Paul Roos at the Drie-Hoek in the Boland
Being January, summer sports season is in full swing at high schools. Cricket tops the billing in just about every region. Water polo enjoys a fairly large support base as well. Particularly in the Noordvaal and Western Cape where they have athletic meetings such as the Tuks and Drie Hoek, kids have a worthwhile opportunity to compete in track and field. Both athletics and water polo have been credited with contributing towards preparing school players for the rugby season. Asking around there were mixed responses from coaches about the value of both sports in relation to rugby. Here’s a good quote from someone with extensive knowledge of schoolboy conditioning and rugby requirements:
Athletics is the base of every sport. Rugby, hockey, soccer, cricket. In KZN we don’t do enough hence why schools from other regions like Gauteng are always ahead of us with natural athletes.
Polo is great as a general fitness but not rugby specific enough. In fact I find the boys actually arrive at us “soft” as the muscles are generally longer and not conditioned for hits.
So in short I’d rather an athlete arrive to me than a polo player
Please share your thoughts.
Comment from another coach:
Wrg to waterpolo, polo definitely has its benefits. Lung capacity, strength, conditioning etc. Only negative is that it tends to make you slower as you not really working those muscle groups. So the pros would be strength, cardio, ball skills ect. Speed can be worked on. Athletics you get the running part and fitness but not really strength and ball skills. What most schools do is send their forwards to polo and backs to athletics. Then you get the best of both worlds.
Coaching rugby at a top polo school our polo players are integral to the success of our rugby season. Not only are they elite athletes, both mentally and physically but they have a winning mentality which translates a narrow loss into a win just because they not used to losing. They also play international sport and this experience of handling big pressure moments stands the team in good stead when under pressure on the rugger field.historically, these sports have complimented each other and I believe nothing has changed
@BrotherBear: I cannot agree with you more. You nailed it. With schools wanting to be the best in everything they do, I guess, that is the way to go. Some schools are already following this route.
I think that it’s important to understand the difference between a social polo player and an elite player. The elite player is usually conditioned well and the cardio component definitely helps in rugby. BUT these elite players are usually very supple and can stretch like an elastic…not good if you’re a prop!! The last front row players I can remember who excelled at polo were Lyle Krause and Sam Hatchwell (both Maritzburg Coll 2001) and then of course Bismark du Plessis. Recent polo players at GLENWOOD are Marco Palvie and Jaco Coetzee. Neither played 1st team but they certainly could have.
For me I have seen top polo players combine athletic sprint training for rugby in the first term with there polo without any issues. Having said that usually your elite polo players will not be able to sustain both disciplines.
Hi, wishing all the best for 2016. Here is my 50 cents worth
15-Cricket Player/Athlete
14/11-Athlete obviously Sprinter
12/13-Athlete
10-Athlete
9-Wrestler
8-Waterpolo/Athlete
6/7-Wrestler/Athlete
4/5-Waterpolo/Athlete High Jumper
2-Wrestler/Athlete
1/3-Athlete Discus, Shot Put, Wrestler and even possibly Water polo
Trained in these fields from a early age.
My opinion is that neither are sufficient to prepare a boy for first team rugby. For the modern game you require a complete body fitness level which focuses on strength, speed, ball skills and injury prevention (NB). Good off-season base training is crucial. One of the most popular mistakes and injustices to a rugby player is to select speedster “John” at left wing, who then sustains a serious injury in the second game due to poor conditioning. A well equipped gym with knowledgeable specialist is crucial. Although many schools provide this service, other service providers may be better equipped and exposed to a wider spectrum of users (more senior players, etc.). Fact is you need specific training and conditioning for rugby.
@Rugger fan: Agreed, would be interesting to know his opinion being involved with both at A team level
A certain GW coach has done brilliantly with both Polo and Rugger boys – I wonder what his take is….. and he posts here from time to time!
Grasshopper long jumpers is in fact sprinters also.
I think that coach or trainer is forgetting the ball skills developed in polo, also the cardio vascular development. Athletes are conditioned for their specific event, so a sprinter maybe great for rugby but long jumpers not.