There is tremendous pressure on aspiring young rugby players to perform on the field and get spotted by talent scouts. It seems as if you have to play Craven Week rugby and get a contract with a major union straight out of school in order to make it to higher honours. SA Rugby has an Elite Player Development (EPD) programme which identifies talent from the under 15 age group level onwards and then monitors these kids over the next 5 years as they hopefully graduate to play for the Junior Boks in the World Rugby U20 champs. Louis Koen, the ex Springbok flyhalf, is the current high performance manager at SA Rugby and oversees the EPD programme. Talented youngsters such as Damian Willemse and Evan Roos were picked up by this programme and have gone onto to become Springboks. Louis Koen may have some conflicts of interest as his son, Liam, was recently selected to play for SA Schools in the junior internationals against England and France.

Talking about the Junior Boks, who dominated in the Summer Series in Italy in June/July 2022, there were some outstanding performances by them. I watched all the Junior Boks’ games and was particularly impressed by Sacha Mngomezulu (captain and flyhallf), Ruan Venter (lock), Tiaan Lange (hooker), Cameron Hanekom (loose forward), Imad Kahn (scrum half) and Suleiman Hartzenberg (centre/wing). Canan Moodie (wing) was in the squad but then had to withdraw due to injury. Moodie went onto to make his Springbok debut against Australia in September 2022, scoring a majestic try. Watch out for Mngomezulu, I hope he will entertain us for many years and make the Springbok jersey proud.

See below for the Springbok team announced to play against Argentina this coming Saturday at Kings Park and the schools they attended.

There are some familiar rugby factories in the above list such as Grey College, Paul Roos, Maritzburg College and Paarl Boys High. But what about Jim Mvabasa Secondary, Hoerskool Upington, Paulus Joubert, Brits and Milnerton? Certainly not schools renowned for producing Springboks. As a matter of interest, Makazole Mpimpi’s alma mater is in Mdantsane and Kurt-Lee Arendse attended school in Paarl.

So perhaps one does not have to attend a prestigious rugby school to be identified as a talented player and be given opportunities to develop? With my interest piqued, I researched Springboks selected since 1992 (refer attached file Springboks since 1992 by school should you wish to delve into the details). Analyzing Springboks selected prior to 1992 and the schools they attended would produce biased results given the Apartheid regime and the historical concentration of players in certain areas such as Cape Town, Kimberley, Stellenbosch and Paarl from 1891 to the mid 20th century.

373 individuals have been selected to play for the Springboks from 1992 to date (September 2022). Grey College has produced 29 Springboks since 1992, the most by far of any school. Paarl Gimnasium and Paul Roos have also played their parts. There are however, some surprises in the top 10 Springbok producing schools. I would not immediately think of Waterkloof and Louis Botha (Bloemfontein) as being significant rugby factories but they have each produced 6 Springboks, an impressive record.

Which province you attended school in may have a bearing on the chances of becoming a Springbok. The Western Cape schools have produced 104 Springboks since 1992, 28% of all those capped in that period. Gauteng is not far behind at 76 Springboks. Schools in Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape and Limpopo have produced a combined 47 Springboks, the same as the Eastern Cape province.

It warms my heart to hear of schools such as Spine Road in Mitchell’s Plain which has produced 2 Springboks since readmission. Adelaide Gimnasium has produced some formidable specimens such as Os du Randt, Gary Pagel and Anton Leonard. Klerksdorp can be proud of its 3 Springboks in recent times, including that man mountain Andre Esterhuizen, a loose forward parading as a centre. Owen Farrell probably rues Brackenfell’s influence on Cheslin Kolbe, who he might have wished played soccer as opposed to rugby.

Being appointed as captain of the SA Schools rugby team does not appear to be a shoo in for becoming a Bok. Of the 39 captains between 1982 and 2019, only 9 went on to represent South Africa at senior level. Some of these included Salmon Moerat, Rudy Paige and Bakkies Botha. Corne Krige is the only SA Schools captain to subsequently captain the Springboks.

Going to a good rugby school in Bloemfontien or Paarl certainly helps but it is no guarantee of success in professional rugby.

Be safe and enjoy the rugby. Go Bokke on Saturday, hoping for a huge win against Los Pumas and a small miracle of a Wallaby win at Eden Park.