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JJ Harmse
Failure again at the IRB Junior World Championship for the Baby Boks and failure by the Bulls to make the playoffs and achieve that elusive hat-trick in Super Rugby.
These two issues were huge rugby disappointments for me in the last week and although they are two completely different competitions and were being played thousands of miles apart, they are very relevant and entwined in a South African rugby context.
Let us start with the Baby Boks, where again, we will not be crowned world champions.
This time around we had a new coach in Dawie Theron - but still the same result. I was not surprised as Theron was only appointed late last year, AFTER all the junior competitions were finished and SA Rugby had picked their elite squads.
Theron didn't had a chance to attend last year's Craven Week to see the best Under-18 boys, nor follow the Under-19 provincial competitions and didn't have a chance to properly evaluate the talent to his disposal.
If you recall, I had a go at SA Rugby about the timing of appointing their junior coach and the results in Italy (again) proves my point.
Theron was up against it from the start.
At least things will change for next year. Theron returns on Monday and will probably go straight from the airport to the Academy Week taking place in Johannesburg.
At least he will be able to go home the week after, as the Craven Week will be held in Kimberley!
A week later, the Under-19 provincial competition starts and Theron will then be able to start judging players properly.
I for one will be very keen to see his first squad of 2011 as it will be the first he can pick without the 'baggage' of the past.
There is still a drawback though. The teams Theron will see in Johannesburg and Kimberley will not be the all of the best young players available to him as those teams have a quota attached to them.
Unfortunately, this means that certain players have been left behind for reasons other than their talent to play rugby.
Luckily Theron is aware of this and I am sure he will take steps to ensure he is aware of all possible contenders for his 2012 squad.
One of the big talking points here in Pretoria, and probably elsewhere in the country, is whether the Bulls have reached the end of an era with six of their senior players leaving.
Of course they have.
Four of those leaving - Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw - have played 100+ Super Rugby matches. The other two, Gurthrö Steenkamp and Gary Botha, are Rugby World Cup winners and played in 60 and 80-odd Super Rugby matches.
They will leave a massive hole and no team will recover from that overnight.
We saw in 2008, when Matfield left for Toulon, how the Bulls struggled. This time around, they have six stalwarts moving on.
Over the past few years, the Bulls not only dominated the local rugby scene, they also dominated Super Rugby and indeed, Springbok rugby.
They have set new standards and South African rugby became a better product because of it.
The Bulls also showed that the impossible was possible by providing their fans and the rest of the country with some special memories.
Remember in 2005 when they beat the Stormers 75-14? Or in 2007 when they thrashed the Reds 92-3 to secure a home semi-final? And what about 2009 when they secured a record win against the Chiefs to win the title for a second time?
Not to mention last year's final in Orlando and what they have managed to achieve there.
It was a decade of greatness and one where legends were created.
Matfield challenged the new breed at the Bulls.
“They have the potential to improve on what we have done. They must just believe that they can do it,” he said.
This brings me back to the Baby Boks and the challenges Theron and SA Rugby face.
We will, at the end of 2011, say goodbye to a generation of players that will not come around again soon.
Because of the quality of those players, the Springboks achieved special things, despite all the off the field problems the national game had at the time.
SA Rugby needs to make sure they have the structures in place to sustain the momentum created by this exceptional group of players.
Looking at the way we are regressing at the Junior World Championship, we are in bigger trouble than we think!
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
Failure again at the IRB Junior World Championship for the Baby Boks and failure by the Bulls to make the playoffs and achieve that elusive hat-trick in Super Rugby.
These two issues were huge rugby disappointments for me in the last week and although they are two completely different competitions and were being played thousands of miles apart, they are very relevant and entwined in a South African rugby context.
Let us start with the Baby Boks, where again, we will not be crowned world champions.
This time around we had a new coach in Dawie Theron - but still the same result. I was not surprised as Theron was only appointed late last year, AFTER all the junior competitions were finished and SA Rugby had picked their elite squads.
Theron didn't had a chance to attend last year's Craven Week to see the best Under-18 boys, nor follow the Under-19 provincial competitions and didn't have a chance to properly evaluate the talent to his disposal.
If you recall, I had a go at SA Rugby about the timing of appointing their junior coach and the results in Italy (again) proves my point.
Theron was up against it from the start.
At least things will change for next year. Theron returns on Monday and will probably go straight from the airport to the Academy Week taking place in Johannesburg.
At least he will be able to go home the week after, as the Craven Week will be held in Kimberley!
A week later, the Under-19 provincial competition starts and Theron will then be able to start judging players properly.
I for one will be very keen to see his first squad of 2011 as it will be the first he can pick without the 'baggage' of the past.
There is still a drawback though. The teams Theron will see in Johannesburg and Kimberley will not be the all of the best young players available to him as those teams have a quota attached to them.
Unfortunately, this means that certain players have been left behind for reasons other than their talent to play rugby.
Luckily Theron is aware of this and I am sure he will take steps to ensure he is aware of all possible contenders for his 2012 squad.
One of the big talking points here in Pretoria, and probably elsewhere in the country, is whether the Bulls have reached the end of an era with six of their senior players leaving.
Of course they have.
Four of those leaving - Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw - have played 100+ Super Rugby matches. The other two, Gurthrö Steenkamp and Gary Botha, are Rugby World Cup winners and played in 60 and 80-odd Super Rugby matches.
They will leave a massive hole and no team will recover from that overnight.
We saw in 2008, when Matfield left for Toulon, how the Bulls struggled. This time around, they have six stalwarts moving on.
Over the past few years, the Bulls not only dominated the local rugby scene, they also dominated Super Rugby and indeed, Springbok rugby.
They have set new standards and South African rugby became a better product because of it.
The Bulls also showed that the impossible was possible by providing their fans and the rest of the country with some special memories.
Remember in 2005 when they beat the Stormers 75-14? Or in 2007 when they thrashed the Reds 92-3 to secure a home semi-final? And what about 2009 when they secured a record win against the Chiefs to win the title for a second time?
Not to mention last year's final in Orlando and what they have managed to achieve there.
It was a decade of greatness and one where legends were created.
Matfield challenged the new breed at the Bulls.
“They have the potential to improve on what we have done. They must just believe that they can do it,” he said.
This brings me back to the Baby Boks and the challenges Theron and SA Rugby face.
We will, at the end of 2011, say goodbye to a generation of players that will not come around again soon.
Because of the quality of those players, the Springboks achieved special things, despite all the off the field problems the national game had at the time.
SA Rugby needs to make sure they have the structures in place to sustain the momentum created by this exceptional group of players.
Looking at the way we are regressing at the Junior World Championship, we are in bigger trouble than we think!
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
