Shades of grey
11 Aug 2010
There are enough quality young players of colour in South Africa to ensure quotas are no longer necessary at schools level, writes GRANT BALL in SA Rugby magazine.
The U18 Craven Week is meant to be the pinnacle of the South African schoolboy rugby season, but since its inception in 1964, its selection system has been flawed. In the early days, during apartheid, the best black schoolboys weren’t allowed to play, and in post-1994 South Africa, some of the best white players have missed out, in many cases because of the quota system.
For this year’s Craven Week held in Welkom, nine of the players in each 22-man squad had to be players of colour, with five on the field for the entire match on day one, four on day two, and five again on the Saturday.
However, the 50-50 racial quota for the SA Schools side was scrapped this year. Fourteen white players were named in the match 22 and the general consensus was that all eight players of colour had been selected on merit.
Saru’s high-performance manager Herman Masimla acknowledges that Craven Week is the envy of the rest of the rugby-playing world. But if the tournament doesn’t help to produce good results for age-group national teams, it’s not reaching its objective.
The SA U18 team’s 45-13 defeat to their English counterparts last year was a wake-up call, as was the SA U20 side’s third successive bronze medal at the Junior World Championship.
‘This is an elite programme, so we want the best,’ says Masimla. ‘This year there was a synergy between rewarding players who performed at Craven Week, and the requirements of producing a squad capable of winning at U20 level.’
But if SA Schools sides are to be selected on merit in future, shouldn’t the provincial teams do the same?
Western Province U18 coach Chris October, who fulfilled the same role with last year’s SA Schools outfit, believes quota selections have played a valuable role in a unique country like South Africa, but that there’s no longer a need for them.
‘At schools level, we’re able to pick on merit,’ he says. ‘You just have to look at the composition of the SA U20 side to see that we don’t require quotas anymore.’
October notes that certain players of colour are immediately labelled as quota selections, even in cases where they’re actually better than the white players in the same position. He says the only way this stereotyping will stop is if quotas are dropped.
‘Speaking as a previously disadvantaged person, if you talk to all black players, 99% of them will tell you they don’t want to be tagged as a quota player. They all want to be selected on merit alone.
‘We want a situation where we just regard the players as human beings and then select the side. If all 15 of the best players are black or all 15 are white in a particular year, then so be it. Those teams must just be selected.
‘It’s important that the work is done at grassroots level. If all South Africans are being given an equal opportunity, players will come through naturally and we can select teams on merit.’
Western Province, Eastern Province, Boland and Border regularly meet the transformation requirements at U18 level on merit, and at times exceed them. The problem is that inland unions, such as the Golden Lions, Blue Bulls and Free State, don’t have as many players of colour to select from.
This has led to many individuals from coastal areas being given bursaries to schools up north, but Lions U18 coach Gollie Gouws, who was October’s assistant with SA Schools last year, says it’s still tough finding enough quality players in those regions, and that the quota for each union should depend on the number of black players in their region.
‘At the Lions’ final trials, we only had 42 black players out of 112 schools to choose from. Twenty of those 42 have to be selected [nine for Craven Week and 11 for the 22-man Academy Week squad]. To put that into context, only one player of colour at our final trials had been playing rugby at one of our high schools for all five years. We had to bring the rest in from the Eastern Cape.’
Gouws says transformation is about picking a black player over a white one when they possess similar abilities, but in certain cases the players aren’t comparable.
‘The numbers are favoured heavily against white players coming through. It would be good to have a little bit of relief in terms of the numbers, because we don’t want to be unfair to white players, which is the case at the moment. We are losing white players to other unions and to rugby.’
Selecting the best squad of 22 always creates problems as it’s a subjective process, where coaches and selectors will favour certain individuals. However, in the past five years there have been some highly contentious omissions from Craven Week.
Four players who missed out on selection for their provinces are Bjorn Basson, Francois Hougaard, Mathew Turner and PW van Vuuren.
