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Rugby for all walks of life

JJ Harmse

Rugby has always been a game for all shape and sizes. It has also been a game for all personalities and it creates a brotherhood second to none.

I again realised what a great social component rugby has as well when I attended an Investec International Rugby Academy braai last night in Pretoria.

The Academy had one of its first courses since being established in South Africa recently and had a wide array of former players helping out in various roles.

It is based on the successful academy that is run by Murray Mexted in New Zealand and the former All Black was present when the local branch showed off their first crop of students to the media and other guests.

It was awesome to see some of the greats of the game again and share a drink with some of them just reinforced my belief that this is the best of all sporting codes.

In the good old days one could get married, divorced, buy a car, get the car fixed, talk to a doctor, see a dentist, buy some property, and get free biltong - all of this in one team talk! Because a rugby team consisted of people from all walks of life.

Slightly different

Nowadays it is slightly different, with most young players trying to be professional rugby players and having a limited framework of reference.

Talking to the likes of Mexted, Sean Fitzpatrick, Naas Botha, Johan Ackermann, Hennie le Roux, Wynand Claassen and Christian Cullen to name a few certainly made me realise that despite the era of professionalism in the game, certain values will still be protected. Although only a small number of players can afford to attend an academy like this, they will still leave with a sense of what rugby can be if played with a sense of fair play, camaraderie and the sharing of talents.

Among the coaches that attended were André Human and Stanley Raubenheimer, now coaching at Border. I had a very fruitful chat with them.

They certainly have some problems down there, with the lack of resources high on the list.

But despite that, both are very passionate about their jobs and what they want to achieve. I was told that the forgotten Springbok, Solly Tyibilika, is still active and is playing some good rugby.

According to the coaches, he is a good role model to the rest of his team and that was good to hear.

Solly certainly burned some bridges in his day and to hear that he is now putting an effort back into the game, is certainly good news.

I hope this will be an example to other players who has brought the game into disrepute in recent months. No one is bigger than the game and every player needs to realise that it is a game played by 15 players at a time. If one slacks off, 14 others suffer.

Drivel disguised as rugby

Maybe Rassie Erasmus should get Solly to come and talk to his Stormers team, because they certainly forgot that there is no 'I' in team. And that was the main reason why they dished out the drivel disguised as rugby this year. Or maybe they could get Solly to come and play for them! It will certainly help to have a committed loose forward down there in Cape Town that plays for the team.

It is sad that another Super 14 has come and gone with the Stormers again nowhere to be seen. They promise so much, but deliver so little.

On the other side of the scale you find the Bulls, where no ego is bigger that what the team stands for. Here, you find commitment to the team as the number one priority. Despite the fact that it is a team full of international players, they are all committed to the team ethos. They play for each other and you can see that in their results.

There can only be synergy in a team if everybody pulls their weight and it is great to know that there still are professional rugby players that can do that.

It is a pity that there are teams that clearly do not understand that, but then, maybe their own images are more important than a bottom three spot on the log. Good on them, then.

But enough talk on the cellar dwellers. Let’s talk some rugby that matters. Will the Sharks be able to secure a top four spot by beating the Bulls?

This fixture was always going to determine the final order on the log, but no one anticipated it would be the Sharks fighting for their lives. Their loss to the Cheetahs a couple of weeks back clearly rattled their cage more that we realised. They also have a lot of strong personalities in their team and a good look in the mirror may just help them back on the road to rugby redemption.

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.
 
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