2019 School Rugby
-
While the reasons and machinations may be complex what this boils down to (in the Auckland case) is that the schools in the comp feel that things have become unbalanced and if left unchecked they may as well not bother participating.
The recruitment happens at most schools that set themselves up to use rugby as an identity but I guess they are confirming what St Kents say in that they are doing it too well.
St Kents need to realise that if they are going to load up and gain a big advantage they may not have anyone to play against.I have seen this kind of thing happen before in Wellington where it was accepted that there were haves and have nots and that good players would gravitate toward the haves but when schools were already strong and actively sought to be stronger at the expense of others pressure was put on them by College Sport to reign it in for the good of the comp. No one is interested in a foregone conclusion.
-
@baron-silas-greenback I don't know about the other Super 8 schools, but all but one of this year's Napier's 1st XV players attended the school since year 9 and the only exception joined the school in year 10 and came from Lindisfarne. No scholarships to lure players from other schools to NBHS.
-
@steven-harris said in 2019 School Rugby:
Something that has been totally missed.
Parents or guardians sign off these decisions for what they feel is in the best interests of their children.
I spoke to a father today who’s son went to St Kentigern College a few years back,his son is currently in one of the NZ super rugby squads ,without the scholarship his son received ,he doubts wether the same doors would have opened had he stayed at the rural college he was attending.
I personally hate the word poached being used,as the parents and guardians are the ones that sign off on these decisions at the end of the day.Argument by a single case, isn't very helpful. What about the boy who had a miserable time at St Kents, and went back to his old school. And still became AB captain? What about the kid poached Year 13 who broke his leg early on, and then had a thoroughly miserable year at a new school with no friends and dropped out of rugby completely?
The kids who are poached late (years 12 and 13) are in no danger of missing provincial selections. They are poached precisely because they are already outstanding. The schools take all the hard work of the boy and junior coaches at another school and take the credit for it. (St Kents still have Kieran Read as one of their Old Boys who went on to great things, the rude pricks.)
The slightly more ethical schools take them in at Year 9. Then the kids at least spend their whole time at the one school and have sensible friendships. And I would argue quite a lot better educations too.
There was a fairly thoughtful piece in the Herald about this. There is very little evidence going to those top rugby schools leads to good professional careers. Hamilton BHS has a terrible rate of conversion to pro rugby. If you are a standout player, then you stand out even more at a "lesser" school. There's no way Mitch Jacobsen was going to be missed because his parents chose not to send him to HBHS.
-
-
It's likely only the private schools that offer sports scholarships in the true sense of the word, because the cost of their school fees are prohibitive to a large part of the community. When you look at the demographic of St Kents star rugby players most wouldn't live in the area and wouldn't be going to the school if their parents had to pay the tuition fees themselves. I have family who live in their zone and there's no way they could afford to send their kids there as an average middle class family.
-
So in summary: St Kents have crossed "the line" but "the line" is kind of a squiggle that all the other teams conveniently sit on the right side of after appointing themselves placers of "the line".
As far as im concerned if a player attends a school they should be able to play for that school.
If the schools are so desperate that they want to pay players to attend their school or give the scholarships then so be it.It's highschool rugby ffs.
-
so from reading this page, every school does it except the school a poster went to.
-
@mariner4life said in 2019 School Rugby:
so from reading this page, every school does it except the school a poster went to.
I specifically said my school had a sports director guilty of precisely what St Kents do. True, we were much worse in another sport, but I never said we were snow white.
-
@chester-draws think you take things a bit too literally, TSF is hyperbole capital...
-
This reminds me of the school boy rugby disaster in Oz. Kicking out teams that give you a flogging rather than raise yourself to the level required to compete. Seems utterly self defeating.
-
@antipodean They do need to have nationwide regulations in place. St Kents circumvented the 1A rules by doing their additional poaching outside of the Auckland region (x5).
-
Common sense again from the players body, who aren't all about the money or glory
-
New Zealand Rugby complete school review, make 31 recommendations New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has today announced the completion of the independent review of New Zealand secondary school rugby. ... Following a contestable process the review was led by EdSol NZ, an educational consultancy company, key recommendations include: - Establish an advisory group (New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby Union) to develop vision, values and strategy for secondary school rugby - NZR Manager of Secondary School Rugby appointed - Guidelines for both performance and non-performance grades - Equitable resourcing of girls' rugby in co-ed schools and adequate resourcing in schools where girls' rugby is a "new" sport - Guidelines for provincial unions and schools on format and form of secondary school rugby grades for both boys and girls The report was damning of First XV rugby and the recruitment practices of some schools. "There is widespread concern over the impacts of player recruitment into selected schools. Some of these consequences may be unintended," it said. "The perceptions that players are being over-trained, have a sense of entitlement and are denied other sporting opportunities are widely expressed.The report said the "lack of an overarching governance body" was a repeated message they received from stakeholders during the review. NZR chief rugby officer Nigel Cass acknowledged the review formed part of NZR's commitment to providing a world-leading school rugby system for all of its participants. -
Not looking good...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12194711
-
@Machpants I know the focus is 1st 15, but I would wager the problem starts earlier than that, more likely in the U13/14/15 grades where they start losing numbers.
My experience is only anecdotal on player numbers and seeing kids leave the sport for a variety of reasons but I would expect most other regions experience similar issues as we do up here, and I know it starts before 1st 15 level up here. Not to mention with WBHS playing in the NH comp, it means there isnt a regular 1st 15 comp in Whangarei/Northland like there used to be, and most kids play for thier clubs, or not at all.
