Where do the youth go?

There is a wealth of young rugby talent in South Africa at the moment. The school boy rugby is particularly strong but what happens when they leave school? They could play age group rugby at provincial level but what about furthering their education. It’s possible for them to study at a university as well as playing at age group level. The introduction of the varsity cup was an outstanding concept which gives players the opportunity to play to level rugby as well as get an education. The Sharks realized this long ago with their Sharks academy which allows them to nurture players of their choice as well as affording them an education. This allowed them the ability to pick and choose the youngsters they wanted giving the Sharks union a never ending supply of youngsters. They have exploited the Eastern Cape taking players such as Keegan Daniel and Chris Cloete.

The varsity cup hindered them slightly because now there is another option but the Sharks do one better by offering the players they choose a bursary. The varsity cup has one other disadvantage in that players aren’t guaranteed a place in a top union where as the Sharks academy players are almost guaranteed a place in one of the teams. If each union had their own academy it would be a battle between local talent instead of the Sharks getting their pick of the bunch and then everyone else gets a go. Western Province and the Free State are known for producing great rugby talent but they just go to the Sharks for example u20 Springbok fly half Handre Pollard is going to the Sharks academy next year. Another loss to WP.  

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