KEO - on transformation in rugby

THERE is not one black forward in the Western Cape good enough to play Stormers Super Rugby.

It is a problem for a side that champions itself as the people’s team.Transformation is about identifying individuals and creating opportunity. Quotas were a necessary evil a decade ago when black players were forced onto white South African coaches but quotas never worked because the identification was poor and subsequently the only opportunity created was for coaches to make a statement that black players were not good enough.

Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is a black coach, but more significantly he is a World Cup-winning coach. He was an outstanding scrumhalf, who never asked for a handout and his statements as a player were based on his pass from the base of the scrum.

His skin tone was incidental to his rugby talent.Coetzee is not a bigot; nor is he a racist. He is a rugby coach, but because he is black he is excused for not picking black players. It is not an issue. Coetzee’s selections are never scrutinised along race lines and when he picks a white player ahead of a black one there is never a suggestion from the media nor rugby public that there is a bias. The decision is accepted.

White professional coaches in this province never had that luxury. When Nick Mallett, as WP Director of Rugby, dismissed lock Quinton Davids as second rate he was accused of racism. Those ranting never accused the Gloucester coaching staff of racism when Davids couldn’t make the club’s first team and couldn’t get a contract renewal.Davids was never good enough and he was never committed enough. He always lacked conditioning and the work ethic required from professional players. His demise after Gloucester was as sudden as his elevation to the national squad in 2000.

Another Stormers coach, Kobus van der Merwe, was constantly condemned for not investing in Ismael Dollie, but when the flyhalf went to the Brumbies and was quietly asked to leave, the Australian coaches weren’t accused of racism. Dollie, a fine schoolboy prospect, was not good enough to play for the Stormers or the Brumbies.

Rassie Erasmus, when replacing Mallett as Director of Rugby, lured black Lions prop Brian Mujati to Cape Town and got Ricky Januarie to give up the bright lights of Johannesburg for the more familiar ones of Cape Town.
Erasmus’ Stormers teams regularly fielded six black players in the starting line-up but it did not eradicate racial criticism. Erasmus was crucified for investing in a Zimbabwean prop and a Fijian wing. Yes they were black, but they were not from the local club scene.

Erasmus vowed to find local talent and spent many nights visiting clubs. It was never enough. You only have to read the SMS columns to know just how little it was appreciated.Coetzee will select a white dominated pack for the Super Rugby opener against the Lions at Newlands because there is no black forward good enough to be there.

The backline will identify with the demographics of Cape Town’s rugby community and also with Coetzee’s merit selection policy.Anyone picked in that team is there because the coach believes they are the best available rugby players.
It is vital this is acknowledged, but it is equally important to acknowledge the reality of a club situation that is producing no quality black forwards.

Politicians and critics of transformation’s snail pace in South African rugby have for too long emphasised black playing numbers in professional teams. How many black Springboks? How many black Super rugby players? How many black players in the Currie Cup play-offs?

Transformation is greater – and more complex – than the number of black players in the opening weekend of Super Rugby.Of South Africa’s five Super Rugby coaches, two are Kiwis and one is a black South African, yet the playing numbers starting the competition are alarmingly low and playing the race card is not a merited argument.

The problem lies not with a bigot of a coach but with a system that is somehow failing the promotion of black forwards, especially in the Western Cape.

It is a blessing Coetzee is black because it means there has to be a question and a view beyond the colour of the coach. There has to be introspection within a club community of coaches and administrators as to why black forwards are failing to make a professional impact, and that finding will be as relevant to the health and strength of rugby in the Western Cape, as any Stormers Super Rugby success in 2011.

Youth Camp 2011 (January)

I'm putting these pics up and it's April now, I can't believe so much time has passed since this Youth Camp in January. Anyhoo, I'm not sending this link to any of the Youth Club liaatjies - can't have them seeing that I'm not, in actual fact, a saint - so I'll keep the captions short-ish. Divided into groups - make human pyramids.

And dress up a member of your team with things from your bag, the kitchen tent.

Rock pool We showed them the mission movie a while back. Tori jumps with a mission pose.

Tara jumps, others watch.

Beualh jumps, and is happy to have survived.

Adam makes his way up, Dani ravages Liam.

The next day, I went on a hike by myself, scoping out the area of the hike I planned to lead the next day. It was quite beautiful, I didn't come across a single person in over four hours.

Set up the camera timer to take these pics of my trip.

Back at the rock pool... Kathryn takes the plunge, Trevor has to convince Aimee that she will not die.

Kelsey squeezes Trevor's hand so hard he loses circulation.

queuing to jump...

Jessica sits alone...

Some oke from the campsite hooked up a zipline at the rockpool. And our youthies were keen to try it out...

Adam's bombdroos were the best I've seen. The others were quite impressed too.

Kelsey and Beddy dive in, Trevor keeps a watchful eye on proceedings.

Back at camp, the boys' tent and the kitchen. The Hike. Or as I like to call it, the hike to hell and back, via heaven.

Some of the okes struggled along the way but in all honesty, it wasn't a tough hike.

Taking a break at the stream along the way to the Oliphants river.

Looking down the valley into the Oliphants Rivier.

Down in the valley, we cooled off in the river.

On the way back, another water stop to fill up the bottles.

A few games of 30 seconds.

Aimee cleans up in the kitchen.

It was early, she was tired. She can't smile all the time.

Judge Trevor found many guilty at the Court of Injustice.

Kelsey sits accused on the coolerbox of fate. The others sit (lie) around awaiting their turn.

It was scary. Beddy read the riot act.

Afterwards, there was time for a group piccie.

And an evening reflection or two.

Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.

An activity in being without sight. Kathryn and Adam the guineapigs.

Stoopid computer deleted kath's pic. I'm too lazy to put it back in.

And Beddy plays "identify the person by touch alone".

Beulah the helpless victim.