Watched by fellow students in colourful blazers, the cream of South African schools rugby talent gathered in the western Cape town of Stellenbosch this weekend to display their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the crowds were representatives from the major South African rugby franchises, trying to spot future stars and sign them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa have won the Rugby World Cup a record four times — in Johannesburg in 1995, in Paris in 2007 and 2023 and in Yokohama in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many observers point to huge forwards as the key to success for the Springboks, a superbly run schools system is the conveyor belt that gives national coaches a continuous supply of stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a scorching early southern hemisphere autumn day, a Grey College training session concludes with an unusual chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If agents ask you for meetings, let us know, we only want what’s best for you,” says team manager Stefan “Putu” Pretorius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This high school in central city Bloemfontein has produced the most Springboks (31) since 1992, when apartheid-induced isolation from international rugby ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those who “graduated” to the Springboks were two double world champions, utility back Francois Steyn, who was in the 2007 and 2019 teams, and scrum-half Cobus Reinach (2019\/2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grey College are competing until Tuesday at a rugby festival amid the winelands of Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival is being held for the first time in Stellenbosch, which is sheltered from the passage of time by typical Cape Dutch colonial architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four Grey stars have already signed contracts with franchises or sealed verbal agreements — their futures assured with the Bulls, Lions or Sharks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bulls are based in Pretoria, the Lions in Johannesburg and the Sharks in Durban. Together with the Stormers in Cape Town they form the “big four” franchises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grey star is centre Ethan Adams, 18. Heralded as the greatest talent of his generation, he already has a nickname, “The Tank,” clips of his best plays are big hits on social media, and he has nearly 20,000 Instagram followers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We work hard and then we have fun playing,” says the physically formidable back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The franchises watch us\u2026 on TV,” says fly-half Jan-Hendrik van der Linden, who led bible study sessions before they played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proud fathers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “High schools already recruit at the under-13 level. They distribute scholarships — that’s the main way they acquire players,” agent Marais Schmidt told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is less true of Grey College, where tradition runs deep with many fathers, who were former schools rugby players, proudly watching their sons follow in their footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “If you’re a former Grey player, it’s a dream to see your son play for the first team,” says 50-year-old JB van den Berg as he watched son Benjamin, a winger, in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Grey offers more opportunities than a smaller school. If you play for a good team, you’re more likely to get an opportunity,” adds Schmidt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team’s coaching staff includes three former Springboks. Tiaan Liebenberg handles the line-outs, Wian du Preez the scrums, and Helgard Muller the backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams was spotted while captaining an under-13 team at his modest school in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Full-back\/winger Lamla Mgedezi, another star of the team and scorer of three tries against Noordheuwel, a school from Krugersdorp in Johannesburg province, also received a scholarship to join Grey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tuition fees at the Bloemfontein college are nearly 10 times the median monthly salary in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He’s a long way from home, but it’s great that a boy like Lamla has the opportunity to attend Grey College,” explains director of rugby Bobby Joubert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He’s a role model for many and a great kid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally from a township near Cape Town, the 16-year-old could replicate one of those Siya Kolisi-style fairytales that South Africa craves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in an impoverished Eastern Cape township, Kolisi caught the eye of a scout, won a scholarship, and went on to lead the Springboks to back-to-back World Cup titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flanker was the first black to captain South Africa in a Test match, leading a team that for many decades included only whites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “There’s work to be done, depending on the schools and where they’re based,” explains Mziwakhe Nkosi, a coach at the Lions, who was in Stellenbosch to view the talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Rugby has a long way to go to provide a large pool of players in terms of development. Let’s hope things improve,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Watched by fellow students in colourful blazers, the cream of South African schools rugby talent gathered in the western Cape town of Stellenbosch this weekend to display their skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":65833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"30","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"4","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"22","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"Cl\u00e9ment Varanges\/AFP","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[7923],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-65831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-school-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n