Most schools in our country sides is a farce compare to a few years back, apart from that I think you answered your own question. Its a no question really, its any parent or school kid own decition where they want to go be it in SA, Australia or NZ.
Fair enough. I have personal experiences with it when I was in school and some mates of mine were approached. But I must say with the private schools you do not see that so much if not at all. That is why the headmaster could write such a letter.
Boet you forgot about Maties and Ikeys. UWC also being used for rugby. I know Pollard very well, grew up with his dad and living a block from Paarl Gim. The Brutes are very aggresive when they target these youngsters and they will offer grade 11 kids R200,000 p.a. to get them on their books. Paarl Gym sitting with some excellent stock and Rikus Bothma have now been approached by the Sharks after the Easter weekend. Myself think WP has been spoiled for talent at schoolboy level and is sleeping when it come to contract these youngsters. Pollard was a signed deal for the Brutes longer then a year before WP gotb out of their spoiled sleep. These afrikaans speaking schoolboy lot from Paarl Gym seem to adabt very easily at Bloem or Pretoria. The WP Boland schools have produce now a number of players who have been ignored by WP and had to go the Boland route to the Cheetahs and Griquas for bigger contracts. WP is spoiled to rotten.
Its not top SA schools. Strand and Settlers is medium to small in SA Schoolboy rugby terms. I'll keep you up to date with the scores.
Know Oosthuizen well from Paarl Gym. He have a good change to make at least WP Craven Week. Craven Week is our schoolboys provincial competition and the SA Schoolboy sides is mostly from the top players in the Craven and Academic (B teams and mostly u17 players) weeks. Nowadays Saru do have High Performance sqauds from u16 level and coached them from that level.
The two top ranked schools in SA, Outeniqua (1) played Paarl Gim (2) last weekend in George. The match was also live on TV and a few of the backline players were involved in the sevens, Oosthuizen for Gim and Warrick Gelant, Duhan van der Merwe, Dewald Human (Outeniqua). Paarl Gym beat them 37-25 and look like they all have a good chance of making SA Schools. Paarl Gym actually have a few candidates for SA Schools this year.
He sure is in the Vermeulen type of 8.
WP do not have a Academy at any university where they dump half theory professional player, Maties use students which do not have professional contracts. They are students that actually go to uni. When they do get a contract the next student move in his place. The Bulls actually poach them from other provinces then dump them at Tuks. You can see they totally made the Varsity cup a tournament that have no purpose anymore as they stuffed Tuks full of professionals to take on amateurs. Sadly they've become so obsessed with winning they will do anything. Even if they have to spoil SA rugby they will do it as they are currently doing.
WP Academy
There is a difference than putting them in a academy and offring them proffesional contracts. WP do not go to other unions and approach them as a UNI and throw in a Blue Bulls contract in the process. Name me one player in the current Matie team that is not a full time student. Then go look at the Tuks squad. As soon as the one guy gets a contract he moves out the next student comes in. Bulls take their professionals in put them in Tuks to beat up amateurs. Making the competitions basically useless for its intended purposes.
