It’s fair to say that Heyneke Meyer has not enjoyed the best of seasons. Since taking over as Bok coach this year his reputation has taken a bit of a knock. He’s still held in high regard at Loftus though. Here his past successes as Blue Bulls coach put him in a position to influence how the Bulls go about their business both on and off the field of play to this day. Amongst his ideas implemented was an aggressive junior player recruitment model aimed at ensuring the Bulls remained South Africa’s most successful professional era team. It’s been so far so good. Every year for the last three or so years the Bulls in association with their partners at the University of Pretoria have easily outdone all opposition when it comes to attracting the best known school graduates and in some instances still at school players to their region. Their 2013 intake makes for impressive reading. They have signed up SA Schools and Craven Week players aplenty. Clearly their programme is at a spending level that cannot be matched by any other Union in SA. It costs big bucks though. Whenever an entity forks out lots of money, the term “return on investment” always comes into the equation. It’s perhaps still a little too early to expect the Bulls senior team to benefit from the increased emphasis on recruitment but give it two or three seasons and the returns should start to show up on the scoreboard and in the trophy cabinet. At least that’s what those that who have put much faith in Meyer’s concept are hoping for.
Whether this Bulls strategy which runs along the lines of attempting to creating a junior rugby monopoly is good or bad for the game in SA as a whole is debatable. Fortunately even after the Bulls have scooped the lion’s share of top provisional representatives, there is still enough talent to go around in this country. Add to this that the men in Pretoria still rely heavily on outdated Meyer inspired one-dimensional game plans, and it seems like the playing fields will stay fairly even into the foreseeable future.
There are also some worries about the rugby futures of second best Bulls junior players. Being second best in a Bulls junior team these days sometimes still translates to being better than the best in another province’s team. There is no dispute that youngsters who sign with the Bulls benefit from good coaching at a world class facility. The dispute revolves around what happens to those that are good enough to play provincial rugby in SA one day but have to live in the shadows of other star junior Bulls players as a result of the Union’s stockpiling of age-group level talent. The worst thing that could happen is that these surplus to requirement players who would otherwise have started every games at other provincial junior teams, become despondent and either leave SA to pursue the game abroad or worst still leave rugby altogether. In SA it’s not that easy for a junior to just up and leave one Union and pick up a contract at another. With most Unions running on tight budgets, once funds are committed to contracts that run for a few years, there often isn’t extra cash left to offer a transferring junior a decent amount.
Another concern is that by having so many good surplus players, are the Bulls now guilty on unintentionally lowering the standard of junior rugby in SA as a whole. There have often been calls for an American Football-like draft system to be introduced in SA. It’s again debatable whether or not a system like this would work here. The benefits of a draft system is that it ensures a fairly even distribution of talent by allowing the weakest team be the first to pick a player followed by the next weakest team making a pick and continuing until the strongest has picked someone. The process then starts over with the weakest team picking another player. This continues until all the players available have been selected. The draft system also encourages teams to focus on acquiring good players in positions where they have the greatest needs. This ultimately results in balanced competition and keeps the standard high because teams are usually always closely matched. It is a far cry from the current situation where a team like the Bulls have four or five of the best under-19 locks in SA while sides like the Sharks and Free State have shortages in this department.
The Bulls have a big budget but they don’t have bottomless pockets either. In order to accommodate new arrivals, attempts are underway to part ways with several juniors that are no longer part of their plans. It’s a worrying thought that some of these young men have only been with the Bulls for one season. Amongst these are several Grey College and Glenwood players who would have made a world of difference to the causes of the respective Free State and Sharks under-19 teams in 2012, had they chosen to stay at home after school and not sign with the Bulls.
Despite all the negatives that have been mentioned, the Bulls cannot be blamed for how things are panned out. They continue to acquire these quality players from under the noses of their opponents because they are just much sharper than other provinces and have placed a lot more focus on recruiting. Right now it’s a competition all on it’s own to sign the best players and the Bulls are easily winning the compo. In addition to this there is no favourtism shown at Loftus. All their signed players are given the chance, be it a short one to rise to the top and stake a claim to a starting berth. Their players are also well remunerated, enjoy good benefits and study opportunities. Finally there is a reality to professional rugby – it is that only a handful of juniors ever make it to become successful senior professionals anyway.
