Arrested development
25 Nov 2010
JON CARDINELLI investigates the lack of black forwards at the highest levels and whether black forwards are genetically smaller than their white counterparts.
The biggest transformation failure over the past five years has been up front. The pitiful number of black forwards to represent the Springboks testifies to the fact, as does the negligible representation at Super 14 and Currie Cup levels. Why is it that South Africa manages to produce so many black backs, but so few black forwards? With a predominantly white make-up and two black wings, it’s no wonder some jokers refer to our national side as the Seagulls rather than the Springboks.
Since the start of the 2006 Test season, 29 black (black African and coloured) players have been used by the Boks. Eighteen of those have been backline players (12 of those wingers or fullbacks) while 11 have been forwards. Subtract two from the latter because the Zimbabwean-reared Beast Mtawarira and Brian Mujati are not products of the South African system. Nine forwards remain, of which just three are currently playing at the highest level. Apart from Bandise Maku, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Gurthrö Steenkamp, six black Bok forwards have faded into obscurity.
Eddie Andrews has long since retired, although he’s still at an age where he could be contributing (33). Hanyani Shimange is Western Province’s third-choice hooker. When fit, Lawrence Sephaka plays in the Vodacom Cup, but struggles to make the Lions’ senior team. Kabamba Floors is a permanent fixture on the Cheetahs’ bench, Hilton Lobberts is languishing at Boland, and Solly Tyibilika is playing for Border in the First Division.
A spate of injuries and poor management has afflicted Ralepelle’s career, while Maku has been the victim of similar malpractice at the Bulls. Steenkamp is one of the few success stories, although one homegrown, experienced black Bok forward is not enough.
Consider the demographics of a country where black people outnumber their white counterparts by nine to one. You’d think that South Africa would be spoiled for choice in the black forward department, but as the evidence suggests, this is not the case.
We’re told by Saru that the racial make-up of the age-group teams proves that transformation is working, but so few of those black players progress. The SA U21 side that won the 2005 World Championship is a prime example. Twelve players of colour (six forwards and six backs) were in that squad. Of the forwards, Ralepelle and Lobberts (who both also represented the successful SA U19 side) went on to play for the Bulls and Boks. None of the remaining forwards are currently contracted to a ‘big-five’ union. Davon Raubenheimer (Griquas) and Martin Sithole (Pumas) are at least competing in the Premier Division, but great junior prospects like Nikolai Blignaut (Boland) and Sangoni Mxoli (EP Kings) are wasting away in First Division oblivion.
Meanwhile, a number of the white players who featured in those age-group squads are thriving. Gerhard Mostert (Sharks), Pieter Louw (WP-Stormers), Heinke van der Merwe (formerly of the Lions and Boks, and now with Leinster) and Derick Kuün (Bulls) have all had extensive exposure to Super Rugby.
Saru says that black players have received insufficient opportunities at Currie Cup and Super Rugby levels, and that coaches are to blame. Others argue that the level of the competition is significantly higher on the senior stage. This latter line of thinking follows that some black players are fast-tracked into junior teams and are unprepared for the high standards of professional rugby.
Transformation becomes an ugly issue when quotas or targets are enforced. People who persist with such thinking miss the point. Transformation is impossible without development. Pushing a player into a professional team when he’s not ready is counterproductive. Administrators and politicians should be investing their resources and energies into black player development at grassroots level instead, so that in the future these players progress through the junior ranks and earn their standing in senior teams on merit.
Developing a new generation of black forwards is a task former Bok assistant coach Gert Smal volunteered for in 2008. After the World Cup in France, Smal felt he could do some good in the rugby-rich region of the Eastern Cape. He hoped to spearhead a programme aimed at producing more black forwards.
Smal put together a proposal and sent it to Saru, but they never got back to him. After months of waiting for a reply, Smal eventually accepted a post with the Irish Rugby Union and is still working with the national team as the forwards coach today.
