ABs picking overseas players - inevitable?
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@Mauss said in ABs picking overseas players - inevitable?:
@OomPB said in ABs picking overseas players - inevitable?:
the factory is running on double speed compare to 2018
Listen, I know more than enough about the rugbyfabriek. It was a great song in the ‘80s, I’m sure you can add a few verses for the game today and make another catchy tune (don’t know what rhymes with Griquas, though).
But this whole “the factory is running at double speed”-thing, I don’t find that particularly convincing. If that were truly the case, why aren’t we seeing more of its results? The state of SA Rugby outside of the Springboks isn’t looking particularly rosy. Age grade teams like SA Schools and SA U20 have struggled in recent years. The Currie Cup is filled with journeymen professionals who will never advance beyond that level. Meanwhile, the Blitzboks can’t find the new Senatla’s and Specman’s. The URC sides are good if unspectacular. Not particular signs of a system that is overproducing quality players.
The examples of Pollard, Kleyn and Snyman are arguments for my point, not yours (Wiese is no longer at Leicester, by the way, he plays for the Urayasu D-Rocks now, a Div 2 Japan side). Kleyn left South Africa when he was 23. He developed much of his professional game in Munster. He even played for Ireland before the Springboks. Snyman left in 2017 as a 22-year old, first to Japan, and then in 2020 to Munster. Pollard first left in 2015 for Japan as a 21-year old, then came back to SA and left again in 2020 at 26 for Montpellier.
All of these players left in their early to mid-twenties, developing further overseas and becoming better Springboks, as you say. But the current South African players in their early to mid-20s all seem to be staying. Guys like Henco van Wyk, Mpilo Gumede, Vincent Tshituka, David Kriel, Corne Rahl, Wandisile Simelane, are sticking around rather than moving abroad to some of the best high-performance environments. The recent one exception seems to be Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who is rumoured to be going to Toulouse. But big tighthead props, especially humongous ones like Ntlabakanye, remain their weight worth in gold in the Top14. The rest seem to be valued more like copper than gold at the moment.
But these others, sticking around in die Rugbyfabriek, are still taking a risk with their development. Because, like with any factory, overproduction is a sin. Commodities lose their value and they are destroyed in order to restore market value. And before you know it, Schuster’s song is no longer a light-hearted tune but a cautionary ballad, on the perils of sticking around too long when you really should be going.
Love your work
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Sir Steve Hansen weighs into All Blacks overseas policy debate and warns 'copying' Springboks would be 'really dangerous'
Former All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen has sounded a warning to New Zealand Rugby about potentially changing their overseas policy.
Shag weighs in. He had me until he tried to convince me the Japanese league is great by offering the form of Ardie and Beaudy as evidence
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@OomPB Kwas and Griquas, makes sense. I should've known that a language as phonetically malleable as Afrikaans would have no issues with it.
Didn't know Mannetjies Roux played for Griquas (Griqualand West) back in the day. Something to be proud of.