Springbok wing Basson’s ommission from Border’s Craven Week side was a case of talent not being identified as other black wingers were selected ahead of him.
Another current Bok, Francois Hougaard, missed out on Western Province Craven Week selection due to quotas, and he eventually moved to the Bulls.
Turner was the country’s leading try-scorer in schoolboy rugby in 2006 (28 in 17 matches) and he added another 146 points with the boot, but surprisingly he wasn’t deemed good enough to play for Western Province. Turner did play for WP U19 the following year, but when he wasn’t selected for the SA U20 or SA Sevens sides after being the Varsity Cup’s leading try-scorer in 2008, he turned his back on South Africa. He now plays for Bristol and the England Sevens side.
Van Vuuren’s case is an extraordinary one. Emphasising how difficult it is for provinces such as Free State to fill their Craven Week quota, the Grey College 1st XV hooker wasn’t selected in his Grade 11 year, with his place being taken by a schoolmate who was in the 5th XV.
Van Vuuren, though, was selected for Craven Week the following year and went on to play for SA Schools and SA U20. He says his mental strength prevented him from becoming disillusioned like other players in similar situations.
‘It was an awful time. It really sucked because I’d worked hard to make it into the Grey 1st XV. To then not make Free State’s Craven Week side – which is a weakened Grey side – because of quotas, was a setback.
For me, the main thing was to not get upset, lose confidence and think that I wasn’t good enough to play at that level. I chose to look at the positives. I’ve always said, if you’re good enough, you’ll make it – it may just take a bit longer.
‘Quotas are not a bad thing, as they are helping to make the game more representative, and the guy who took my place wasn’t a bad guy. I wasn’t mad at him, because it wasn’t his choice. It was just an irritating situation.
‘At senior level we see that the best players always come through. There aren’t quotas at senior provincial level because unions have to pay their players, and they can’t afford to contract sub-standard guys. The Boks also select the best players possible, with the exception of one or two surprises.’
SA Rugby magazine has an extremely reliable source who says a similar situation to Van Vuuren’s occurred with this year’s Western Province Craven Week side.
A black player from a local school had been identified as a talent for the future due to his size and skill, but he was dropped from his school’s 1st XV after a poor season and his place was ironically filled by another black player. Yet he was still selected for WP, even though he couldn’t play trials because he was out for five weeks due to injury.
However, October denies this. ‘I help select the side, and I seriously don’t know anything about that.’
Gouws says there are many cases where the black player is the best in his position, but in the few instances when the player clearly isn’t good enough, it does him more harm than good to be selected. He adds that some players of colour drop their standards at trials because they realise there are certain spots in a squad earmarked for quota players.
‘Sometimes quota players measure themselves against the other quota players in their position at trials,’ says Gouws. ‘Instead of measuring themselves against the 12 best wings, they compete against the three best black wings.
‘We have good young black players who are coming through on merit. Monde Hadebe, who played hooker for SA Schools in 2008, is the perfect example; he came through on his own ability. If the guys are good enough, that’s wonderful and they must be selected. The problem is when you’re forced to pick them.
‘In the past, the SA Schools selectors were obliged to look at black players in certain positions, such as hooker, scrumhalf and the utility backs. They picked guys so they wouldn’t get fingers pointed at them.
‘But last year we had to pick a 56kg scrumhalf from Dale [Bongi Kobese], because the Paul Roos captain [Rick Schroeder] was injured after Craven Week. That meant we had the eighth or ninth best scrumhalf playing against England U18. I looked at all his stats after the physical testing, and his muscle percentage and tone were poor. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good player, but in a match of that nature, he was found out.’
Considering all these factors, it’s no surprise that the SA Schools side was embarrassed 45-13 by their England counterparts.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen this story before. In 2005, diminutive Mandilakhe Tile from Dale was selected for SA Schools, and a year later he moved up to the Bulls. He hasn’t played for a single representative side since.
