season bursting with a fixture list matching most professional teams in South Africa. Many schools will argue that it’s their biggest marketing tool and when the 1st XV is performing well, the school and boarding establishment are full. Whoever is doing that should not be allowed near kids, and for that matter a rugby field, as it is a part of a bigger problem where the game in our country is dying because of what’s happening at school level. -
Having kids in Paarl Gym and then Paul Roos, I walked millions kms of line along SA top rugby schools sportsfields. Rugby is massive at schoolboy level. Big schools like the mentioned ones have 20+ rugby teams from u14-u18 level. Paul Roos have also 17 hockey teams plus 6 soccer teams playing winter sports. Playing interschools against Grey College and it all end with the 1st team rugby match in front of 10,000 + spectators. So the pressure is massive on that players and coaches. Paarl Gym, Paarl Boishaai and Paul Roos 1st coaches have contracts close or over R1 Million per annum. The kicking coach at Paarl Gym earns R50,000 per month. Thats why you'll find senior provincial coaches at schoolboy level like Pieter Rossouw. The pressure is heavy to produce.
Attacking steroid use at schoolboy level is a step in the right direction.
SA are in the process of planning a SA Schools rugby champions which will start in 2021.
In this competition teams from u14-18 level will play each other.
TV income will be huge for this.
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@Machpants Rugby culture is very strong at schools level. I am living in Stellenbosch and around Boland the schools setup will never change. It starts with the 7 year olds at primary schools. One laaitie will draw his whole family to support.
Winning the WC last year will draw much more interest and kids to rugby. We need to thank the likes of Kolisi and Mapimpi and Kolbey who open a new market for rugby in SA.
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Swys de Bruin is now rugby consultant at Helpmekaar. Kings College will participate in the World School Festival at Affies this month.
Link https://www.worldschoolsfestival.com/
