Rugby development needed

RUGBY, aside from the constant concern about injuries, is a fine game for schoolboys. It encourages teamwork, builds character and spirit and teaches restraint — often in the face of heavy provocation on the field and, sadly, some of it off the field among those who watch the schools’ rugby matches on Saturdays.

Apart from building confidence in young men, rugby serves schools in a practical way by creating pride in the institutions, especially among those who have matriculated and left to make a success of their lives. In short, it helps to keep the old boys close and their wallets even closer. The Saturday rugby ritual is one of the best methods of raising funds for schools.

It’s no wonder, then, that many of South Africa’s top schools go out of their way to recruit the best young players and pay good money for outstanding coaches. The returns can be lucrative.

Scouts identifying talent from the national age-group tournaments has been part of school rugby for a long time. Of course some schools get upset when they can’t afford to retain their promising players, but that is part of the free market of the game.

If a player, especially one from an underprivileged background, can exploit the perks, then good luck to him.

There are state schools that appear to understand this reality in schoolboy rugby and, as we report elsewhere in this newspaper, they have signed a pact that will limit poaching from one another. Whether it will work in practice is uncertain. What the issue does highlight, however, is the inadequacy of player development in South Africa. For more than 100 years, the country’s top schools have been an assembly line of talent. The provincial unions and franchises have been able to pick from that conveyor belt without taking much responsibility. This is where the South African Rugby Union needs to contribute. The organisation is wealthy, thanks to TV cash, and some of that wealth needs to trickle down — to the schools.