Need for the Academy

 

It has been highlighted and discussed on numerous rugby platforms and public forums in South African rugby media recently that South African rugby players don’t have the same skill sets as that of their traditional rivals in the New Zealanders and Australians and that we are behind in this area of the game.

 

Some of the blame has been levelled on school and junior club coaches for not spending enough time and attention to detail in ball skills development, detailing that they tend to focus more on game plans, systems and maps. This criticism may not be entirely true for all coaches in SA as there are many passionate and well developed skills coaches out there, however, having a lot of time recently with professional teams like the Hurricanes, Jaguares, England Saxons and Sunwolves, I can say that there is never enough time to spend on the basics.

 

The catch-pass is the most important skill in rugby and the more time we spend on it, the better we can become, allowing for the precision and accuracy you see from the pros.

 

With this in mind and with an exciting pool of young talent in South Africa, as a passionate and ambitious coach, I have resolved to make a difference and play an active role in up-skilling our young rugby players on the importance of aspects such as ball handling, evasion, defence, communication and running lines to name a few of the skills to be coached in the academy. It is envisaged that the boys who attend will be introduced to the latest trends of the modern game and through emphasis on fun, enjoyment, attention to detail and without a doubt some hard work, they will take away enough valuable knowledge and hopefully a little spark with which to ignite their fire within and through EXTRA work, develop themselves well enough to stand a good chance of making a success of their sport.

 

The #RugbyAcademy is a value added service and as such is designed to complement that which these boys are learning at their respective schools.