‘It was a pity that I never got the chance to help the Eastern Cape,’ Smal says. ‘I’ve worked with Border before and I have a good idea of the complexities and politics of the region. With my experience as a World Cup coach I could have offered a fair amount of help to the coaches and administration.
‘There needs to be a concerted effort to bring black players through, and especially black forwards. I don’t buy the argument that they don’t exist. The black forwards are there, they just need to be identified and brought through the system.
‘I can’t comment on what Saru is doing because I haven’t been in the country for a while, but there needs to be some sort of forwards academy that will help with the fast-tracking of black forwards in South Africa, and that academy needs to incorporate the help of quality coaches to ensure players progress to provincial and even national level with the necessary skills.’
Saru president Regan Hoskins and his deputy Mark Alexander refused to answer any questions on the subject when contacted by SA Rugby magazine. It appears that the president is happy to criticise Currie Cup and Super Rugby teams for their failure to field sufficient players of colour, but when it comes to telling the public about what Saru is doing to improve the situation, he isn’t so forthcoming.
However, Saru CEO Jurie Roux agreed to answer our questions via e-mail. He makes it clear that all 14 provinces need to work at developing black talent, and believes the structures are in place to provide top teams with black players. He denies knowledge of Smal’s proposal to develop black forwards in the Eastern Cape, and is non-committal in answering whether South Africa really needs a specialised black forwards academy.
‘Saru is in favour of any initiatives designed to develop and improve players,’ says Roux, ‘so long as they are appropriately managed and run and do not conflict with the interests of South African rugby as a whole.’
The Kings are set to join Super Rugby in 2013 and no doubt the region will be subject to various development initiatives in the interim. As the numbers in top-flight rugby suggest, black backline players aren’t short on opportunities, but black forwards are something of a rarity. Surely it’s in South African rugby’s interest to change that?
And what better place to start than the Eastern Cape?
‘Whatever they decide to do, there needs to be more of an effort,’ says Smal. ‘It’s something I took upon myself to do, even when I was coaching Western Province. I realised that we had a lot of talented black backs, but not many black forwards. [Former Bok lock] Quinton Davids was probably one of the rare success stories.’
Smal believes the black forwards are there, and that they need to be identified and offered the right opportunities to develop. In challenging this view, some believe that black South Africans aren’t as big as Afrikaans South Africans, and that genetically speaking, they’re never going to offer the same power and size as their white Afrikaans counterparts.
Sports scientist Dr Ross Tucker is aware of the perception. He believes that Saru needs conclusive scientific data if South African rugby is to move forward.
‘A study was conducted at Craven Week level, and it found that the black players were smaller than their white counterparts,’ says Tucker. ‘However, it was also taken into consideration how many of these players were from previously disadvantaged areas, and how that affected their diet and training. They obviously didn’t have the same access to gym equipment and supplements as the white kids.
‘The study did highlight some physical differences, but I don’t think it’s linked to genetics. There are certain population groups that are going to be more suited to a particular sport than others, and I suppose the east Africans are an example when it comes to long-distance running, but it’s a stretch to apply that theory to black South African rugby forwards.
‘There is no conclusive evidence that black South Africans are genetically smaller than white South Africans. To obtain that kind of evidence, you’d need to track players at the lower levels and ensure black and white players get the same opportunities. If the study shows that more black players hit the ceiling of their physical potential before whites, then there may be a case.
‘It’s an argument that will be dismissed as racist in this country, but it should be a matter of science. It’s worth investigating because the findings will offer conclusive evidence. It’s strange that no study has been conducted yet. Transformation is a big deal in South Africa and millions of rands have been spent on development.’
Tucker says that if it’s true that black South African players hit the ceiling of their physical potential before white players, then that must be factored into how transformation is approached at the higher levels. If it’s false then it highlights the importance of development to ensure the black players make the step up. With more quality players to choose from, South African rugby is always going to benefit.
But until there are conclusive answers, the debate will continue to rage. Transformation will remain a dirty word, the equivalent of a four-word epithet that evokes a dual sense of anger and prejudice. Unless Saru does some work to retrieve this information, they will continue to be part of the problem. South African rugby will continue to stagnate when it should be soaring.