Tile is not alone and from the SA Schools side that lost 30-24 to SA Academy five years ago, similar stories exist for Charlton Prinsloo, Riacco Eilerd and Malungisa Nkosi, even though they’re only 23.
Dries van der Wal is considered an authority on schools rugby after coaching Grey Bloem for over 20 years from the mid-80s. He was involved with Free State Schools for 10 years and SA Schools for six until he stepped down in 2007, and as an educationalist he’s watched the game and country change.
Like October and Gouws, he’s emphatic that quotas have served their purpose, pointing to the large number of players coming through in various positions at top 20 schools such as Paul Roos, Paarl Gym, Glenwood, Selborne, Grey PE, and Maritzburg College.
‘South African schools are doing their utmost to transform the game,’ says Van der Wal. ‘The coastal regions don’t struggle with quota numbers, but the interior does because there are less people of colour who play rugby. There are positives and negatives to quotas, and some good rugby players have come through because of them. But we’ve reached a point where we can pick teams on merit. There are brilliant young players coming through – recent Craven Weeks have been filled with them.’
Van der Wal doesn’t believe coaches will start to ignore black players if quotas are done away with, because they will continue to select their best team.
‘I listen to the coaches and the way they speak, and there has been a mind shift,’ he says. ‘They give credit to all the players – no matter what colour. There are very few coaches who see race at our school. We know we must go for the best players because we have to produce results. We are very positive about developing players of colour.
‘We must also remember that the country has changed since 1994, and some of those coaches’ best friends are black. Of course you get exceptions – from both whites and blacks – but young people have forgotten about the past and they want to move on and forget about the black-white, quota thing.’
Van der Wal wants quotas at Craven Week to be phased out over the next few years.
‘Many of us coaches go out and develop players of colour because we know we need them and they add value. We can’t do away with quotas immediately, but they should be reduced from year to year. For example, next year they should drop it from nine to seven. There are more than enough black players for the SA Schools selectors.’
– This article first appeared in the August issue of SA Rugby magazine.
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337 Comments
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11 Aug 2010, 15:31 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-142:
who’ve i labelled…?
i merely commented on the fact that most of the posts i see from you, you are usually criticising other posters or insulting the holders of opinions that differ from yours…
i didn’t label you… i simply asked for your opinion… and thought it would be enlightening…
i apologise…
i was wrong…
11 Aug 2010, 15:32 pm
As per usual almost every post on this site eventually results in some form of racism, or talk of it.
Saffas are the most race obsessed people on the planet.
Just to remind you, the last people who were this obsessed with analysing and categorising peoples physical, mental and racial characteristics were the Nazi’s.
11 Aug 2010, 15:33 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-145: True, and tabletennis is very similar to rugby.
Not sure at all the point of these threads are anyway, but here is a thought:
If NZ got a large vacuum cleaner (wet and dry) and sucked up all the water between NZ and the Islands and then bred billions of people, the Maori Matrix, if you will, and fed them sheep and Tui, is it possible that they would be the best rugby team ever?
11 Aug 2010, 15:34 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-124:
Right, well if the entire thing is about genetics and this debate started around the limited number of black players, can you explain what it is then about their genetics that puts them at such a disadvantage to white people when it comes to rugby?
Given that we’ve travelled far and yonder with extravagent diversions like a Maori vs Chinaman comparison?
11 Aug 2010, 15:34 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-147: Before you go into insults, do you mind naming these players you can mention in the same breath as Peter Mkata
11 Aug 2010, 15:36 pm
@ufo(ufo)-151: You are often wrong…
But it is hard for a conflicted mind (emotional vs rational) to reconsider any entrenched subjective position…
11 Aug 2010, 15:36 pm
@ultra vires(ultra vires)-152: Nope, you got it wrong. The Russians tested on ethnic groups during the cold war. The North Vietnamese probably still do. The US are underhand and I doubt they would have stopped this kind of thing just because it’s illegal.
