Here is the link to a super article published in the NZ Herald a few weeks ago:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11442568
The article starts off with Auckland’s 1A Championship for school rugby, which is the most competitive of all the New Zealand regional leagues and has historically accounted for 40% of their nation’s Super Rugby players. Note that it’s not called inter-schools. It’s called a CHAMPIONSHIP! School kids play to win a league and then the league winners advance to a national knockout cup competition. Very interesting when one considers the admiration Saffa rugby supporters generally have for the brand of rugby that New Zealand Super Rugby franchise teams and the All Blacks play. It’s fostered in a very competitive environment which goes way beyond the pressures associated with any school rugby ranking system that we have here in SA.
Anyway New Zealand faces many of the same issues as South Africa in terms of the rapidly changing image of schoolboy rugby and whether increased exposure an opportunity or a threat. Some of the things briefly covered in the article are:
. TV cameras at all game.
. The commercial and audience potential of SBR is massive.
. SBR no longer driven by players playing for the pride for school.
. Recruitment is rife.
. Huge budgets. Schools using rugby as a marketing tool.
. Paid pro coaches and no longer teachers.
. Rugby scholarships far outnumber academic ones.
. Win at all costs culture taking over
. Inhibiting of player freedom to express themselves on the field as fear of mistakes takes over.
. Selection out of reach of ordinary schoolboys who were previously good enough but don’t prioritise rugby.
. Steroids culture.
. Existence of emotional and mental assistance to help players make the adjustments.
. Over-expectations of parents and players.
. The closing gap between school rugby and pro rugby.
. Pro rugby contracting opportunities that arise from SBR.
. Untrustworthy rugby agents looking to take advantage.
. Regulation and control of SBR
@Tang: No, I did not have a look yet, but I do agree with a system were top 3 from a region and not just one team progress to a league. I myself have developed a concept where we have 5 regions with 3 teams each to play in a national league. That is max 14 games in a 15 team league plus you can still entertain your local derbies. Some of these league games will in any case be against traditional opponents. It can be structured over a long period between March and August and normal derbies will continue. Teams play in excess of 20 games a season nowadays if you include all the festivals and tours, so they will actually end up playing less games. The biggest hurdle is geographical as most teams will have to travel long distances.
@Gungets Tuft – I have watched the Auckland 1 A for the last four weeks and I would say New Zealand School Boy rugby is only now starting to approach the levels of professionalism we have in this country.
1) No sponsors logos
2) One live game streamed per week (streamed and not live TV).
3) A youtube channel with highlights of the weeks results.
We have
1) Sponsors logos
2) Two different Live TV rugby programmes
3) A crazy ranking system
I actually think a system such as the Auckland 1A would fix up a lot of the nonsense in our schoolboy rugby.
Only teams that are top 3 in their respective 1A competitions would progress to a national final.
The only region that comes close to the Auckland 1A is Cape Town and surrounds.
The Cape Town premier league is very tough but it raises the standard across the board.
Imagine the Cape Town 1A with the following teams – HJS, Paarl Gim, Paul Roos, SACS, Wynberg, Rondebosch, Bishops, Boland Landbou, Tygerberg, etc. If you want to make a top four in the Cape Town 1A, you have to be very good. Winning the Cape Town 1A would be extremely tough.
@CRC – Read my reply to Goldstones. Schools in 1A or 1B or 1C in their region play a full fixture against their opponents. The winner of 1A is based on the first xv results but all other teams play a normal fixture.
What I really like about the concept (and again it is worth watching the youtube channel), is the fact that schools with aspirations can be promoted from 1B to 1A. Likewise, if a 1A team is below par, they can be relagated to 1B.
@Goldstones – Please take a look at the Auckland First xv youtube channel.
There is no shortage of rivalry between these schools and the 1A is as old as the hills.
The only thing that has changed with 1A is that they are now streaming one live fixture per week and they show highlights of the other fixtures.
The weekly summary videos are about 15 minutes in length.
If we did this properly in South Africa, boys from all age groups and at all levels would play for their school. The only difference would be a winner of the league at the end of the season.
In Durban and Surrounds 1A would probably be (again in no particular order) DHS, Westville, Maritzburg College, Kearsney, Glenwood, Northwood, Hilton, Michaelhouse, Port Natal, St Charles, George Campbell, Clifton (there may only be 10 teams in 1A in KZN). The other teams would be in 1B and would seek to be promoted if they top the 1B table and win the 1B playoffs.
