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, 10:17 am
As of a certain day when i hear any debate about..
“them or us”…
or,
“white or black”…
or,
advantaged & disadvantaged”
i don’t comment and am not interested.
please take the blinkers/filters off…. we are all people/humans and all need help and support…
i have been involved with orphanages for the last 13 years.
i’ve set up a fund for when the kids leave the children’s home i pay for their studies, accommodation, get them work, pay them a monthly income, pay their hospital bills and support them after they’ve left the children’s home….
they are all kids and i’ve seen that some make it and some don’t… even though we tried our best to help them all…
it’s live…. and then you get politics!
25 Nov 2010, 10:17 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah) :
No pal.
simply not true.
They targeted the strongest one because they were most likely to survive the voyage and fetch the best prices on the other side.
you are wrong.
remember it was spears vs guns.
even ussain bolt would have gone down.
25 Nov 2010, 10:18 am
live=life
25 Nov 2010, 10:19 am
@Staal(Staal) :
can you help mighty out?
25 Nov 2010, 10:20 am
@gunther(gunther) : IT was tongue-in-cheek my friend. Sorry, forgot the
Farking smillies…
25 Nov 2010, 10:22 am
@Staal(Staal) : Wow! You must be loaded! Just kidding. Good to hear,you make me proud of being a Bulls supporter.
25 Nov 2010, 10:23 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah) :
sorry pal.
was I getting to into the slavery thing?
25 Nov 2010, 10:23 am
@jamisz(jamisz) : i don’t know gambia, nigeria, ghana, mauritania etc?
25 Nov 2010, 10:24 am
@Staal(Staal) :
Ja boet.
All of this is quite simple in the end.
Socially engineered structures can only point people in the right direction, not force them, and this is what SA Rugby is trying to do.
25 Nov 2010, 10:25 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah) :
staal is loaded at all times.
in case the shallow pigs mutiny.
25 Nov 2010, 10:28 am
Quinton Davids, a rare success?? C’mon man!!!
25 Nov 2010, 10:30 am
@gunther(gunther) : @ 60
hehehehe,
sometimes i can’t get a shot in cause the shallow pigs and Boerboels are fighting like mad, … don’t wanna accidentally shoot the dog!
25 Nov 2010, 10:31 am
@gunther(gunther) : Gunther not sure where you get this idea from? As far as is known the slaves that were taken from Africa where captured by force without selection – so this was random capturing of the first people encountered by slave traders.
Large proportions of those captured died on the trip over to the other side of the ocean. Also in a ships’ hold if fever or any kind of disease strikes there will be mass fatalities. The survivors therefore were often lucky (i.e. survival rates were higher on ships with calmer sailing conditions and lower / none disease).
This is largely luck. And in Nature… luck plays a large role in survival. Survival of the fittest in Darwinian terms is all about procreation and not what is commonly believed (i.e. the fittest and strongest survive).
So the paradox is that the captured slaves that survived were the lucky ones!
25 Nov 2010, 10:35 am
@Staal(Staal) :
Living the dream.
I am deadly when it comes to taking down a shallow pig.
The trackers call me Big Bwana One Shot.
Their wives call me Nhosepipe.
25 Nov 2010, 10:36 am
@wackers(wackers) : @ 63
talking of natural selection…
Cheers series:
One night at Cheers, Cliff Clavin explained the “Buffalo Theory” to his buddy, Norm.
“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine !
That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.” — Cliff Clavin
25 Nov 2010, 10:38 am
@gunther(gunther) : LMAO!
25 Nov 2010, 10:41 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt) : Hey Pissant what seems to me to be the main problem is foresight. Its not clever at all to look at short term gains which unfortunately is the fickle beast we see in most sports. The sports teams / nations that show better success rates are those with long term plans – look at Aussie cricket as a prime example.
So perhaps the question is not so much about genetics but about intelligence – and yes (before you say it!) these two are often closely linked. So how to solve the conundrum then? Any lucid ideas?
I know my IQ drops when I hang around doffies. Or when I passionately yell at the telly cause the better team is outsmarted!!!
25 Nov 2010, 10:44 am
Why are we still being forced to see it as a black forward / white forward thing?
Why not just a South African forward, and the best man for the job cracks the nod?
Do our green South African passports classify us by race or distinguish our rights by race in any way? (should they?)
No wonder there are still so many racial chips on shoulders prevalent on this blog, the race thing is forced down peoples’ throats all the time.
South Africa is very far behind other multi racial countries I’ve visited where people mostly get on with their life not bothering about such things…
Did France make a national inquest into why their SWC winning team in 98 was mostly black when their population is mostly white? Of course not, that would have been silly.
25 Nov 2010, 10:44 am
@Staal(Staal) : Stall this has to be one of the best (or is that rare?) attempts at intelligent humour from the Yanks!
Personally I get very clever when I drink a skin-full. I think I’m taller and stronger and of course far more handsome. It’s only the next morning when the magic potion has worn off that sanity returns
25 Nov 2010, 10:48 am
@wackers(wackers) : Jip. Same here. From Richard Gere to Reverse Gear the next morning.