Then there are all sorts of dodgy private groups the world over doing all sorts of things all the time.
11 Aug 2010, 15:36 pm
wtf is a Peter Mkata? is it those guys living in a tent with white faces and half a tottie? or no ..thats makweta
11 Aug 2010, 15:37 pm
The keo youth league are not going to appreciate the nasty turn this thread is taking.
Not ayoba at all.
Aynoba in fact.
I thought the tallest man in the world was Chinese.
His name is Ho So Hi..
Son on Chi So Hi.
11 Aug 2010, 15:37 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-138:
Pissant, are you seriously denying the role of genetics in a contact sport such as rugby.
The massai are genetically predisposed to be tall and lithe and the pygmies of south america are predisposed to being short.
This genetics at its purest level. Just because there are a few genetic outliers in a nation doesnt mean one has to refute its existence in society.
11 Aug 2010, 15:39 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-148: Its exactly this type of ignorance that makes many white people like yourselves ill-equipped to deal with rugby issues in this country.
Now you are killing or not enhancing the debate, purely because you are too ignorant about the very sport your deem to support religiously, I can only imagine how little you know about general stuff, let alone other sports.
11 Aug 2010, 15:40 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-155: What makes you think he was the best, is this another way of holding onto a faint glimmer of something so insignificant to feel in some way that you can compete?
11 Aug 2010, 15:40 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-156:
yes… i know that…
that’s the price dof people like me have to pay… we are wrong… sometimes… all the time… but i live with it…
can you tell me something that i don’t know…?
can you tell me what it’s like to always be right…?
that’s why it gets so boring for you bud… you’re always right…
11 Aug 2010, 15:41 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-154:
The contrast is not as pronounced as the Chinese/Maori comparison, but there is still a disadvantage in terms of forwards in particular.
They did the survey a while ago, on average heights of white vs black, Indian and coloured South Africans.
The difference was signficant.
But I repeat: Why is that a negative thing? That makes them better at other things, again. Like Bantam weight boxing, soccer etc.
Why this refusal to acknowledge differences among people?
11 Aug 2010, 15:42 pm
@gunther(gunther)-159:
good one…
mind you…
took me a while…
but i got it in the end…
11 Aug 2010, 15:43 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-131: No.
A quick summary of genetics as an influencer of outcomes (whether for sports or for a high yielding plant):
P (Phenotype or Appearance / Outcome) = G (Genotype) + E (Environmental Effects) + G x E (Interaction of the two).
So, Environment (training regime) of a sportsman plays a great a part as his genetic makeup in detemining how successful (Phenotype) he is.
Think about it…
11 Aug 2010, 15:43 pm
@John Galt(John Galt)-160:
Well said. We can argue about the degree of influence, but the fact that these differences exist is obvious. To deny it seems a deliberate attempt to deny reality.
11 Aug 2010, 15:44 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-141:
Ja PA, but the sensitive thing that I’m just getting at is the spin-off of this.
There are hundreds of black boys looking to emulated what they perceive to be the boerseun rugby-attitude their style. Make it their own and enjoy the supposed counterfeit culture.
But it just isn’t the same. And white players in the lower levels simply don’t see blacks as their equals and will not have much good to say about them either (in general). In my day transformation just got kicked off. There weren’t any blacks with me in highschool, and there was only 3 blacks in the usual 22 at varsity. (actually 2 coloureds, 1 black).
And we got along just fine. But I could still see that they were up to the aggression and physical contest like the rest of us, and whenever I played against a black I always underestimated him in the sense that I knew that he never was technically sound or aggressive enough (or brave enough, whatever the hell it is that make the guy not want to go 100%- paired with skill).
That’s just how it is, and a decade on I can’t see that anythings changed.
If things are so progressive nowadays, howcome PdV and his advisors can’t even fill (hardly) the Bok team with the “magic 4″? Even the non-whites there aren’t good enough, except for Habs, Steenkamp and Aplon in way.
