Question marks as Glenwood dominate trialists

TODAY at Woodburn in Pietermaritzburg, trials take place to select the squad to represent KZN at Craven Week this year. And in what must surely be a record, no less that 29 Glenwood High pupils will participate.

The trials take the form of five matches between regional teams following recent trials in various zones across the province.

Next week it will be narrowed down to final trials between the “possible” and “probables”, and then training squads will be selected for Craven Week in July.

It sounds like a watertight system to get the best KZN schoolboys to Craven Week, but how healthy can it be for rugby in this province that one school can have basically their first and second teams involved in the trials?

Clearly Glenwood dominated the South region trials, while a zone such as Highway, which includes Westville and Kearsney, would have been much more competitive.

System

You can’t point a finger at Glenwood for abiding by the “system”.

But surely the schools executive responsible to the KZNRU (the provincial body that runs the “amateur” game) must recognise that it is not right that one school can have so many trialists, and that the selection process needs to be overhauled.

Schools rugby is notoriously competitive, and there will no doubt be conspiracy theories about an unhealthy bias on the executive towards certain schools.

Glenwood in recent years have dominated local rugby, but this year have already lost to Kearsney and Michaelhouse, as well as two games at the Kearsney Easter Festival and one at the Wildeklawer festival on Freedom Day.

Michaelhouse, on recent form the top school in the province this year, have 14 Glenwood . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Westville . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Maritzburg College . . . . .15 Michaelhouse . . . . . . . . .14 DHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Kearsney . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Hilton College . . . . . . . . .7 St Charles . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Northwood . . . . . . . . . . . .3 players at the trials, and Kearsney eight. Westville and Maritzburg College have 15 each (a fair representation of their strength).

Hilton College have seven and DHS are possibly overrepresented with 11.

And then there with 29.

Their Old cheering.

What an advantage to take into the trials your first and second teams with their established combinations and structures.

Glenwood will also have two selectors on the panel – their first-team coach, which make sense, plus a deputy headmaster.

Schools rugby enthusiasts will be hoping that the cream rises to the top at Woodburn today, regardless of the colour of the socks the players will be wearing, but there will be a lingering feeling that the numbers in terms of representation at the trials just do not add up.

The Under-18 Craven Week will be hosted at Paul Roos Gymnasium’s Markötter Fields in Stellenbosch, and will form part of the school’s 150-year anniversary.

The tournament runs from July 13 to 18.

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