25 Nov 2010, 10:55 am
@wackers(wackers) :
There are a million great lucid ideas out there.
The one they are using currently though, is about a dof as it comes.
Transformation in SA is a numbers game. It is justified, argued and judged on numbers whereas the cause for the problem is never addressed.
You cannot play the transformation game as a numbers game, because then you are trying to manufacture a result not create one.
Manufacturing results of course brings short term results, but ultimately always hurts the cause itself in the long run.
The system and the way it works is ultimately to blame.
Leaders in our country and rugby are on short cycles, and they want to achieve results in these short, 4 or 8 years cycles where the problem of transforming successfully will take at least a generation.
A new guy comes in, and screws up what was done before and tries his own thing – no continuity, no goal, artificial results that will never address the real problem.
But in an age where TV dinners, just add water mentality is the norm, I suppose we are the victims of our own devices.
25 Nov 2010, 10:57 am
‘Eddie Andrews has long since retired, although he’s still at an age where he could be contributing (33). ‘
Lovely piece of journalism, considering the guy retired due to a back injury.
w w w.timeslive.co.za/sport/rugby/article365871.ece
25 Nov 2010, 11:04 am
Such Debates are contraversial. If we have to get technical then I will give you and explanation as a blackman:
The West Africans tend to be tall muscular and strong naturally. Here we are talking of Ghanians, Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans etc.
The East Africans tend to be long and tall, oh and slim. These are the Kenyans, Ethiopians, Somalians, Ugandans.
T^he Southern Africans tend to be short and stout. Particularly the Nguni tribes.. Zulu, Xhosas, Swathi etc..
Otherwise, lets not get technical. If we have to go down that root, then I believe the Afrikaaners of French descent tend to be better back line players than the Dutch or English descent players. Just look at Jacque Fourie, Fourie Dupreez, Henny La Roux, Carel Du Plessis, Jean De Villiers to name a few. They are creative like the French are in FRANCE.. They have the guile and pace.. Just a dodgey Theory..
It is all immaterial. Lets just focus on producing Top South African players.. We need the help right now, especially in rthe backline. We lack creativity and imagination.. Expect to see some moves from England this weekend. They are not the best but they will do it better than us. We need the Eddie Jones factor again. The backline moves we had in 2007 were impressive..
25 Nov 2010, 11:05 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt) : Yip PissAnt my take is that we should all learn from the Spanish / Portugese and buy our food fresh
and drink wine every night and sleep in the hottest part of the day.
What a pleasure to see “slow cultures” in action bru… Couple of years ago I walked 850km across northern Spain (at an average speed of about 4kms per hour) over a month. Gives you a new perspective I tell ya!
Oh and let’s not forget that Spain is numero uno in their national game of soccer!!! The best of both worlds methinks.
25 Nov 2010, 11:07 am
There are “instant” success stories, like Lwazi Mvovo, who only started playing rugby at 17.
But the focus needs to be on getting kids into rugby. Let them have the same facilities and access to coaching as the traditional rugby playing core and then watch the results in 10-15 years. That’s where the money should be invested.
Kids who play the sport and love the game will also go to stadiums, with their families, to watch them. The face of crowds in this country will also become “transformed” as a result.
Get those kids just as interested in rugby as they are in soccer and then watch the “transformation” take care of itself (rather than something that is manufactured to appease the government and bank sponsor).
Filter up, not trickle down.
25 Nov 2010, 11:10 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt) : The whole Gert Small-thing is really tragic and SARU’s lack of a response probably had something to do with Gert’s proposal talking about a long-term approach.
25 Nov 2010, 11:13 am
Just to add the West Africans tend to be Faster runners, of which alot of Jamaicans (Usian Bolts’ herritage), Americans, Other Carribeans descend all Slave descendants.. Plus the hard ship effected the genetic line in which the became more physically adept to hard work and hence their physiques’!! The generations and generations of cotton field pickers have made these people superior in physique.
just how Afrikaaner have immense size without necessarily being farmers but descend from farming roots.
25 Nov 2010, 11:14 am
@Tbozknows(Tbozknows) : what about the Shonas, Hutus, Tutsi, where is you “technical” analysis on them?
25 Nov 2010, 11:18 am
@Transformation(Transformation) : 78 lol
OK, so what we need then is to marry 22 local Dutchmen to some West African brides and then in 20 years we will have a “super team”.
25 Nov 2010, 11:20 am
@Tbozknows(Tbozknows) :
thats why afrikaans people are so good at kicking a rugby ball.
their legs are massively developed from kicking lazy farmworkers for generations.
in the same way that all Maevis’ children have massively developed right arms, from years of brasso work.
Maevis’ eldest son is going to be the next Ali.
Dance like a butterfly shine like a Brasso.
I already have a sponsorship deal lined up.
25 Nov 2010, 11:21 am
@Transformation(Transformation) : Good Question..
To be fair my research or lack of research is floored. This is based observation and interaction with friends etc.