Who else? Anywhere. In any position.
In fact, if Heinkie was here and fit, we’d have seen him @1 instead of Gurthro most likely and GvdH is just as inexperinced as Aplon yet he’s got better all round skill. (people say he lacks heart etc. have you seen him look for work and defend lately? I say bullshit).
That leaves you with not a single black in the entire squad, only coloureds.
Now here’s the thing: WHat’s going on? What’s wrong?
hello? Is there anything wrong? Why should somthing be wrong and need drastic and immediate remediation if there isn’t “sufficient Blacks” in the squad? How mnany do we still need. And we already know it’s not done on merit. Despite the cloack they use for it- that’s how the Januaries and Raubenheimers and Roses end up at the Boks.
I think the entire situation should just be dropped and everybody can forgive everybody else, and good coaches in the new South Africa can be free to select the best talent being put forward and be at total ease to select the odd black player or two and as it gradually increases as more black players are eventually reached with the sport- if they so desire.
This way no-one gets racially discriminated against and we always field merit teams (eventhough one can never eradicate the practise of certian coaches selecting one or two favourites- but it’s only a couple and it isn’t every coach)
What do you say?
11 Aug 2010, 15:44 pm
@ufo(ufo)-163: It does get boring especially when I donate valuable insight for free…
11 Aug 2010, 15:44 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-164: All people are equal in this new world Tac, except the more equal have to fork out MORE to ensure the less equal equal are equal, despite being as equal as the more equal, even if the more equal consistently prove themselves to be MORE equal than the less equal in this equal society where all are equal.
11 Aug 2010, 15:45 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-157: So you keep good company…
If I were you I wouldn’t be highlighting the fact that your corner of the world is mentioned in the same breath as North Korea, Soviet Union, Nazis etc.
They havn’t exactly gone down in history as the most popular kids on the block…
11 Aug 2010, 15:45 pm
@gunther(gunther)-159:
11 Aug 2010, 15:45 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-166: plays as great a part as his genetic
11 Aug 2010, 15:46 pm
@gunther(gunther)-159: LOL
11 Aug 2010, 15:46 pm
just read about this Peter Mkata chap ..they compare him to a Joel Stransky … definitely no Naas/lem or M Steyn
11 Aug 2010, 15:47 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-153: LOL, no, because as physically imposing as the Jerry Colins of the world appear to be, there will always be the Danie Rossouws of the world who will make them his ******.
11 Aug 2010, 15:49 pm
@ultra vires(ultra vires)-171: Oh it’s world over. In New Zealand of course we have the only example of a rugby team selected on racist lines to this day, something the Springboks were taken apart for in NZ in the 1980s.
NZ also has the NZ Maori Party, the Maori benefit, the Maori Land and Fisheries Act etc. All of course based on the notion of diving people due to specific genetic differences or similarities.
Of all the countries I have mentioned, NZ is the only one I know of that actually does all this according to race. In fact, in some areas NZ Pakeha cannot collect shellfish while NZ Maori can.
Talk about fascination with race.
11 Aug 2010, 15:50 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-168: Good post, my feathered friend. Good post.
11 Aug 2010, 15:52 pm
@John Galt(John Galt)-160:
Genetics have a role in most things in life, some even belief IQ is genetically inhereted but that is also disputed by some.
Genetics however is every changing, especially given the globalisation of humans to all parts of the world.
Genetics just amongst white people in South Africa who play rugby plays a role.
Some okes are genetically shorter than others, runs in the family type thing but it does not make them any worse rugby players, just means he wont be a lock any time soon and chances are his son won’t be either…
Genetics plays a part, but it is not the sole judge of success or non-success in rugby, not by a long shot.
11 Aug 2010, 15:53 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-143:
Who the hell is Peter Mkaba?
11 Aug 2010, 15:53 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-164:
I don’t deny for one minute that different races possess different genetic attributes. Nor do I deny that certain race groups are more genetically predisposed to succeed in certain sports, which play to their strengths.
