Does the Bosch signature change the Sharks’ outlook?

The question is whether or not Bosch coming to Durban will somehow project such a positive image that it will overshadow the difficulties the union has been experiencing in attracting top schoolboy rugby players to sign up for 2016.

According to the Netwerk24, Grey High’s SA Schools flyhalf Curwin Bosch might become the highest paid junior rugby player in South African rugby history next year when/if he joins the Sharks. The contract value mentioned in the article is believed to be R350 000 for year one plus a motor car included. A high profile press release about Bosch’s future is in the pipeline for a date soon after the conclusion of Craven Week but it may amount to one of those worst kept secrets by then.

Just about all the major unions will go to Craven Week looking to pick up just a few more players to complete their intakes for 2016. The majority of their contracts would have been finalised by now, with the all-important 18th birthday as the only hold up to obtaining some signatures – a compliance with SARU regulations.
However for the Sharks, the picture looks a lot less clear at this very late stage in the 2016 recruiting game. Very few top schoolboy rugby players are being linked with moves to Durban next year and so there are legitimate concerns about the quality of the players they will eventually end up with when the process for 2016 is complete.

The Sharks have made inroad at Glenwood High with talk that as many as five players from the local high school believed to have been signed up. Last year, the GLRU picked up six Glenwood players, so this has to be regarded as progress by the Sharks, although it has to be added that this year’s Glenwood team isn’t nearly as successful as last year’s one was.

Even in these modern times where social media often shares the stories before they become official, current information flow doesn’t do much to suggest where the balance of the Sharks contracted players will come from. A worrying factor is a good few of the worth retaining top KZN schoolboy players do not appear to be drawn into pursuing their rugby future at the Sharks. Instead these rated rugby players being linked with after school moves to the Bulls, Lions, Kings and WPRI for 2016.

This season Sharks CEO John Smit has gone on record as saying he want the union to build better relationships with the KZN schools. The Sharks hastily re-launched the high school 1st XV games as curtain-raisers to the senior pro team but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this initiative might have had more to do with helping put much needed bums in seats at Kings Park, where advertising banners have now replaced the spectator seating behind the goalposts, partly as a result of dwindling attendance figures.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Sharks Academy set the bar for post school rugby development but in recent years, it looks like the Academy has started to lag behind it’s competition as an attractive destination for various reasons. More and better financial packages as well as better university related options add to their competitiveness difficulties.

The Durban setup has also seen a drain of experienced junior rugby personnel in recent times with the likes of Hans Scriba, Rudolf Straeuli, Gavin Melvill and Swys de Bruin no longer on board. The Sharks didn’t help themselves by appointing the inexperienced and somewhat blasé Butch James in the role of a recruiter in 2015 and their lack of dedication to junior rugby was further highlighted by then senior team physio James Flemming having to double as the under-19 head coach for the 2015 Currie Cup season. Although a couple of changes for the better have been made since then, there is always room for improvement and the true measure of success or failure will start this time next year with the under-19 championship.

On the bright side, Durban remains the land of rugby opportunity for overlooked school leavers, particularly late developers who are contractless and still want to chase their dreams of making it to the pros one day. A good example is club rugby player Ruan Smook who matriculated from Port Natal last year and made the Sharks under-19 team this season without even attending the Sharks Academy. If he performs now, he’s on his way to the top while circumstances might result in contracted players at other provinces watching the action from the stands and finding their fledgling careers in the graveyard due to lack of opportunities through crucial game-time.