I pressume that with the Shona, Hutu and other Central african tribes, they would have descended from the Buntus as they did, which originally came from Nigeria.. Hence they have some of the qualities. Shonas are fast runners, tall and look similar to the West Africans, like the Central african tribes.. You forget the Bantus spread accross Africa from Nigeria originally.
25 Nov 2010, 11:25 am
@Dumb Supporter(DumbSupporter) :
Ja well, one can never accuse SA Rugby of forward thinking can we?
25 Nov 2010, 11:26 am
By the way we all need to just stop the scrutiny, focus on one South Africa..
@gunther(gunther) : You have issues.. You had to take it to oppression.. We were having a civilised Debate…
@Transformation
(Transformation) : Good Questions..
25 Nov 2010, 11:27 am
I did some scientific research. I observed the Ghana WC players and compared them to our players. Can’t even compare ito physique
25 Nov 2010, 11:27 am
I dont even know what genetics I am made up from, how the hell it can be used in a transformation debate is beyond me.
25 Nov 2010, 11:27 am
@gunther(gunther) :
Where do you come up with this stuff???? Do you have script writers?
25 Nov 2010, 11:32 am
Muppets have the answers! Go the Gupta brothers / AB, PI talent mining route and recruit some Central Africans. These ou’s are massive, quick and most importantly, black! Even WI’s would do if they could stay off the local aaptwak.
Ploblem solved QED.
Slightly more seriously, doing things by demographics is just another leaf out the apartheid book.
25 Nov 2010, 11:36 am
@Tbozknows(Tbozknows) : don;t tell me what i “forget”, you are the one with the “technical” analysis gleened from “observing” your friends.
25 Nov 2010, 11:36 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt) : My genetics screwed me when I started playing senior rugby. At 6’2′ and 105 kg’s and a 100m time of about 12 secs (check with Tact) I was too slow to be a loosie, to short to be a lock and I passed matric so I didnt qualify to be in the frontrow
. Then I thought of becoming a ref….but got told I cant. I have 20/20 vision!!! 
25 Nov 2010, 11:43 am
@Transformation(Transformation) :
He needs to spend some time with Maevis.
25 Nov 2010, 11:48 am
@Transformation(Transformation) : As I said I am not an expert,, I read and make opinion as you do in education.. Don’t come to me with your rubbish sarcasim.. These are bits of fact mixed with observation mixed with common knowledge.. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT I AM NO RICHER OR POORER!!
25 Nov 2010, 11:52 am
Ahhh play nice guys. Tbosknows this was a little bit of light-hearded humour so no need to type uppercase / shout. Actually it makes a change to see a discussion where a bit of sanity prevails and without every 2nd comment being abusive!
I’m outa here. And all I say is “Please Boks can you make a semblance at playing sometype of game plan (any type rather than no game plan at all at all) this weekend?” Hmmm am I asking too much there?
25 Nov 2010, 11:54 am
Obviusoly someone is down on “hits” what a load of ****. Quinton davids a success! PWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA. Eddie Andrews… Pure Quota. Maku the what 3rd choice hooker after Botha and Pilleboy Ralapele ? Bolla Conradie? The wanabe George Greegan. Solly ? Hilton Lobberts another clown.
Lets have a look at some shall we. :
The Beast … Alas not from SA yet he is a worldwide hero and legend, good on him!
Brian Mujati… handfull of bok games then he left.
Wanye Julies … gifted a RWC medal just to make up the numbers there were better than him around at the time but lets not go there.
Ricky January … the first 200 kilogram scrumhalf, he did not make it because of talent and skill…
It is not just on the field though, look at Krusty, another huge success story .
The list is a long one and it can continue.. It wont change anything though.
Here is something interesting though. The prices of tickets for PSL games in SA…. Guess how much …. R40.00 Yup and the crowds are upset that after being set at R20.00 for the last EIGHT years, the price has doubled… Forgive me while I go and get very annoyed that the prices of rugby tickets for a game lets say , Province vs the Bulls also a “derby” just like Chiefs vs Pirates are horribly , horribly not the same….
25 Nov 2010, 11:57 am
@wackers(wackers) :
lfmao
no need to get all upper case….
25 Nov 2010, 11:58 am
@gunther(gunther) : i think Maveis has better physical attributes than this Tbozknows
25 Nov 2010, 11:59 am
@gunther(gunther) : LMAO 2 “upper case”
25 Nov 2010, 11:59 am
@Drlector(Drlector) :
how much do you think the average soccer fan earns?
and the average rugby fan?
supply and demmand.
go and sit in the naughty corner with TBoz
25 Nov 2010, 12:00 pm
@gunther(gunther) : Gunther I suspect we have a similar (somewhat warped) sense of humour? Right now its coffee time for me and then daily chores!
25 Nov 2010, 12:01 pm
@Transformation(Transformation) :
she would kill him in a wrestling match.
25 Nov 2010, 12:02 pm
Oh and I suspect we shall now see the emergence of a new saying / response “oi stop getting all upper case on me”
Ahhh at least I have contributed something to this blog hehehe!
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