What I fail to understand is how an athletic and strong race like the Africans (think athletes around the world, Olympics, football, American football etc etc!) are deemed not to have the genetic attributes so succeed in a physical sport like rugby?
11 Aug 2010, 15:55 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-168: GvDH has “better all round skill” than Aplon – in which alternate reality. Not this subjective one, I would think…
11 Aug 2010, 15:55 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-178:
Minus the spelling and grammatical errors. I can always fall back on the fact that I’m a Dutchie and I work with numbers not words.
11 Aug 2010, 15:56 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-179: How can IQ (An index made up by humans) be genetically inherited… Think about it.
11 Aug 2010, 15:57 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-168:
I have said many times that I am a great supporter of transformation, but I am also probably its worst critic in the way it is being implemented in rugby (and society in general) at the moment.
If you are part of the game you get to see first hand how ineffective transformation negatively effects the ones it is supposed to help.
My first post on this thread is still the one I go back to and one that sums all this up for me.
From all sides, all cultures, the biggest transformation needs to happen in our minds, not in physical numbers or bean counting.
Only then will we be successful in transforming our country (and the world for that matter).
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-181: Its the E factor or environment, dear Watson.
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-181:
Because your basic assumption is wrong.
You assume that there is one African race.
Is there on European race? Of course not. Germans are different from English, from Celts, from Dutch from Serbians from Greeks from Italians etc etc.
South African “Africans” are physically VERY different from West Africans or Central Africans, who are different from East Africans.
South African “Africans” are physically smaller than their West and Central African counterparts.
Much smaller, in fact.
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
I think we all agree that black people are genetically better off when it comes to sports than whities. Correct?
Why then is it taboo to suppose that whites are genetically more intelligent than black people?
Same argument surely?
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-182:
GvdH is faster, bigger, stronger, faster, an effective tackler, a better finisher, faster and a great kicker.
He also is basically the S14 2010 top try scorer (his ban and hammy strain). So, what does Aplon have that GvdH does’t
GvdH is a kid yes. So was Steyn and Lambie and O’Connor etc.
GvdH is more than a match for Aplon- but he just isn’t Province, now is he?
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-181: because and African from Ghana is not the same as an african from Kenya, is not the same as an african from East London (who by the way isn’t exactly like and African from Durban, if you get my meaning).
The Same way that 2 white nations can be different, like the Swedes and the French. Or the Dutch (tall) and the Potuguese (Shorter). Both are considered caucasian, but have marked general differences.
11 Aug 2010, 15:58 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-184:
Hey mate I am just relating what I read on the subject, it is not my view… nor am I an expert by any means.
Anycase I must be out.
Ciao.
11 Aug 2010, 15:59 pm
The amount of bullsh.yte masquerading as fact here is incredible…
A full fancy dress party…
11 Aug 2010, 16:00 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-162: Being in a very fortunate situation of being able to interact with both educated and uneducated white people and also having shared my upbringing with both black educated and uneducated, it has become clear that there is very little difference between Educated/uneducated white people and Uneducated black people when it comes to debates.
All three groups are like taxi drivers, very little substance to add in order to improve the debate, very little intellect in terms of trying to apply ones mind broadly and more importantly, they are all unmistakenly passionate.
When they cant intellectual or substantively contribute or their general ignorance is exposed, they dont bother trying to learn so as to improve and be better equipped when the same subject comes around in the future, so in essence, the information they had when they were 14yrs old, its the same information they use to approach the same issue 20yrs later.
So the same dumb points that are made by illiterate blokes at my local township tavern, I then encounter from supposedly educated white people, this would be funny if not so sad.
