From the Springboks to age-grade stage, South African rugby gamers have the status of being greater and extra bodily than their opponents. However is that truly the case?
Whereas some behemoths stay within the Springboks set-up, Rassie Erasmus additionally has a proclivity to choose extra diminutive gamers as well- enjoying the 100kg Kwagga Smith at No.8 being a major instance.
The identical applies for his or her U20s facet. Whereas the status the Springboks have has trickled all the way down to the junior facet, the Boks Workplace crew lately mentioned whether or not there’s any reality in that status.
Former Springboks Hanyani Shimange, Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers had been joined by present Springbok Evan Roos on the upcoming podcast, the place Shimange requested “are we greater than everybody else or is it simply one thing from the surface?” Including that the South Africa U20 facet “appear to be grown males.”
The query got here after the current World Rugby U20 Championship, the place a video surfaced of the South Africa U20 facet that ultimately completed in seventh place.
“The dimensions of South African schoolboys- are we greater than everybody else or is it simply one thing from the surface?” Shimange requested in response to the video. “It’s one thing that’s at all times spoken about, the dimensions of our guys. There’s a bunch of 19-year-olds and so they appear to be grown males.”
The consensus was not essentially that the South African crew just isn’t huge, however that everybody else is as properly.
“In my time, France and England had been greater than us, SA colleges U19s,” mentioned Roos, who represented South Africa Colleges in 2018.
“I feel it’s only a notion,” he added.
De Villiers mentioned: “I noticed the Fijian U20 crew, they’re enormous but additionally they’re constant. So whether or not it’s the wing or the lock, you wouldn’t know the distinction from a ability set viewpoint, a weight viewpoint, velocity viewpoint, they’re all the identical.
The previous Springboks captain continued by explaining why gamers are actually so huge from a younger age.
“The schoolboy system is so skilled now in that it’s high-performance environments from a younger age,” he added.
“It’s debatable whether or not that’s good or not – I’ve obtained my opinion on that as properly – however I feel it has a component to play in ultimately why we’re profitable on the highest stage. They’re on fitness center programmes far earlier and the work ethic from a few of these youngsters.”
Whereas this programme appears to profit South Africa in the long term, they might have misplaced one in every of their all-time greats in Burger had he come via the identical set-up in his youth.
“There’s no likelihood if I used to be 15 and so they made me go for fitness center periods,” he mentioned. “I might have checked out three months after.”