– This article first appeared in the November issue of SA Rugby magazine.
156 Comments
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25 Nov 2010, 08:52 am
Transformation will remain a dirty word, the equivalent of a four-word epithet that evokes a dual sense of anger and prejudice.
25 Nov 2010, 08:54 am
Mr Wendell Dragons?
25 Nov 2010, 08:57 am
Some of your best work JC.
Conclusion…
SA Rugby administration are a bunch of ******* bafoons.
25 Nov 2010, 09:00 am
Hmmmmmm….
25 Nov 2010, 09:02 am
I don’t want to read this. Just the heading and opening paragraph pissed me off enough for the day.
25 Nov 2010, 09:10 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri) :
It is a good article with comments from some really knowledgable individuals.
Worth a read.
25 Nov 2010, 09:10 am
JC and his Darwinian Rubbish at its best!
Its all about opportunities or the lack thereof!
25 Nov 2010, 09:12 am
saw the heading and thought it was a follow up to the bees roux drama…
25 Nov 2010, 09:13 am
Watch that Hit counter rise!
25 Nov 2010, 09:15 am
Black / White population = 9 to 1
Anybody knows what the makeup of the Black / White rugby viewing and participation at all levels is?
I would guess it is 1 to 1 at most.
25 Nov 2010, 09:15 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri) :
Ignorant much?
25 Nov 2010, 09:16 am
JC – have you thought that maybe the reason why they are not featering for a province is because they are K@k and are not up to it – but rathre focus on other aspects, like the administrators and racism and and and. I bet you some of them were there because they were black!Chilli!
No one will have an issue with any player of any colour if they are all picked on merit – stop baning this racial drum
25 Nov 2010, 09:17 am
someone needs to investigate whether Pakehas are genetically more intelligent than Maoris because the All Blacks predominatly have Pakehas at fly half.
how many maoris, samoans, fijians have ever played fly half for New Zealand, or is it another case of arrested development?
25 Nov 2010, 09:17 am
@Doomsayer(www.pollwar.co.za) :
and your point is what?
25 Nov 2010, 09:17 am
And JC!
Where is the paragraph that indicates Dutchies are on average the tallest nation on the Planet?
25 Nov 2010, 09:18 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) :
no it’s not, it’s lack of work ethic.
and the small brains cause headaches at scrumtime.
and then with the very big willies…it can make all the other okes uncomfortable at scrumtime as well.
in fact, that is the real problem, in my opinion.
willies are too big…which leads to too much pomping(unprotected of course)…whcih leads to too many kids(poverty stricken of course)…..which leads to not enough food which leads to lots of skinny small okes
….and then you can’t be a forward really, in my opinion.
….and then if you can’t talk afrikaans, you’re fcked really, isn’t it?
25 Nov 2010, 09:18 am
@Transformation(Transformation) :
Lol – i hate these articles – all to do with race – let the best man play regardless if he is a Japanese sumu wrestler.
25 Nov 2010, 09:19 am
The Dutch are on overage the tallest nation on earth. Secondly look at the top sprinters and what colour are they?
But been tall only really counts with locks so I am not sure what they’re on about other than creating controversy and attracting trolls which as you can tell are already here.
Oppurtunity, health, player culture and newtworks are what count.
We have had many players knocking on the Bok door but the door requires the right kind of knocks.
Alberts is prime example, this dude should have been a Bok a few years back; also Giomite only at 27…let me not get onto on one of our most underrated players Killian.
But you are right SARU are kak useless…
25 Nov 2010, 09:20 am
Agree with Pissant. While only scratching the surface it notes some interesting points nonetheless.
25 Nov 2010, 09:24 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl) :
Work Ethic?
Some of these black players have to work twice as hard as the Whities – yet whities being their Craven giving right get selected no matter how lazy the filth are!
25 Nov 2010, 09:25 am
Anyone who denies the role of genetics in Sport and specifically this scenario is an idiot.
