If you look at the menu bar right on top, you will see the SBR Prediction Pool. Please click on it and enter your predictions for the Grey PE Festival games

 

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Here is the draft copy of a Charter that 24 government schools were reported to had agreed to back in November 2013 (names of 24 schools here: http://blog.schoolboyrugby.co.za/?p=5901)

TRADITIONAL STATE BOYS SCHOOLS SPORTS CHARTER

Born out of concern that some of the high profile sports at our schools are increasingly being driven by non-educational imperatives and affected by questionable (unethical) practices, we the members of the coalition of state boys schools affirm that sport is an important part of  the educational programme at our schools and that in the first place it exists to help us develop strong character, healthy attitudes and life skills in ALL our boys.…

As you know the SchoolBoyRugby Blog Thumbsuck had to fight off strong competition from another school rugby ranking system available in South Africa to claim the title of worst in 2013. So I figured the only way to ensure that we claim bottom spot no contest in 2014, its to allow you the bloggers and readers to contribute as well.…

Here’s your chance to play coach by selecting the players you think should represent the Boks during this year’s first international window.

Click on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B2RG2PK…

An article from the Saturday Star, written by Theo Garrun

A couple of weeks ago I wrote of the kidnapping of two under-14 rugby players by a coach at another school. I’ve not heard anything more about the matter, so I suspect it didn’t actually happen – I hope not, anyway.

A day or two later another story did the social media rounds – about two young rugby players – Xhosa speakers – who were lured to an up-country Afrikaans medium school, no doubt by bursaries and promises of big money. Apparently, they soon discovered that they couldn’t speak the language, didn’t fit in and were very unhappy.…

Pool: Schoolboyrugby.co.za

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Thursday, 06 February 2014. A Corruption Watch report revealed there is evidence of large-scale corruption in schools.

According to the Corruption Watch organisation 12% of reports on all kinds of corruption since it started in 2012 related to alleged corruption in schools.…

This article about the situation in Australia was written by Charlie Drayton for the website TheRoar.com.au

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The South African Rugby Union (SARU) will be fielding a South African U18 Sevens team. The team will compete in the African Youth Games on 22 – 31 May 2014 in Gabarone, Botswana.

A complete list of players identified for possible selection has been released on Thursday 06 February 2014.…

Home			Away
NMMU	45	29	Maties
UCT Ikeys	24	47	NWU-Pukke
UP-Tuks	18	18	UJ
UFS Shimlas	31	15	Wits

Wow the UKZN has never been part the Varsity Cup proper but the NMMU team that beat Maties 45-29 yesterday was about as close to a KZN / Sharks region representative team as supporters from the region could hope to get.…

The parent of a prominent up and coming Western Province age-group elite squad rugby player let the cat out of the bag with regards to the current type of offer that gets put on the table for a high school slash rugby union alliance inspired under-16 or older relocation to another province. In this particular case the offer was refused.…

I heard this news report on 5FM this morning. It was just too bizarre and probably merits an investigation into just how these students got their straight A’s to begin with.…

Okay so today a social media picture of a known SBR rugby player did the rounds and caused quite a stir, prompting numerous discussions about the use of steroids in school and post-school sport.…

Happy 60th birthday for today Tony Stoops.

Bishops Old Boy and retired teacher Tony produces all kinds on detailed stats for Western Cape 1st XV schoolboy rugby on his website www.stoopstats.co.za. He also runs the largest 1st XV school rugby festival during the Easter holidays, so chances are he won’t have too much time to celebrate this milestone.…

The SA Rugby Player of the Year awards for 2013 will only take place on 12 February 2014 which is quite a long time off. There is no award for the School Team or Schoolboy Rugby Player of the Year but hopefully SARU will continue with an award for the Craven Week Player of the Tournament award.

For this website, to pay tribute to the achievers of 2013, the awards are as follows:

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To all of you reading this blog have a blessed Christmas.

So much of what has been achieved this year has been made possible by the contributions of the regular active bloggers, as well as many generous folks, school officials, union representatives and on occasion supposed “rivals” (who like myself have hopefully come to the conclusion that it is impossible to cover the full spectrum of schoolboy rugby and do it justice as small stand alone websites – the opportunities for growth are still massive).

Without mentioning any names I would like to express my gratitude by way of a BIG BIG THANK YOU to all of you for helping to make the Schoolboyrugby Blog what it is.

May the year 2014 be a prosperous one dominated by the action on the field and filled with good memories of rugby continuing to be played in arguably it’s best and most enjoyable form – the way schoolboys play it.  

Have a good one!…

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An article entitled “Rugbyseuns gestrand ná beloftes” by Julian Jansen in the Rapport newspaper highlights that Centurion High School in Pretoria is under financial pressure and has had to close down it’s boarding establishment. The school therefore cannot fulfil it’s bursary obligation to a young talented player Brandon Smith, who was part of the SA Elite under-16 group. …

Glenwood have moved swiftly to fill the 1^st XV head coaching position vacated by Sean Erasmus who has moved to Paarl Boys High. Assistant coach Rudi Dames will be the man steering the Green ship from 2014 onwards. …

 

 

From SARugby.net
Five key members of the Springbok squad in 2013 will go head-to-head for the annual SA Rugby Player of the Year Award, while the Steval Pumas have been rewarded for their great form this season with nominations in four categories.…

As a tribute to former four-time world flyweight (50kg) boxing champion Baby Jake Motlala who sadly passed away at the age of 51 recently and is regarded as probably South Africa’s most successful boxer of all times, I thought it would be a fun exercise to find out who you believe SA’s top sportsmen of your time are (preferably in rank order).…

Nelson  Mandela, the father of the nation, died on December 5 2013 at the age of 95.

A great leader who respected all and earned the respect of all.

He will be remembered forever throughout the world.…

Struggling former rugby union player Daniel Adongo has found his true calling in life – American football. The big surprise of it all is that the Kenyan born player was not even considering a future in NFL. …

Okay this one is not as bad as the title might lead you to believe. It’s has nothing to do with politics or transformation. Instead it’s about an idea I thought of to deal with an imminent threat that has the undesirable ability to undermine the integrity and enjoyment of schoolboy rugby.

The danger I’m talking about the so-called “arms race” …

I watched a CNN interview with author Malcolm Gladwell a short while back. In it he discusses his latest book “David and Golliath”. This is the same Gladwell that wrote the book Outliers in which he highlights the school age sportsman advantages of being born earlier in the calendar year.…

An interesting article coming from the PlanetRugby.com website

Civil rights organisation AfriForum has warned the South African Rugby Union in a letter that its decision to implement racial quotas in the Vodacom Cup series next year

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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.…

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.…

The talking points ahead of this game in France have been:

• Connie Oosthuizen starting at tighthead prop

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“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. …

The Boks tackle Scotland at Murrayfield in Glasgow in game two of their three-match tour. Kick-off is at 17h00.…

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. …

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.…

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?…

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.…

Comment from Steve:…

The Currie Cup final marks the conclusion of the domestic rugby season and is followed by the annual SARU awards shortly before the Springboks depart for Europe on their end of year tour (EOYT). Sometime towards the end of November the IRB will announce the nominees for international player of the year amongst other awards.…

Sebastiaan “Basjan” Reinhardt, the former Paarl Gymnasium headmaster who came up with the idea for the Wildeklawer Superskole, has passed away this morning (heart attack). Sincerest condolences go out to his family during this time of sadness.…