Word out is SARU may be considering restricting the number of matches a high school rugby boy can play to two matches per week.
It may seem like a big call to make but it would be the right call as it would be in line with improving safety.
Back in 1996 after the first season of Super 12, SANZAR made the decision that each pro team should only play one match per week from 1997 onwards. This was in the interests of player safety. 26-years on and high schools players are often as big, if not bigger and more muscular than the pro players of 1997 and definitely capable of more intense collisions in 30 to 35-minutes of action.
If made, the decision would certainly reform Easter festival rugby which still relies on the dated format of three matchdays being Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
Easter rugby festivals remain as popular as ever in terms of drawing crowds and offer a unique opportunity for schools from different parts of the country to get together. They are however also big marketing and money spinners for the schools that organise them. In addition to this, the three-match option also tends to justify the high cost of travel. This has all translated to resistance to change something everyone senses is wrong.
It will be interesting to see if Easter Festival organisers opt for a work around by perhaps introducing u16A rugby to supplement 1st XV matches or if they simply react by dropping the least popular matchday being Thursday.
The wording of the resolution would have to be quite precise to achieve the desired effect otherwise it could just create a loophole effect, allowing schools to declare the Monday match as part of the following week’s quota of two. This would surely defeat the purpose of the decision.
Amongst the other considerations would be the youth weeks and in particular the outdated Craven Week format. Craven Week could probably achieve close to the same level of success now as a rebranded more cost effective Craven Weekend???
@Dixon’s: Your comment of academics vs. rugby…100%, I cannot agree more!
When these tournaments started, the intensity was much lower and it was seen more as season starting games, and there was no Wildeklawer or Noord/Suid.
It is sad that it is SARU that have to come up with limitations. If the schools do not come up with a solution, even age group tournaments are going to suffer.
Just limit the playing time for a player per calendar week. Most schools do that in any event – checked by parents who paid to have their sons to also go on tour.
The Easter festivals have 60 min games, rolling subs and every player in the squad must play a minimum of 60 mins. As such, it shouldn’t be too difficult to ensure that no player exceeds 140 mins over the four days. Provided all the players in a squad miss one half of rugby (plus a little bit), their school will meet the regulations. The “star” players at a top rugby school can miss 40 mins of the game v the weaker rugby school.
@Dixon’s: The problem is, most parents think that their boy is the next Springbok.
The % chance to make a life-living out of rugby is so so small, it is not worth it.
Tell that to a macro school parent and you might get hurt..
@kantako: I’m not sure of the current setup of academies, but I’m also totally against those. boys should be attending school for academics first and sports second. i think the majority of schools all have Hp academies that run during the day and result in missed class time.
@Dixon’s: is it not Glenwood that have a Sports Academy, where HP students train in the morning and receive their academic classes only later from the teachers ? Or was that only the Sean Erasmus Era ?
Was it not exactly during this time that Glenwood would play all their fixtures, plus Easter festivals plus Sanix , and then also have every single player in the 1st team representing a Sharks Provincial team ? So then they would also play 5 extra games for the Sharks during the Provincial warm ups, and weeks (not to mention the 3 extra trial matches to be selected)
Iv been sayiing for years that the amount of rugby fixtures has gooten out of control. with Tournaments and Festivals and Weeks the boys are playing too much rugby and missing out on too much class/academics. schools should re-emphasise a full fixture 1st Xv dow to under 14 on a saturday and play those in the 2nd and 3rd term only. On Saturday it was 30 degrees c in Durban and there was rugby being played in March. not a healthy scenario in my opinion