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KZN looking for a new Craven Week forwards coach

27 November, 2013 beet 32

The departure of coach Sean Erasmus from Glenwood to Paarl Boys High will leave the KwaZulu-Natal under-18 Craven Week team with a vacancy at forwards coach.

The clear cut criteria for selection of a new assistant coach has been provided by the KZNRU High Schools’ Association:…

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Why only 24 schools are part of the “anti-poaching” charter

27 November, 2013 beet 27

Email sent in:

The bloggers on schoolboyrugby.co.za are making far too much about who is on and who is not on the list of 24 schools.

What no one has noticed is that these 24 for schools are all part of the informal organisation of state-aided monastic boys’ high schools that has been in existence for about 17 years now.…

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24 schools making up the rugby anti-poaching charter

26 November, 2013 beet 83

The Burger newspaper has revealed the names of the 24 government schools that have agreed to a “ons sal nie spelers met geld lok nie” (we won’t use money to attract players) charter that is in the process of being established.…

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Sunday Times probes schoolboy rugby poaching

17 November, 2013 beet 220

“How money moves rugby schoolboys” was the title of an interesting Prega Govender article in the national paper Sunday Times. The article grouped wealthy schools and rugby unions together as it touched on the sensitive topic of poaching “black” players using financial incentives.

The paper established a tally at 37 pupils poached in recent years from the Eastern Cape and Boland. …

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Golden Lions u19 contracted players for 2014

14 November, 2013 beet 92

The Golden Lions have their 40 schoolboy signings for 2014 in the bag. 2013 Beeld Trofee winners EG Jansen from Boksburg have been a team blessed with talent in all departments so it comes with little surprise that they are best represented school in the Lions under-19 group  for 2014 with nine players. Amongst the names keep a close eye on Jansies No.8 Marco Holmes. At 1.85m and 95kg Holmes is a player similar in size and ability to Carel Greeff…

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SARU coaching survey & interest in specialist scrum coaches

12 November, 2013 beet 1

Email from SARU to certified Boksmart coaches and referees :

Dear BokSmart Certified Coach or Referee

Thank you for your contributions to Playing Smarter, Safer, Rugby.

As part of the BokSmart initiative, we have developed a new BokSmart focused Research and Communications portal called BokSurveys.com. Via this portal, we will be able to communicate important Rugby Safety related information to you directly, and will also be able to use this as a platform to perform certain Research Surveys aimed at further improving both the safety of the game and player performance. …

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Heyneke Meyer currently second best post-isolation Bok coach

11 November, 2013 beet 15

Believe it or not by the time this End of Year Tour is over, current Springbok Heyneke Meyer will be the fourth most experienced Bok coach of all time, overtaking both Rudolf Straeuli and the legendary Doc Danie Craven to claim that spot. The Boks’ 24-15 win over Wales on the weekend, also pushes Meyer up into second place since test rugby readmission. This second place is in terms of both win percentage and  a specially devised rating formula which takes the quality of the test opponents into consideration.…

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Springboks face tough test against Wales

7 November, 2013 beet 55

The Springboks will have their work cut out for them if they want to beat Northern Hemisphere champions Wales in Cardiff on Saturday night 09 November 2013 (Kickoff at 19h30). The result of this game will go a long way to determining if Bok head coach Heyneke Meyer’s second year in charge is a success or not.…

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Free State Craven Week 2004 – 2013: team of the decade

5 November, 2013 beet 61

I asked Old Grey blogger “BOG” to help out with arguably the most difficult to select  Craven Week team of the last ten years of them all – the Free State team. With so much quality being churned out by Grey College annually, to compare and then choose one player over another per position is subjective. Here is BOG’s personal choice with a few footnotes on the method he adopted:…

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Boishaai heading to SANIX in 2014

5 November, 2013 beet 6

Not yet official but it looks like Hoër Jongenskool – Paarl Boys’ High School will participate in next year’s SANIX international school rugby tournament which takes place in Japan annually. …

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New Bishops 1st XV Coaching Structure

31 October, 2013 beet 8

Article taken from the Bishops Diocesan Website:
We are very pleased to be able to announce that the 1st XV coaching structure. All coaches except for Mr Jacobs will have the 1st XV as their focus, but will also work with other teams and coaches. However, all will have an integral role to play in the 1st XV in 2014. …

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Grey High tour the UK with 2014 1st XV squad

31 October, 2013 beet 8

From Grey High School in Port Elizabeth
Grey High will undertake a 13 day tour of England and Wales as part of their preparation for next season. The 25 man squad will depart on the 23rd of November to play 5 matches against Abingdon in Oxford, Plymouth College, Millfield, Monmouth in Wales, before playing London Irish U17 on the the 1st of December. …

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Concerned parent – real food vs steroids

31 October, 2013 beet 16

I am following the article regarding SARU’s request for headmasters to monitor steriod use and abuse (http://blog.schoolboyrugby.co.za/?p=5678). There is also a lot being said about supplements but with everything said, the boys are still using these products.

My mind has to ask though – why do the boys do it? Steroids are expensive, etc, etc. And what are the schools doing to facilitate healthy eating at school?…

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Potential Baby Bok training squad for November 2013

30 October, 2013 Muzi 57

For the last three years, as the first step towards selecting a Baby Bok team to compete in the Junior World Championships, head coach Dawie Theron selected a group of about 50 players to attend an under-20 training camps down in the Western Cape during November. However in line with the progress comes change and for the JWC 2014, Theron has aborted the  November training camp idea. It is believed that this will be replaced by a 7-week long training camp in 2014, in line with plans to improve results during the IRB tournament. 

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SARU letter to headmasters re: steroids

29 October, 2013 beet 94

24 October, 2013

Dear Headmaster

The South African Rugby Union has evidence to suggest that the use of anabolic steroids among schoolchildren is on the increase. I am appealing to you today to enlist in a campaign to address and confront this alarming sub-culture.…