De Allende to become yet another “small” school Bok

Who says you have to go to a big fancy traditional rugby school to become a modern day Springbok rugby player.  Milnerton old boy Damien de Allende will become Springbok number 862 when he runs onto the field in the Green and Gold on Saturday. It will be a proud moment for the player, his loved ones, his supporters and his old school. All who are affiliated to non-mainstream rugby schools should also find cause to rejoice.
Schoolboy rugby is the wide base upon which South African’s international success has been built. What’s clear is that schools of different sizes, different abilities and from different regions all play a role in molding future Boks. Ensuring that rugby continues to thrive at even the smallest most out of the way school should be one of SARU’s key objectives. With professionalism gaining an ever-increasing foothold in school rugby, there is a clear and present danger – a threat that could quite possibly see the school sport shrinking to a point where it begins to impact on the national team results at some point in the future.

If you have something good, look after it!

Just look at the how many Bok players come from non-mainstream rugby schools.

Apart the well-known rugby schools, the current Bok squad has representatives from Vereeniging, Hugenote (Springs), Berg River, Ben Vorster, Port Natal, Sand du Plessis, JBM Hertzog, Louis Botha, Maria Louw, Pietersburg and Milnerton. That is awesome! Hopefully the kind of diversity stays in place this for many years to come.