11 Aug 2010, 16:00 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-187: Disn;t we cover all this already? we should just refer people to the appropriate posts above
And I’m told that the reason that the Greeks aren’t as successful at soccer as other European Nations, dispite their passion for the game, is that every time they get a corner they stop and open a cafe…
11 Aug 2010, 16:02 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-185:
Yes, the only way that will ever happen (and it won’t in its entirety) is if players are given equal opportunity across the board and we learn to appreciate black talent that comes through and stop seeing it as “black talent”.
That’s how it was with Habana.
Is that how it was/is with Ricky Januarie?
Hell no! Because he is kak. and thus we are constantly having our faces rubbed in reverse-discrimination.
11 Aug 2010, 16:05 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-189: Probably
better sidestep,
spatial awarness (leading to better placement of kicked ball and positioning),
10-15m acceleration at least equal,
better pass,
better offlod… etc
Anyone can come up with “objective” variables that are important for a rugby player…
Its just that Aplon has performed fairly well out of position and is an overall better player (except for kgs, that is…)
11 Aug 2010, 16:05 pm
Yeah Baby!!!!!!!!!
PE to host Boks v All Blacks
2010-08-11 14:09
Johannesburg – Next year’s Springbok Test
against New Zealand will be held in Port
Elizabeth, following a decision of the
Executive Council of the South African
Rugby Union.
The decision was taken as part of SARU’s
commitment to bring top-flight rugby to
the region. The award is conditional on
agreement that all three unions in the
Southern Kings region (Eastern Province,
Border and South Western Districts) should
benefit from the award and on agreement
on an appropriate Test match hosting
model.
It means Tri-Nations rugby will be played in
the Eastern Cape region for the first time,
while it would be the first visit of the All
Blacks to the region for 41 years (since
1970).
“There is a hunger in the region for top
flight rugby,” said Oregan Hoskins, the
president of SARU.
“Port Elizabeth now has a top flight venue
in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and
SARU has a long-standing commitment to
assist in bringing top flight-rugby back to
the region. This is a tangible proof of our
commitment. ”
The 2011 Tri-Nations Test against Australia
was allocated to the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby
Union, subject to discussions with the
union.
The meeting also appointed East London
businessman Monde Tabata to the
Executive Council, joining Mike Stofile as the
second independent member and filling a
vacancy that had been open since the
elections in March.
Other decisions taken by the council
were:
• The Exco will call for tenders from all 14
provincial unions to host the South African
leg of the IRB World Sevens Series,
according to the IRB ’s criteria for host
venues.
• Applications will be sought for the
position of SA Under-20 coach and
assistant coaches to cover the 2011, 2012
and 2013 IRB Junior World Championship
competitions.
• The CEOs of all 14 unions are to be called
to a meeting for their inputs on: Vodacom
Super Rugby franchise fees and the
division of unions within franchises; the
Test match hosting model.
• The competitions committee was
instructed to formulate a proposal to assist
the Southern Kings in their preparations for
potential Vodacom Super Rugby inclusion
in 2013.
• Approval was granted for an
international sevens tournament, under the
auspices of the Leopards Rugby Union, to
be held in Rustenburg from September
24-26, 2010.
11 Aug 2010, 16:06 pm
How long before someone mentions jorrie muller?
11 Aug 2010, 16:06 pm
Spellings and “a” key are frked today
awareness
better offload
11 Aug 2010, 16:07 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-193: LOL.
I hear your point, clearly you also got exactly what I meant. Just observing what is acceptable to acknowledge vs not etc.
I am confident that a hunger for knowledge, for understanding and with it, some degree of intellectual maturity can be nurtured in people. Nurture certainly plays a part.
It’s also unfortunately true that for some, no amount of coaxing will achieve any level of understanding, there is no software installed.
I see this across all groups, on all levels. Some are naturally better, just because, and average people can be super amazing in the right environment.
Who plays where etc really has more to do with opportunities which, we can call racially based in SA, is really more about class-based oppression and lack of access to facilities, knowledge and upliftment.
It is not a black v white thing, it’s a poor vs rich thing.
How do we solve this? We would have to make everyone equal.
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