KZN’s popular youth club rugby for under-13 up to under-18 players begins at Northwood Crusaders rugby ground in Durban North this Sunday. As always there is plenty of incentive for young rugby players to do well. Those who produce the goods stand a chance to represent their province at the Interprovincial Tournament (IPT) to be held at Woodburn in Pietermaritzburg this year.
Fixtures for round 1 at Northwood Crusaders:
| Field | League | Date | Time | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | u13A | 03/08/2014 | 09:50 | Northwood Crusaders | vs | Hillcrest Junior Rugby |
| B | u13A | 03/08/2014 | 09:50 | Collegians | vs | Hitech PMB Collegians |
| B | u13B | 03/08/2014 | 09:00 | Collegians | vs | Seskona |
| A | u13B | 03/08/2014 | 09:00 | Hillcrest Junior Rugby | vs | Queensburgh |
| A | u15A | 03/08/2014 | 11:40 | Rovers | vs | Hillcrest Junior Rugby |
| B | u15A | 03/08/2014 | 12:40 | Amanzimtoti Junior RC | vs | Collegians |
| B | u15B | 03/08/2014 | 10:40 | Amanzimtoti Junior RC | vs | Hillcrest Junior Rugby |
| A | u15B | 03/08/2014 | 10:40 | Northwood Crusaders | vs | Harlequins |
| B | u15B | 03/08/2014 | 11:40 | Collegians | vs | Queensburgh |
| A | u16 | 03/08/2014 | 12:40 | Queensburgh | vs | Hitech PMB Collegians |
| A | u16 | 03/08/2014 | 13:40 | Collegians | vs | Varsity College RFC |
| B | u16 | 03/08/2014 | 13:40 | Newlands East Brumbies | vs | Wentworth |
| A | u18A | 03/08/2014 | 14:40 | Collegians | vs | Hitech PMB Collegians |
| A | u18A | 03/08/2014 | 16:00 | Amanzimtoti Junior RC | vs | Rovers |
| B | u18B | 03/08/2014 | 14:40 | Hillcrest Junior Rugby | vs | Queensburgh |
@Dixon’s: I could agree with you more, it’s about the game and development, for the boys to play and mix with players outside the realm of their schools, structure and the residual pressure that goes with it.
BUIT and I mean BUT subtly it should be the drive and feeding stream into the u20 and ultimately open rugby , it certainly doesn’t assist with boys expecting , and seeing boys at 1st team , playing Currie Cup , or other , this will burn these players out , they just aren’t ,IMHO, ready for this at this age
U20 and U19 rugby should be developed to allow space for boys coming out of Matric and opportunity to explore their abilities, and in a competition that specifically caters for them.
As for DRSU, well simply I could disagree with these people more, and trust me I have, too much is placed on IPT and trying to be a parallel universe to the Craven week sides, its fraught with incompetence’s and bias of the highest note, and all self-serving.
The issue about Collegians isn’t a new one, and has been going on for the 5 years I have known this and it’s the repeat puke every very , and what does the exco do, nothing , just spend money flirting the country looking for the next IPT,
I agree with the principle the idea, it’s the way that’s its implemented that reeks. Self-serving politicians.
The whole of KZN rugby right to the top , needs to be “refreshed” and cut out , new ideas and dynamics need to be put in place, all these old self-serving farts need to be removed , They do nothing but add overheads to the institution. They don’t get out develop the game at all,
I have asked the question so many times, about u19 and u20 and how it should be changed, but it’s a no go,
But one realises one doesn’t have to just work in this structure, one CAN provide alternatives that in many ways are more appealing and avenues that u19 and u20 boys can explore with opportunities that are closed here. What this space and you might just see something very interesting develop
@GreenBlooded: “The whole idea with Colts rugby is to supply quantity and quality to the senior club U20 and open structures in the future which is pretty much on it’s death-bed as it stands.”…… i think this is part of the problem. Club Colts should be about the lighties having fun, making new mates and playing outside of their schools structures and not worrying about scholarships and pressure from the school to win every game. the ethos should be that once the game starts you do everything you can (within the laws of the game) to win, but you dont go out to win at all costs!
i think more emphasis must be placed on the lighties jolling and less emphasis on winning…. the league structure with a final and a trophy has led to cheating in the past… which has led to more paperwork and stringent registration requirements… which sucks the fun right out of the game.