As you can see, there is no shortage of traditional rivalry and at the end of the season, the team who wins the playoffs can claim to be 1A champs of KZN. There is also enough time for more fixtures and for a national type final. Schools would play between 12 and 15 fixtures per year.
It would probably end festival rugby, would end the ranking system and would reduce arguments about top sides based on rankings.
Each 1A region could have their own set of rules – no 19 year olds, no recruiting after grade8, etc.
@BooishaaiPa – I am not sure if you have watched the you tube video. They stream one live game per week and then they show highlights of the other fixtures. They are way behind us in terms of TV coverage. Also notice how there are limited to no sponsors logos on the school jersey.
There are 12 teams in the Auckland 1A with a promotion and relegation system. The teams play each other in a round robin and then the top 4 play semi-finals and finals.
I agree fully on the top 3 to progress. If you have five regions, this would be 15 teams and maybe one wildcard team.
If you take each regions league and then the top three teams progressing, we would actually be playing less rugby than boys are currently playing.
An example of 1A in Johannesburg and surrounding areas would be (in no particular order) – Jeppe, KES, Monument, Florida, EG Jansen, Kempton Park, Helpmekaar, Parktown, Marais Viljoen, St Stithians, St Johns. (Just an example so no need to get excited).
Top three from this progress to national finals.
@Cappie – Mt Albert Grammar are part of the Auckland 1A and are doing quite well this year. They are just outside of the top 4. Their headmaster just feels TV cameras on the school grounds places too much pressure on the young lads.
BTW – Have you read how the scouts from the S15 franchises are now using the Auckland 1A to recruit young players? Also interesting to note how open most of the schools in 1A are about recruiting players.
If you have watched the Auckland first xv youtube channel, you will get a good sense of why NZ have such depth. If you are in 1A and have aspirations of winning 1A, you had better make sure you have a good squad and are well prepared. I also prefer the way they cover matches and give highlights of all the weekend fixtures.
@Goldstones: Ahh, there it is then. Quite right. So you’re not buying a 1st rugby team, you’re employing a marketing department. That clears up a lot. And in my experience, the worse your general product and service, the more you need expensive marketing.
@Gungets Tuft: Interestingly, this is one of only three threads you’ve been involved in…don’t give up on us just yet
Yes, more bad than good. Every boy whether in the 1st XV or u14F should be playing their traditional opponents and enjoying it. All the negatives from the above article are already ruining a lot of SBR, which as many have said above, is far more exciting than S15, not just more exciting but ignites that feeling of pride, a burning pride for the boys, old boys and parents. That’s surely worth far more than a tournament, which just like the ranking system will be fraught with controversy. Do you think the issues like injuries, traveling disadvantages, refs and beating teams who beat the team that beat you will just disappear.
Something that also needs to be taken into account with a semi-pro league or knock out for the 1st XVs is what happens to all of the other sides in the school. Are they all playing against the same school on the same day or do they just fall by the way side? What about school passion, pride and unity? Is there a decrease in the number of school boys playing rugby in Auckland?
Ons skole is uniek, dis nie net oor twee u19A spanne wat teen mekaar speel op n saterdag nie. Dit begin die vrydag met n klomp verskillende sporte met n klomp spanne wat teen mekaar speel. Dit bou op tot die 1ste rugby spanne. Hel hoe kan enige iemand genoeg van dit kry?
@BoishaaiPa: But hey that’s life – look at the FA Cup – sometimes Man U draw Liverpool in the 1/4 finals – c’est la vie. But you still end up with one of them going through and wining it (similar to a World Cup where the “true final” may actually be the semi – and then France get an easy ride through to the final match?
You’re all missing the key difference between ourselves and NZ. NZ have a population of just over 4 million. Of those 1.4 million live in Auckland. Another million live in Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton. How many schools do they have to cater for?
We’ve got 50 million, spread around in an area 4.5 times the size of NZ. And we have laws telling us who we can pick for sides.
About to retire from my 3rd thread today – this is all too much for me. Matric geography failed me, maths more so, and I can’t enjoy the prospect of professional school rugby. Count me out.
