Going back to its roots could save SA rugby
There is little doubt that rugby in this country is losing fans – television viewership figures and stadium attendances tell us this very clearly – but SA Rugby and main broadcasters SuperSport certainly seem to have heeded the warning signs, judging by the success the SuperSport Rugby Challenge is having with its festival days.
The most recent of these festivals was held at the Bridgton Sports Grounds in Oudtshoorn a couple of weekends ago and 13 000 people came to watch South-Western Districts play Western Province and the Golden Lions tackle the Blue Bulls, as well as a club game. That is more spectators than you get at most Super Rugby games.
The key to these SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches is that they are played at the club grounds of communities who have been starved of top-level rugby, and they clearly show that rugby is not suffering from a lack of passion for the game. The issues would seem to revolve more around a lack of access and facilities.
There seems to be a growing desire within SA Rugby to ensure the club game is not allowed to just wither away and going to a community like Bridgton and seeing first-hand just how passionate they are about the game fills one with hope for the future of the sport. Their facility is also excellently maintained and the clubhouse boasts 50 years of photographs to showcase their proud history.
Rugby in this country is not going to survive if it is kept to an elite few who come from the powerhouse schools and it was pleasing to see SuperSport, who I have criticised before for showing too much schoolboy rugby, pumping airtime and resources into rugby that is centred around communities and clubs, such as the Gold Cup for clubs.
“Club rugby has been a bit neglected, especially in our communities, it’s a gap in our rugby,” Graham Abrahams, the head of regulatory affairs and enterprises, said to explain SuperSport’s commitment.
There are not too many occasions when the people of Oudtshoorn, let alone its township of Bridgton, get to see Springboks in action, but wing Jamba Ulengo was there playing for the Bulls and hooker Bongi Mbonambi turned out for Western Province. So at 6.30am, when it was still dark and raining, there was already a crowd queueing outside the stadium.
And they were certainly well entertained. Western Province, who enjoyed considerable support, were too clinical for South-Western Districts while the Blue Bulls edged out the Lions with a last-minute try in a thrilling match. But the locals didn’t seem sure which of their great Gauteng nemeses to support.
There were local brass bands, drum majorettes, cheerleaders and a crazy dance trio all drawn from the local community, and the great thing about community rugby is the different characters involved.
One of the highlights of the day was watching No 25 for one of the club sides – a bald-headed, bearded prop whose jersey could not quite cover his considerable girth, walking from scrum to scrum and occasionally breaking into a trot.
At the other end of the spectrum, former SA Rugby managing director Johan Prinsloo was the stadium announcer, thanks to his work with George radio station Eden FM. To show the passion for rugby in these far-flung communities, they provide live commentary every Saturday afternoon of local club games and when Progress from George made the Gold Cup play-offs they went on a road trip all the way to Kathu to cover the match against Sishen Rugby Club.
It was also pleasing to see current SA Rugby bigwigs come to Oudtshoorn to attend the game and hopefully they will have seen first-hand the benefits of bringing the SuperSport Rugby Challenge to these outlying areas.
If nothing else impressed them, then the sight of local kids playing rugby with one litre soft-drink bottles substituting for the ball in this economically depressed area is surely going to touch the heart.