U19s worry White
9 Apr 2006
Springbok coach Jake White was shocked by the Baby Boks’ first performance at the U21 World Championships against France last week.
The U19s were smashed 46-3 in Dubai and conceded six tries to begin the defence of their crown in the worst possible manner.
“It’s a big disappointment for me because if you took our top 10 schools and played them against schools from other countries, they would win more than not,” White told the Sunday Times.
“Maybe the U19s had a bad day at the office but it is worrying, But let’s wait and see how they do in the rest of the tournament.â€
The Baby Boks play Samoa on Sunday and must win the match with a bonus point to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Their final fixture is against the Poms.
White, who still watches as much schools rugby as possible, said he did not see a new force emerging in schools rugby outside the established powerhouses.
“The thing that keeps those schools going is their competition and their infrastructure. If you look at Grey College’s first XV, they have André Volsteedt, the former national Sevens conditioning coach, doing the same things for them. Can you imagine the things he’s picked up around the world on conditioning that he’s likely to teach them?â€
16 Comments
9 Apr 2006, 11:57 am
Simon, Is it the U/19′s or the U/21′s?
9 Apr 2006, 11:58 am
But no reason for corncern Jake. This is without doubt the best team in SA and the only reason that they lost so badly is that the French are so good.
Yeah, right.
9 Apr 2006, 12:07 pm
Our fullback was impressive. So was our 8th man. That was it. The boys missed too many tackles. They should spend less time with the Stormers.
9 Apr 2006, 12:39 pm
Worry more mate – that was a clueless thumping well beyond a bad day at the office.
9 Apr 2006, 13:28 pm
when was the last time the SA schools team played the Australian Schoolboys or NZ(PI)schools team?
9 Apr 2006, 13:49 pm
The French Scrum Half looked the business. I was really pleased when he was sin binned. But that didnt help our cause one dam bit. The boys didint really look like they wanted to play.
I think they will (well they better) hammer Samoa, but the real test will be against the Poms. Even though they lost to Ireland, I still think they are a good unit.
BrumbyIV,
Perhaps our younger lads should be taken through a mini tri nations competition. Sort of like the six nations. That has really helped prepare the Europeans.
9 Apr 2006, 15:25 pm
Some of those players looked like they were picked on ‘reputation’. We picked a tiny flyhalf who couldn’t kick and our centres kept on cutting in. The workrate of our flanks was appalling. Surely there needs to be a better way of picking the teams, other than selecting from the Craven Week sides? I can’t believe that those players were the best this country has to offer.
9 Apr 2006, 16:09 pm
Its very simple…the best u/19 team was NOT selected..as the best CRAVEN teams were NOT selected last year…
Teams were selected to keep quotas happy!
There are at least players to fill two teams that stayed at home, that would beat the current team also by a margin of 40 points – thats to say if they were selected purely on merit!
9 Apr 2006, 16:59 pm
B4theGame exactly.
Why do you think our swimmers and golfers do so well….no forced quotas. Only the best should be selected..well at least that’s the mindset in normal countries where the brain trust does actually have a brain, and common sense.
Imagine if South Africa had no quotas..and then I woke up and my coffee was cold.
R.I.P. South African rugby.
10 Apr 2006, 00:32 am
Quotas will always be your undoing.
10 Apr 2006, 07:20 am
Grey High School or Grey College would beat this second rate side!
10 Apr 2006, 07:25 am
Question for Jake ?
If Grey is so good, why are there almost none of their players in the SA team ?
10 Apr 2006, 07:33 am
If it wasn’t for “QUOTAS” South Africa would have still played in isolation from international rugby today…
10 Apr 2006, 09:15 am
Stem saam met Jonthebomb die 8e man is maar net goed en dit help nie daar is 2 laaities in die span wat ALLES moet doen nie, hou net ingedagte daar is maar stomers in ‘n hele paar van hulle se bloed, ons sal dit nog reg kry.
10 Apr 2006, 09:29 am
Do you think that we can win England next?
10 Apr 2006, 11:41 am
folanke,
Quotas?
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