Here’s an
old hoary chestnut, and like most of the things I whinge and whine about in
this space, it has to do with what some regard as acceptable once they have
decided that victory is more important than principles in school sport.
It’s about
the inclusion of three schools in Paarl, and one in Stellenbosch, in the
Western Province union boundaries when it comes to rugby, while they are
located in the Boland for every other activity.
It wasn’t
me who started the conversation this time – I came across it in the chat
following the announcement of the fixtures for the final day of the Craven Week
in Krugersdorp. Initially, some expressed anger at the fact that Boland was not
allocated a game on the A field on Saturday. A-field slots on the final day
have traditionally been the only honour that the teams play for at the week,
with the greatest accolade being the final game of the week. Boland won both
their earlier games and played some beautiful running rugby (which is what it’s
supposed to be about) but they were relegated to the B field, behind some teams
that had lost, and some who played some pretty turgid rugby.
It didn’t
take long for the thread to begin asking the usual questions.
I’ve
confessed before that when looking at topics like these I go back to things I’d
already written and I came across several pieces on this issue. For one of
them, it seems, I did a bit of Google Mapping. Here’s what I found:
It’s 71km
by road from Wynberg Boys’ High to Boland Landbou; 64km from there to Paarl;
and 46km to Paul Roos Gimnasium in Stellenbosch.
I then
looked at King Edward VII School, in central Johannesburg. From there it’s 54km
to Affies in Pretoria; 34km to Monument. And 21km to Boksburg’s EG Jansen.
The point I
was making was that the Lions province can cast a net considerably smaller than
the one Western Province uses, and scoop up a number of top rugby schools to
greatly improve its talent pool (Garsfontein would also be in it). The Craven
Week team that could be selected from those schools collectively would also,
very possibly, go five years and 15 games unbeaten at the Craven Week.
Not that it
will ever happen, and neither should it. Instead, Western Province should start
choosing from the schools within its region only, like they do for cricket,
hockey, water polo, athletics etc.
I’ve never
been able to find out how this situation came about. It’s always been that way,
they say. There was one Craven Week - 2001 in Rustenburg - where it was decided
that the Boland schools should play for Boland, and Western Province should be
chosen from the Cape Town area, just like it is in every other sport. Derick
Hougaard, who went to Boland Landbou, played for Boland that year and made the
SA Schools side. So did Pieter Pienaar, who was at Paarl Gimnasium. Also in the
team was Schalk Burger, and Hennie Daniller, who was in Grade 11 and played for
Western Province the next year.
Western
Province won all three games in Rustenburg, but they didn’t get into any of the
late games on the A field on Saturday, and the next year the Paarl schools were
back in the WP fold. I can’t find anyone who remembers why the decision was
made to do the right thing in 2001, in fact, many were astounded to find out
that it happened at all. But whatever principles were applied in deciding to go
that way were abandoned when they realised that without a little help
from their Boland friends, Western Province had to play on a level field, and
they found it tough.
One
interesting explanation that was given me is rooted in the old historical
social and political alliances which saw the cream of Paarl society distance
itself from those who live on the other side of the Berg River (translate that
to the wealthy, white, landed class aligning itself with Cape Town rather than
with the poorer, mainly so-called coloured, folk of lower Paarl). I haven't
been able to find out if that was true.
The
rationale for having Paul Roos Gimnasium in Cape Town for rugby is tied to the
school’s close association with Stellenbosch University, which as one of the
oldest clubs in the land, played in the Cape Town competitions from the
earliest days.
This is
actually not a good year to bring all of this up again. The composition of the
Western Province and WP XV teams that went to the Craven Week was pretty
balanced – of the 46 in all, 22 were from the four “Boland” schools. Rondebosch
and Wynberg have had good years, and they contributed eight and six
representatives, respectively
There were
17 players from the two WP sides in the two SA Schools squads announced and, of
them, 10 came from those schools.
The role of
school sport is educational. It’s about helping young people to become good
adults. It’s also about developing players for higher levels of the game.
I would
argue that that both those aims will still be well met if those Boland Schools
are sent back to where they belong. Building a legacy and setting unbeaten
records for Western Province should have nothing to do with it, but if they are
going to brag, and if the media are going to extoll their virtues, the same
rules must apply to all.
