This comes up every so often, usually in a context that relates to what happens in New Zealand where size is possibly a much bigger issue in lower age-groups than here in SA.
However as a variant of this I was wondering what would happen if overall team size restrictions were imposed at 1st XV level in SA.
Imagine if a team could only have a pack with a maximum size of 800kg, which is still hefty at an average of 100kg per player. To go with that how about a backline that had to tip the scales at 560kg or 80kg per player on average.
Would these sort of restrictions have a more positive impact on skills development by removing weight advantage?
Would it help to reduce the motives for taking steroids?
I see that on World rugby (ex-IRB) there is an article about this – the Relative Age Effect – http://irbplayerwelfare.com/?documentid=110
@BoishaaiPa: I never went to gym at school, but I can’t keep my son out of the bloody gym!
I lost a lot of weight during basic training (gee that food was kak!)…but put it back on swiftly thereafter!
@Playa: @Vleis: I was a little heavier in Matric…68Kg’s!…lol…I also only started my growth spurt in varsity…not much of a spurt as I was around 75Kg’s when I went to the Army. I had my best growth spurt between 40 and 50!…Went up to a whopping 85Kg’s!…My son is a cricketer, but played rugby as well…he was smallish at school as well, but now at 21 he is around 80kg’s..never been inside a gym his whole life!
@Andre: Tjo!
I was 84kg in matric. My grade 11 son is a 130kg tighthead and squats 240kg….
@Playa: @BoishaaiPa: Makes three of us. I was a 64kg scrummie in matric, but was 80kg one year later – grew too late!
Fortunately, they start school a year later now, plus modern kids seem to grow faster and do more gym…so my son in grade 11 (also a scummie) is 78kg.
@BoishaaiPa: 65kg scrummie!?! I was a copy and paste version of you in the late 90s
…and believe it or not, I am still that way 15 years later
@Playa: As a 65kg scrummy in the early 80’s in EP I had to play open rugby as a 16 year old…Those days there were no age restrictions so long as you were at school you could play. I remember playing against an oke from Otto du Plessis who was in matric when I was in St 8…he was still in matric and playing for Otto two years later when I was in matric as well!..Must have been 21 by then!..It wasn’t a problem back then playing against players 30 to 40 kg’s heavier than you, you just adapted your tackling techniques and made sure they don’t get hold of you by running faster than them!…I swear there were not as many injuries then as we see nowadays. Natural fitness and strength vs Gym fitness and strength seems to be the difference. Today’s players will most probably kill us on the rugby field because of their superior conditioning, but hell…they will surely lose the fight!
@Andre: @Soutie 1: I agree 100%. It would certainly be beneficial at primary school level, and maybe even up to under 14 level at a push.These are critical stages for skills development. And I guess one can see it in the NZ set up.
As for curbing steroid use in the more senior age groups…on the contrary, I think it would exacerbate the problem instead. You will have Bakkies Botha types wanting to be a Julian Savea, while a Gio Aplon type who feels out of place running around with other scrawnies will want to graduate into a Sonny Bill Williams. This system would further emphasize the obsession with size, which is a problem we already face in SA.
I think size levels vs age group levels will make a huge difference. Our NZ counterparts are as big as us at International, Super Rugby and Provincial levels however they generally seem to have far greater skills. I would think that this can only be nurtured and honed when like play like or the law of physics will eventually take over. Souties are generally smaller than their Afrikaans counterparts and 9 out of 10 times the latter traditional power house schools hammer their opponents with a combination of skills and strength. I believe that it is only the fairly recent conditioning regimes taken up by some traditionally English schools that have made some of their A sides competitive. My cents worth
Size restrictions would probably only have a positive impact at primary school level. At high school and open rugby, sizes tend to level out a bit.
Also, there are some very big players that are pretty useless, too. I’ve also seen some fat kids with very good skills, and it would be unfair to sideline them, in a society where some are pre-judged very quickly.
Steroids are the new “in” thing to do. I see small boys with no future in rugby taking juice like it’s candy. Pretty openly and brazenly too, so I doubt a positive impact there.