Reforming the structure of schoolboy rugby is a tough nut to crack. Schools are not motivated by what’s in the best interests of rugby in Australia. They are motivated by what’s in the best interest of their school.
Further, rugby is usually not even their main priority.
There are academic considerations and other sports to contend with.
The rugby season in most private schools (believe it or not) is only a few weeks of trials and then half a dozen or so weeks of competition.
I am from a private school that is part of the GPS competition in Sydney. This is not a very popular thing to admit I know, but this is where I (along with many others) developed my love for rugby.
Rugby is strong in these schools because of the fierce competition and traditional rivalry between them.
However, I also know that this system is not in the best interest of Australian rugby. The class barriers that begin in the schools are what prevent many from ever engaging with rugby in the first place.
These barriers must be broken down. And there may be a way to do this.
Ideally, all school sport would be national or at least State wide. Geographical areas would determine what pool or zone a school belongs to. Different schools would play all the other schools in their pool or zone (at least 5-6 games), building new rivalries.
The winners of the different pools or zones would then play a knock-out tournament to determine the State or national champion.
If this is unattainable, then a special request should be made by the ARU for all schools to comply to this set-up at least in a Rugby World Cup year as a special tournament.
The incentive should be that the Australian School’s Rugby Team will be exclusively chosen from the schools that participate in this format, and that the winning school would be selected and sponsored to represent Australia at the Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament in Japan.
Further, in every non-World Cup year, replace the Waratah Shield with a national shield. Play it along the same geographical structures as above. Make it a mid-week fixture in NSW during the GPS/CAS trials, and make every effort to entice the private schools to play it.
The kids would love more rugby games.
And more rugby games during the trials will actually benefit teams come competition games. Further, it will actually benefit the strength of the Australia Schoolboys team as well.
In any case, if we really want to get kids in government schools interested in playing rugby, then give them a crack at playing against the private schools on a regular basis, and hold out the appeal of being crowned national champions and being sponsored to play in Japan.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
So much rugby, so little time. Not just the Super Rugby Pacific but the U20s Rugby Championship starts on Thursday. Amid that rugby overdose,…
Quite the rap from Mils Muliaina!
Joe Schmidt speaks to the media on Rugby Championship 2024 fixture announcements. He also speaks on Super Rugby Pacific and the upcoming Wales/Georgia series.
It has been a long time since the gap between Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby sides has felt as close as it has…
Wallabies fly-half Carter Gordon is reportedly flirting over the fence with two NRL clubs - the Gold Coast Titans and Melbourne Storm. The 23-year-old…
Australia has always produced tremendously talented rugby players but as a country we’ve had a detrimental tendency to over-hype youngsters, creating unrealistic, unfair, and…