So here many of the known schoolboy rugby players that the Bulls have signed for 2013:
Props: Pierre Schoeman (Affies), Dayan van der Westhuizen (Centurion), Wilco Louw (Drostdy), Nqoba Mxoli (Westville), Johan Bannink (Garsfontein), Piet-Louw Strauss (Oakdale)
Hooker: Vean Roodt (Centurion), Arno van Wyk (Boland Landbou), Corniel Els (Grey College), Christiaan Prinsloo (Port Natal)
Locks: Nicolaas Jv Rensburg (Affies), Johan Ras (Centurion), Justin Basson (Boland Landbou)
Loose-forwards: Thabo Mabuza (Centurion), Carel Swart (Glenwood), Corne Cooper (Paarl Gim), Chris Massyn (Monnas), Reegan Smith (Maritzburg College), Heinrich Viljoen (Affies)
Scrumhalves: JP Smith (Queens), George-Lee Erasmus (Centurion), Kobus Wolmarans (HTS Middelburg)
Flyhalves: Handré Pollard (Paarl Gim), Josh Stander (Queens)
Centres: Daniel Kriel (Maritzburg College), Rohan Jv Rensburg (Waterkloof), Leighton van Wyk (SACS), Tiaan van Dijk (Nelspruit)
Wings: Matjikinyane Molapo (Ben Vorster), Marcus Kleinbooi (Affies), Bryce Nicholas-Deh (Michaelhouse), Caswell Khoza (Southdowns), Marquit September (Garsfontein)
Fullbacks: Jesse Kriel (Maritzburg College), Jaco Hayward (Centurion)
@beet: Interesting
@PlayFlair: I’ve asked about this and it seems like the Sharks/Pukke is a W-I-P with the Pukke having access to testing facilities that the Sharks could benefit from and the Sharks being in a position to loan the Pukke players but his is all down the line opportunities that exist. It seems like the relationship is not quite in its infancy stage right now. More like an embryo right now.
@Playa: He signed for the Kings as far as i know
@Playa: Agreed there
@PlayFlair: I think that schools are doing this to act as a draw card to attract kids to there schools. Also the sponsors encourage this.
Can it be true that some schools have alighned themselves with Unions? Interesting that the Sharks have partnered with the Pukke for the Varsity Cup, what message is that?
@beet: I agree fully with everything you have said above.Yes, SA has an abundance of talent,but there is still far too many young men falling through the cracks provided by the current system.Bjorn Basson’s career for example was all but over at the age of 23,only to get a lifeline from Griquas,and look what he has done since.Smaller unions,need to be given a chance to compete,and need to have access to the fringe talent that gets wasted at big unions.We cannot have a monopoly in sport.The whole point of sport is fair competition.It is unfortunate that sport is now a business, and therefore prone to these types of unfair practices.
The Kings are set for failure.And that is why they will carry on buying foreign players for the foreseeable future in order to try and keep afloat.Snubbing home grown talent unintentionally.Their Under 19 and 21 teams have been performing flippen well in their leagues,those boys are yearning for stiff competition, which they will not get unless they move to premier franchises,in order to get that as well as proper recognition.
End of the day,I feel recruitment at under 19 level needs to be capped.Money offered to under 19s also needs to be capped.Give a fair chance to all unions to put something on the table…but most importantly,give a fair chance to all players to compete.It is a tragedy to see 19-21 year olds carrying tackling bags season after season.
@Playa: I also believe that our approach to junior rugby is a bit narrow-minded as well. If SARU improved the structures there would be more opportunities for players to succeed at u19 and u21 levels.
For example. This year in u19 a trend was followed with SWD being put to the sword just about every week as an A-section team. Hats off to their players coz they tried really hard to be competitive but at the end of the day they got slaughtered on a few occasions. Their players were just not A-section material. If it’s not SWD it’s another one of the minnows trying to compete against the established big guns with their high quality players. Fortunately next year Border thanks to the backing of the former Zululand Rugby Union will provide a little more resistance.
Why SARU did not grant automatic promotion to the Kings in all 3 compos (u19, u21 and Currie Cup) after handing them a SR franchise is beyond me. The whole idea of junior rugby is to create a support structure for the senior team and SR provides incentive for school leavers to join the PE based team.
But to get back on track. I would seriously consider the following 2 things for our u19 rugby.