@Dixon’s: No – not at all. But I think all clubs – starting with the big 3 – need to lead the way here and not resort to practices that will further demoralise the situation. Yourself, Green Hopper and Buffel make very good points and I agree with all of you. The whole idea with Colts rugby is to supply quantity and quality to the senior club U20 and open structures in the future which is pretty much on it’s death-bed as it stands. Let’s not waste all the hard work that many of us have put into building this organisation up but letting it self destruct because of a few misplaced ego’s.
The reffing situation on Sunday was a never-to-be-repeated cock-up of epic proportions. Already, the situation is a long way to being resolved and we should no doubt have quality and qualified society refs for all of the games this weekend and going forward.
guys its not the fault of one club that Colts rugby is dying. i remember when i started coaching Colts rugby, a match day Sunday would start at 8am and finish at 5pm with games happening all day on 2 fields. This last round at Crusaders had 15 games total to be played and a few of those where cancelled. Unless numbers increase across the board at all clubs, mark my words… there will be no more DRSU Rugby!!! Added to that was the fact that some games didnt have qualified refs (thankfully i had GreenBlooded reffing my game so i was ok) and also games on Field 1 where running 45 MINUTES late… not a good advert for DRSU Rugby!
@Buffel: you are right , also what they need to look at is incorporating schools that want to improve for the coming year, not tier one schools, but schools that have previously disadvantaged players, low skills, and also assists coaches in bring up skills levels ad experience
but its ego’s mate, that are at play here and have been are for a few years now, personally I think that they have focused too much on IPT, just look at when the boys are picked, smacks of reviews of performance at school rather than at Club, the structure whilst applaud able in its ambitions, will be short lived, in my view, many will disagree, but hey I am here to disagree with,
Club should expand to bring in develop the game, for those outside of the Big schools, so that can be seen, offered possible scholarships and also create stronger KZN rugby , not to simply work in silo’s of competitions ,
It goes further into u19 and u20 rugby where only Premier sides can have u20 rugby , so stupid in my opinion, its limiting and we are losing players with talent and possible late developers , because the system is to limiting , its archaic, an old just like most of the officials in KZN rugby ,
We need to be dynamic , change , restructure club rugby at all levels , make in more inclusive, allow players of all calibres to get involved, what we have no is simply just too restrictive , and son , very soon , you will see boys out of school leaving our shores , for opportunities in other nations , watch this space, just watch
@GreenBlooded: You hit the nail on the head. This will kill club rugby if it continues. My boy playing his last year and wants to go out with a bang , if selected for the IPT team.
For the boys to be ready to face the likes of the Blue Bulls ,one needs to play hard, competitive rugby and that means strength vs strength.
If a boy wishes to play at Hillcrest because he has done so over the years and his friends play there,then let it be. It goes back to limiting the number of boys per age group to say 30 and then the others will filter to the clubs that are struggling.
The other way is to zone the boys so that they play in their region- Hillcrest, Pinetown(zone1) Westville,Durban central( zone2) North of Umgeni (zone 3) South of Edwin Swales ( zone 4) and so on.
We want to encourage boys to play and if they are strong enough, that in its self is a draw card. I am encouraged to approach the DRSU to try and set up a plan so that we don’t have these supa clubs but rather a strength VS strength scenario.
@GreenBlooded: agreed, but its been the case for a few years now , expect when there was a Club, not to be named here, was a complete thorn to the Collegians team and regardly beat them
@Buffel: One of the Collegians lads remarked that the match was ‘so boring’. It does raise the question why, with such a strong team, Collegians still find it necessary to strip the other clubs of their top players. I have commented before on the pressure put on WBHS players by Collegians people within the school – Hillcrest have reportedly lost 5 of their top U16 players from last season to Collegians. Maybe the Collegians management should consider leaving boys at the clubs they want to play for and maybe the games would not be ‘so boring’.
It looks like that collegians are once again favourites to take the u18 crown. They are well-drilled and took the pedal off the gas in the second half to run up 60 points with a solitary try from PMB Collegians for their effort.
Varsity College had a bye so it will be interesting to see how they fair when they turn out next Sunday- fixture to be confirmed.
For the first time, a number of Craven week players will be on show for Durban Collegians- Thomas (tight head) , Smith (centre) and Hall (scrumhalf). These boys have played club rugby for the past 5 years and have developed their games to greater heights due to the club scene. Dixon should turn out for Hillcrest so that is 4 that I know of.
They have the added incentive of playing in the black and white of KWAZULU NATAL at the upcoming IPT to be held in PMB during the 3rd term holidays. They are to be called the KWAZULU NATAL DUIKERS , a name that many promising and oustanding players represented in the past .