I suppose the fact that the top 3 sprinters on the planet come from a small island in the carribean is pot luck.
And the fact that some of the best long distance runners on the planet come from a village in the Kenyan highlands is pure coincedence.
Baffles me.
25 Nov 2010, 09:27 am
20. Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) same same
******
25 Nov 2010, 09:27 am
@John Galt(John Galt) :
I don’t want to read it. YOU FARKING READ IT IF YOU LOVE IT SO MUCH.
MY CHOICE *******.
JUST FOR TODAY I DO NOT WANT TO READ ARTICLES ON RACE! IS THAT FARKING OK!
25 Nov 2010, 09:31 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri) :
Bad morning then?
25 Nov 2010, 09:32 am
What happens when you are mixed like me??
Fark half of us are confused. I have friends who think been mixed race is better than cuacasian or african, you can get the best of both worlds. Its a new nationalism amongst some!
Ha ha ha I still tell him he got the wrong halves….
25 Nov 2010, 09:33 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri) :
Calm down lilly.
Then rather go to the all black thread
25 Nov 2010, 09:35 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) :
and some can’t even pitch up at work…like solly and lionel.
filth that they are
25 Nov 2010, 09:37 am
Attending the “right” school also has a lot to do with who makes it right to the top in SA rugby I think (and how quick a player gets there). A good example is Gurthro, he went to one of the “right” schools…
25 Nov 2010, 09:38 am
@gunther(gunther) :
I was there, when groot bek had to flap his lips!
25 Nov 2010, 09:38 am
To me the biggest problem is that there are not enough places in each of the unions to accomodate all the players, so obviously there will be big competition for a place, so maybe SARU needs to look at introducing another CC 1st division team and increasing the size of the Premier division, but giving the smaller teams more financial boosts to encourage better players, thereby putting them on a more equal footing wiht the big 5 unions with regards to competitiveness.
25 Nov 2010, 09:40 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) :
read the article mighty.
try and use what little education you have.
25 Nov 2010, 09:41 am
28. AlphaTango(AlphaTango) yep the right schools do play a big part.
25 Nov 2010, 09:42 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri) :
you know I just want you to be happy
25 Nov 2010, 09:44 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) : dude just relax on the race vitriol…really
25 Nov 2010, 09:45 am
@gunther(gunther) :
Thank you. I am. Going to make some rooibos tea now and get into a calm space.
25 Nov 2010, 09:48 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua) : Dude. He was being tongue-in-cheek. You’ve misread it, calm down.
25 Nov 2010, 09:50 am
@John Galt(John Galt) : genetics indeed. Just remember that Jamaica was only inhabited by black people 350 years ago.
25 Nov 2010, 09:51 am
“Filth”?
JC, I thought there was a zero tolerance approach to racial epithets here. WTF?
Mighty Horua and Brigadier van Zyl, why don’t the two of you get a room and either release your frustrated sexual tension or kill each other in a private race war?
25 Nov 2010, 09:51 am
@jamisz(jamisz) :
Jamaica that up?
25 Nov 2010, 09:53 am
Another lie by Keo.
Maku was mismanaged by the Bulls. Another prove of how little Keo knows about rugby.
2004: Maku played for Border as loosehead
2005: Played for Bulls U19 as loosehead.
2006: Played Bulls Vodacom as loosehead and hooker. Also played SAU21 and Emerging Boks as loosehead. Played Bulls U21 (Werner Kruger and Dean Greyling were the props. Quite nice to compare the progress these three players made since then.
2007: Played Bulls U21 and Vodacom Werner Kruger moved to the senior side and Dean Greyling played the same sides as Maku.
2008: Both Greyling and Maku made their debuts as substitutes in the super 14.
2009 Maku selected for the Springboks.
Considering that Maku changed from prop to hooker (not always the easiest move) his progress at the Bulls was not really that different to a white player with similar talent.
25 Nov 2010, 09:54 am
Do you guys reckon this whole obsession with race will disappear someday?