1. A Western Cape universities team and a Gauteng Universities team to compete in the u19s
2. The B-teams of WP, Sharks, Bulls, FS and Lions to compete alongside the likes of the Pumas, Griquas, Valke, Griffons, Boland and SWD in the u19 B-section.
I believe these 2 initiatives would increase the participation without compromising quality.
Finally I would also invest a bit of SARU money in either good camera equipment and/or hiring professional cameramen. Even if it’s just 1 camera per match, as long as the quality of the production is good, it would help the u20 selectors. At the moment I know the Sharks make use an old guy and a cheap home video SD camcorder to record home u19 games. Scraping the barrel stuff. I have a feeling the other Unions make use of similar cost cutting measures.
None of what SARU is doing at the moment is helping talented fringe players. They need to up their game.
@QC86: Sh1t happens.There was a guy by the name of Bertram Johnson,played number 8 for Selborne Primary in the 90s, for the Under 13As in 1995,my year at under 13.He was a monster,strong and quick.A Jonah Lomu character.He got offered a bursary at Grey College,and trekked north to the Free State.He played hooker in 2000,his matric year,had barely grown an inch since primary school.Pace was gone,and he was not nearly as effective as his potential in junior school.He could have easily qualified as over-age under any doctor’s eye.
Like I said,sh1t happens, there are those boys who grow too big,too quickly and hit a dead end very early in their lives.No doubt,it could be a matter of an incorrect digit being inserted in the birth certificate that gets over-looked.
@Muzi: You forget that Jho was played out of position at wing.That couldnt have helped his confidence and progress.
Which brings me to a problem I have with the Bulls’ mass recruitment poilicy.The real losers are those players who end up in a union where they are 4th and sometimes 5th in the pecking order, due to large numbers of competition.It cannot be healthy for a 19 year old to carry tackling bags for 2-3 years in their career,only to be dumped to other unions when they probably have lost all interest in the game.What the Bulls are doing is detrimental to the progress of many young talented boys who leave school with rugby aspirations.They attract a lot of players with their huge cheque book,and to a lot of kids,it is a no brainer to head up north after school.Only to find that they are just a number.
I will be watching Josh Stander’s progress at the Bulls with great interest.I have a feeling he is wasted up there.Nqoba Mxoli and Christiaan Prinsloo may also be on that same boat.
@Muzi: Are you sure Andile Jho has gone to the Sharks? Heard he signed for the Kings…
Beet some years ago I was told that the Bulls have a 25% success rate on contracted 18 year old players making it through to Super and CC rugby.I dont think any person on this blog should be a spin doctor for the recruiters of rugby unions but should rather evaluate their performance by way of the results achieved by the players contracted by the recruiters!One should also ask yourself why the other unions are not as aggressive in recruiting 18 year old players like the Bulls do?I think they spend their money more wisely by recruiting less players .It also leads me to the question of whats more important winning the u19 Cup or the Currie Cup or the Super Rugby trophy?
If the strategy is to contract teams at junior level rather than individuals one should expect these teams to at least win the u19 Cup.Therefore I think to release contracted 18 year old players after their first year of a 2 year contract leaves me to think that these recruiters
are not nearly doing a good a job as Muzi wants us to belief.Nothing personal Muzi!
I think the Bulls scouts do a great job of getting around to see the talent all over SA and then convincing so many of them to sign up. However they aren’t really talent scouts in the true sense of the word. They are just talent hoarders or ringfencers as was mentioned above. I know many parents who aren’t scouts for a living but are just as good at IDing school boy talent. The skill comes into play when you can only hand out 10 or so contracts to players across the country and you have to bank on these player making the step up to the senior ranks. I’d like to see how Xander fairs as a scout if he was faced with a quantity restriction that puts a lot more pressure on to make the right decision the first time around.
After Heyneke Meyer started with his big junior player recruitment program in 2010 at the Bulls one would have expected that the 2011 and 2012 ABSA u19 Currie Cup trophies would surely be in the Loftus trophy cabinet!In 2011 the Lions and 2012 WP won it.It leads me to how good a job are these recruiters at the Bulls really doing?Telling scores of kids about the so-called good structures and creating huge excitement and expectation to join the Bulls and then 1 year into their contract to try and offload them to other provinces?They will be leaving the Bulls as second rated players and it will be a big uphill battle to restore their marketvalue to what it was in matric before they joined the Bulls.
