Photo Credit - Speedshots.co.za
I recently had a very humbling and eye-opening rugby experience at Hoërskool President C.R. Swart situated in the Moot area of Pretoria when the 2nd and 1st teams of the school took on the 8th and 5th teams of Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies).
Ruggas was given the opportunity to conduct an interview with the coaching staff and take photos of the matches. Initially, the purpose of the interview was to find out why C.R. Swart, which currently plays in the 3rd division of the VirsekerCompetition, was willing to take on Affies, a much stronger rugby school - for example, just the average size of the Affies players far exceeded that of the C.R. Swart players.
I was expecting an answer such as “we are always willing to face the challenge of bigger and stronger rugby schools”, however as the interview progressed I realised that the challenge far exceeds that of only playing against the stronger opposition.
Hoërskool C.R. Swart is a co-education school with just more than 1450 children from predominantly the township areas surrounding Pretoria. There are about 700 plus boys in the school of which less than 10% play rugby. This could be due to the fact that most of the feeder primary schools do not play rugby. Most of the boys live far away from the school and are reliant on public transport which means that practice days and time after school are very limited. The school must currently follow a 50/50 COVID routine, which means there are fewer practice days and boys available on those days to practice.
To add to these challenges there are only a handful of rugby coaching teachers and the spouses of other teachers often have to assist with coaching. There is only one rugby field available with no other facilities such as a high-performance centre or gym. The boys often cannot afford their own rugby kit. And so the list goes on.....
Despite all these challenges, the school took the initiative to make their field available to rugby clubs for training who then, in turn, supports the school with the maintenance of the field. In addition to the coaches the principal, Ms Theron actively promotes and supports rugby at the school. One of the positive outcomes of promoting rugby at the school is that it improves the discipline of the boys by providing them with a structured goal-driven regimen and the opportunity to belong to a team for camaraderie.
C.R. Swart played in the 5th division of the Virseker Competition for small schools until 2018 but did not have enough players to make up teams. In 2019. Zayo Sports Academy (with homeschooled boys) approached C.R. Swart to join hands to provide the academy boys with an opportunity to play and for C.R. Swart to increase their dwindling number of players.
This initiative was approved by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union (BBRU) and since 2019 the school and the academy have played in the Blue Bulls High Schools League for big schools and have competed in the prestigious rugby day hosted by the Bulls playing against the likes of Noordheuwel and E.G.Jansen. They also play friendly matches against Affies and Zwartkops and competed in the 7s competition where they have caused upsets by beating the Waterkloof and having close scoring margins against Garsfontein and Menlopark.
However, the success of this partnership and the efforts by the coaches have produced the following outstanding results:
• Players representing the Blue Bulls at the underage level:
• Godwin Engelbrecht (u/16 Bulls)
• HaraiphaMthembu (u/16 Bulls)
• Guy-Flory Kibongo (Craven week)
• KabeloMatshimana (Craven week)
• Knowledge Chaira (Academy week)
• Chibuzo Arinze (Academy week)
• Desmond Makena (Academy week)
• Jacob Rasetlo (Academy week)
• Players selected to play for Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) u/20s:
• Chibuzo Arinze (also part of the Blue Bulls under 20 squad for 2021)
• Ronaldo Lawrence
• TshiriletsoPhalatse
• Trevor Madau
• KhanyisaKhalamasi
• Desmond Makena
• MishackNzike
• Knowledge Chaira
• MotlatsoMamabolo
• SizweShunya
• KagisoMtshweni
• Jade Shibangu
• FadenChauke
• Players currently in the 2021 Blue Bulls u/18 HP Squad:
• Godwin Engelbrecht
• HaraiphaMthembu
• ToluAdicambi
• Players are in the 2021 Blue Bulls u/16 HP Squad:
• Joshua Arendse
• Ezra Volkwyn
• Guy-Flory Kibongo was part of the SA u/17 practice squad in 2019.
After the interview it was game time and here is where I saw the true spirit of rugby at C.R. Swart. The boys were excited to play and took on the Affies opposition with enthusiasm, literally putting their bodies on the line against the predominantly bigger Affie boys with fearless and committed tackles. A few of the C.R. Swart players made some exciting and speedy line breaks much to the joy of the reserve benches and coaches who cheered them on from the side of the field.
Although Affies were the victors of the day, they had to work hard for their scores of 34-14 for the 8th team and 31-0 for the 5th team. Even when the CR Swart teams were falling behind on the scoreboard, the coaches encouraged the players from the side of the field in a very calm and positive manner always encouraging them to keep on giving their best. This was really great to see and shows that the coaches have the best interest of the players at heart.
After the matches, some of the Affie players remarked how fortunate they were to have the rugby facilities available at Affies and that they really respected the C.R. Swart players for their dedication and commitment. I am sure that C.R. Swart is not alone in this proverbial boat and that there are many other schools that face similar challenges who are just as committed to the sport and the players.
I definitely agreed with the remarks by the Affie players and want to say hats off to the principal, coaching staff, as well as the players of C.R. Swart and the Zayo Sports Academy– may your rugby go from strength to strength!
If anyone would like to in any way contribute to the development of rugby at C.R. Swart or the Zayo Sports Academy they can contact the coaches Gert Bester at gbester@hspcrswart.co.za or NeliusBasson at nbasson@hspcrswart.co.za.
Article by Francois du Toit