What will cause an end? A bok team thats 100% black?
I dont think so!
25 Nov 2010, 09:55 am
@Garry_Owen(Garry_Owen) : IDJIT!!!! Read the article.
Answer me this. How can there be merit, when there aren’t equal opportunities? The paragraph below makes refernce to it.
‘There is no conclusive evidence that black South Africans are genetically smaller than white South Africans. To obtain that kind of evidence, you’d need to track players at the lower levels and ensure black and white players get the SAME OPPORTUNITIES’
K@K article by the way JC. This topis was debated just a few weeks ago. All it does is polarzie people into a right and wrong scenario. There could’ve been a better way to address this article, given that you’ve gone to the experts for thier opinion. The balance of the article sucks.
25 Nov 2010, 09:55 am
@jamisz(jamisz) : wasn’t jamaica a plantation and hence the black population there descendents of slaves?
25 Nov 2010, 09:58 am
43. @Transformation(Transformation) : Isn’t Jamaica STILL a plantation?
25 Nov 2010, 09:59 am
@Transformation(Transformation) : slaves brought from where?
25 Nov 2010, 10:02 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl) : Very humourous! Well I take it you meant it as humour. Seems to me ther are many on this site that have small tools and big chips on their shoulders???
Of course genetics plays a part, it plays a part in every individuals life. Du’oh… Aint so difficult to work that out. As for whether some nations are better at particular things again du’oh… aint so difficult to work that out either.
The Germans are logical thinkers and how good is their rugby team? The Scandanavians have the highest standard of living in the world and how many rugby players do they produce? Get my point? Okay for those that are cranially challenged… its all about interest plus cultural background + whether you want something. Surely?
Its not an article about race, its a topical matter in SA and other nations too. The 5 nations champs (i.e. the combined island team called New Zealand and including Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and other little island which I conveniently group into another island) also have their race issues make no mistake. However these blokes have a passion for the game and it is a means to rise above poverty and play sport for a living.
Many Africans play sport for a living, and whether they choose soccer or golf or rugby! So those of you that are ranting and raving already kindly relax take your foot off the pedal and see the article for what it is.
25 Nov 2010, 10:04 am
Oh for FS. Transformation is surely about giving players opportunities to progress in rugby? The mere fact that there are so many black players coming through at age group level proves that transformation works. What else needs to be done? Does transformation mean that the unions have to take the player by the hand and lead him all the way through the system? When and where will the player learn to take responsibility for himself? Transformation may be a reality in this country, but as Malema and company are learning now, the rest of the world does not give a flying **** about the colour of your skin.
And this is just the point. NZ and AUS players are not going to play to a lower level just because we are fielding quotas in the team in the S15. Coaches know that and therefore they cannot afford to select players who are not good enough. Who is going to pay SARU’s millions for broadcasting rights when we field under strength teams just to satisfy politicians?
I cannot for one moment believe that unions will willingly and knowingly not select a brilliant black player just because he is black. They stand to lose too much. If I am wrong and it is indeed the case, why do these players not do what the white players do – go and ply their trade overseas? Could it be that there will be no-one over there to hold their little hands?
No, the problem is that players are given a free ride into provincial age group teams and then take selection for granted. They stop working hard and they fall by the wayside.
Why do people blame the unions for the fact that black players do not take responsibility? Entitlement is a *******
25 Nov 2010, 10:09 am
@jamisz(jamisz) :
slaves r us?
seriously though remember that the slaves bought form africa were the biggest and strongest to start with.
furthermore only the strongest of those managed to survive the voyage.
so however barbaric they already underwent a form of natural selection.
added to that for 350 years they were exposed to a consistently better diet than they had at home.
plus they had herb.
25 Nov 2010, 10:13 am
@wackers(wackers) :
Very nice post dude.
25 Nov 2010, 10:13 am
@gunther(gunther) : Nope. The exported ones were the runts of the litter. Weak and slow, thus they got captured. The strong, fit, fast ones stayed behind.
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