So I think Muzi you must be very careful in singing the praises of the Bulls recruiters and you should ask yourself if the recruiting and or coaching are really up to scratch in Pretoria.Thismethod of recruiting is called ringfencing where you try to keep good players away from your competitors and at the same time they dont get gametime where they are contracted.I think these guys break more careers than making careers with this method and they are doing a disservice to SA Rugby.Luckily there are stil some parents that make use of good agents or themselve giving sound advice to their kids in making a rugbycareer decision for example Justin Phillips.
@ Muzi : Thanks for the info, although I support neither teams, I think the move suites Phillips, plays a good running game, saw him make some good breaks at Craven Week. I was impressed at the Bulls CW team and their running rugby rather than their senior counter parts kicking game. Ryno Eksteen also chose a good move to WP, a bit small but has the mold of D.Leyds. I think the Bull would rather resign Serfontein, and wouldn’t see Swanepoel as a loss because he missed most of the season due to injury, and his back up was gud, plus their are two strong centres coming next year(Janse Van Rensburg and Kriel).
@Muzi: I think the Bulls will move heaven and earth to re-sign Jan. However if Jan wants to develop into the best centre in the world it’s probably in his best interests to leave the Bulls and their bash rugby style.
@Griffon:
Jan Serfontein and Dries Swanepoel’s contracts end in October next year.
It’s going to interesting to see if the Bulls will retain them if they don’t get enough game time in the senior side.
@Griffon:
Andile Jho IMHO was a beast in the 2008 craven week at East London.
I remember everyone ranting and raving about him in 2009 but when i saw him play for the sa schools side in i was not that impressed with his size he just stopped growing.
At the 2012 varsity young guns comp he really struggled for form and injuries.
Bosch is a better prospect than Jho.
@Griffon: The Bulls scouts were complacent WP did their work Justin is a massive loss for the Bulls rugby Union.
The Bulls offered him a contract this year but he turned it down.
@ Beet : Good example, I guess its just the way the game goes. You meet players better than you. I saw Bosch play some games, was very impressed, big strong and quick. These traits shadowing Jho. Many stars fall out I guess
@beet: very good example of what an over age player can achieve,Andile Jho,a king doctor treated him for an injury many years ago and in the doctors mind he was at least two years over age
@Griffon: I think school rugby stars have to be separated from senior stars and respected for what they achieved as 18 year olds, without the expectations being attached that they reach the same dizzy heights after school. Nothing should be taken away from the player who stands out on the SBR field, even if he does not make it after school.
I have a feeling that Andile Jho, like many before him has maxed out – he is not going to get much better. He was a fantastic SBR player but in junior rugby he finds himself in the company of players that are bigger, stronger, quicker, smarter. Certainly the guy who effectively ended Jho’s advancement at the Bulls, Chris Bosch ticked a lot of those boxes. Bosch himself was a standout in the WC SBR scene. This year he helped carve up the Sharks u21 team with some outstanding plays that showed off his speed, vision and passing game. Yet Bosch also faces an uncertain future at the Bulls now. Just goes to show how much tougher it becomes to succeed the closer players get to the top.
@ Horsefly : I guess the Bulls put a better offer, plus he will be able to get Varsity Cup action fot TUKS. @ Muzi : I thought Justin Phillips was still in Grade 11, while I heard Andile Jho was going to EP, I feel sorry for Andile after being 1 of the most highly rated SBR players and not getting much time on the field.
@Muzi: 3 3
“Cheetahs scout Andre has signed the following 3 glenwood schoolboys:”
Sihle Ngxabi
Warren Potgieter
Nthokozisi Mkhabela
Cheetahs scout Andre has signed the following 3 3 glenwood schoolboys:
Sihle Ngxabi
Warren Potgieter
Nthokozisi Mkhabela
The Bulls have also released Andile Jho and lock Herman Groenewald to the Sharks.
.
Pity we lost ginger Justin Phillips to WP
As far as i’m concerned Jurie Linde has received offers from WP,Sharks and Bulls.
Also schoolboy lock Bobby de Wee from Southdowns College in PTA has signed for the Bulls in 2013.
Thought Mxoli had signes for Sharks after receiving a bursary at KERF . What happened?
I see there aren’t a lot of KZN boys, good to see N.Mxoli going to a good a franchise, very bright future if all goes well. The only name I didn’t recognise from the KZN boys is the MHS boy( Nicholas Deh).