@Rugger fan: The problem again with this regional knock-out is that you will end up with the same problem…The 2 strongest teams might be in the same region and thus eliminate each other in round 1 where they could potentially play each other in a final. Except if you what want is like the current S15 format where they have “conferences” (regions in our case) to make sure there is a rep from each region. This however does not ensure the strongest or best teams are in the finals and we end up with the same problems as we do with the rankings…Team X did not get the opportunity to Play Team Y..etc
Teen die spoed wat dinge in ons land verval, sal dit beter wees om die Zim model te volg…..
@BoishaaiPa: Perhaps an FA Cup format is best – pure knock out until only 2 teams are left standing. Starting off locally – with tier 3 schools – Tier 1 & 2 added later – and then there would be regional / inter-provincial games as one gets towards the 4th or 5th round onwards?
I guess we are in a major transition period. Just like the a stock exchange (or another sporting code like the UK Premier league football) there will be an ebb and flow of trends and ideas.
SBR kicked against sponsorship for ages – but even a “die hard” school like College now has numbers on the back of the 1st XV jerseys and a sponsors name on the front.
I guess the TV debate is the same- and it will come – it is a given – just how it will be managed is all that we can debate IMO
My other call is that in 20 years time we probably will have a totally different set of schools that we’ll be debating on this forum as the tier 1 schools (the likes of Curro, Trinity House, Crawford, Maritzburg Christian Scool etc. may well be up there in the mix).
I’m sure the privates will still be there – but dependent on the national educational policies – government schools may find it far more difficult to compete with the privates.
We can not stop progress – but i agree we need need to be careful about embracing it without analysing the potential risks and mitigating them in some way.
@Tang: There is a flaw in that system as well…What if for instance the 3 strongest schools for that year is all situated in the same region? Or overall there is more strong schools in one region than another? Region A will have to compete against much stronger opposition to eventually gain access to the “finals” as region B and that will lead to other problems.
I would much rather see a system where you have 3 reps from each region playing round robin against each other in a league..You could end up with 18 to 20 teams and max of 17 to 19 games will be played. Work it on the same type of system as S15 points and the winner is the one who ends top of the log. Like the British PL soccer. Your best team who consistently done well over the season will be awarded, while teams that peak for one or two games will not.
@BOG: I agree
Nieu Seeland sal altyd lei……..en ons sal volg
Dit is hoekom ons so fnokken useless is
Over exposure is killing S15. It will do the same to SBR, if it happens
Interesting article! In the long run, this is probably where rugby will go. NZ is not for nothing the front runners in rugby development, and this step is just taking it to the new level. By bringing in this championship they may cultivate a environment where they are again one or two years ahead of the rest of the world.
The head master of Mt Albert Grammar is not doing his school a favour by not participating, as they will be left behind, and become a second tier school.
Somehow, if we want it or not, SA will most probably follow suit in becoming professional in schoolrugby as well. Indications are already there that we do move in that direction, and some actions were already taken in that direction by certain schools.
As in any transformation, once the rules change every one goes back to the starting line. It will be those that can adopt to and implement the rules the best that will prevail and be out of the blocks the quickest. And they will be the frontrunners with regards.
In a certain sence, at this stage there are two schools in the Noordvaal, although performance wise in the first teams they did not perform as well this year, who took some steps in this transformed movement. Many others became aware of the movement taken by the schools, and looking at the responses over the last year, maybe become a little bit threatend by their movement, trying to shoot it down. Right or wrong, to favour them, they are prepared to stick with their action plans for the years to come.
To summarise, if the truth is always changing, what is the truth? Money always make the earth turn around, and in NZ’s case, money did it again. How it will effect us, and how quickly we will adopt to this, remains to be seen. Some already did!
@ Bloggers – This is well worth watching – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7mGfUN8C8
I have followed the Auckland First XV for the past four weeks. Many of the other large cities in New Zealand are considering a similar format.
I think a league system such as the Auckland 1A would work very well in South Africa. Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban/ Midlands and probably Bloem/ Kimberley could all have leagues. The winners of the leagues could go through to Wildeklawer and we would then really be able to crown a so called South African winner. I would much rather see a league system setup and drop the ranking system.
Skole sport is die beste sport om by te woon. Ek ruil n skole rugby wedstryd enige dag vir n S15 wedstryd. The more the merrier.