You just had to feel sorry for any school that was due to play Grey College after their loss to Jeppe. This school is one of the proudest rugby institutions not only in the country but globally, this loss was never going to be taken well and their next opponents would learn that the hard way regardless of who they were.
The scoreline which for the purposes of this article will not be mentioned as that would be a tad hypocritical was frankly ridiculous, there is not a follower of school rugby that would have seen that coming especially when you consider the proud history of Outeniqua. Now please understand that this article is in no way critical of either school, both teams did what they had to do and took the field of play and understood like we all do that anything can happen in this game.
While we did report the score on our community picks and we did name it one of the games of the week simply due to the quality and intensity of the Grey College team one thing we refused to do is give it a standalone post. We sacrificed a potential viral post for reasons which will be outlined in this article, the fact is that these are school kids and the Outeniqua boys had been through enough on the field and in the age of the internet and with news spreading like wild fire did they need more fuel added to this fire? Our thoughts are a definite no!
Surely something needs to change, after all what is school rugby about and what are we as a community really after here? Let’s start off with what we love about the game at grassroots level, it is the fact that there are no monies on offer, it is and remains the purest form of the game and how we cover it as reporters is of vital importance as at times we forget these are still kids and are meant to be enjoying the game as much as we do. But can we really say there can be any enjoyment found in having 100 points put on the board against you? What lessons are learnt from either side?
The fact is that not all teams are created equal and while losing a game by a large or small margin offers lessons in itself a blowout offers no lessons and each subsequent try leads to further humiliation, further loss of confidence and most detrimental of all – a broken team spirit that may or may never heal.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
There are many scenarios at play here, but we believe that once a team has built a 50 point lead there should be a “coaches call” made by the losing team. The coach then decides on a few options, this can depend on the duration and time of the game but what this is essentially about is ensuring that the fixture ends or continues in the right spirit. Here are some examples of options that could be made available during the “coaches call”:
Continue: we would likely see this happening if there are say 5-10 minutes left in the fixture for example and the boys and coach want to complete the game
Call Off: if a team has built up a 30-50 point lead and there is still a full half of rugby to be played, if there are too many injuries and the boys are too despondent to continue then the game should simply be called off
Jersey Swap: I like this one, and I think it stays within the spirit of the game and adds a little spice to the fixture. 15 numbers are put into a hat and 8 names from the winning team are randomly drawn, these numbers of course represent the different positions in a rugby team. These players swop jerseys with their opposite numbers and the game continues, the official score will remain as is when reporting the results but the on field scoreboard starts over and the boys play out the remaining minutes.
WHAT ABOUT POINTS DIFFERENCES IN LEAGUES?
Many leagues rely on a points difference to go through to the next round of a competition. Our work around this is very simple. Teams whose victory was through a coaches call are automatically awarded 50 points, in the event of a tie in points the way to determine which team goes through will be determined as follows:
1:Head to Head: if Team A beat Team B in their previous fixture they go through on account of that win
2:Discipline: the team with the better disciplinary record in terms of cards goes through, this is a far better lesson to the boys than a blowout victory and means that controlling their tempers is more important than a larger win in the greater scheme
3:First Scorer: if the teams drew their fixture and the discipline record is equal then it is a simple case of who scored the first points in their fixture that season
4:Coin Toss: I know how deep down the rabbit hole some of you can go, a few would say what about a 0-0 result? Well then we toss a coin and its done, luck of the flip I guess
CONCLUSION
I am sure there are those out there that will disagree, but something just does not sit right with me when I see blowout scores. I recall a few years ago all the major newspapers reporting on a school from Durban having 200 points scored against them in a fixture.
What are grown adults doing reporting on the ultimate humiliation suffered by these kids? Do you think that memory will not sit with them for years? Again, what is this about? If it is about imparting life lessons and creating memories then blowouts are an epic fail. They serve no purpose and do not foster the outcomes that we want these boys to achieve.
Whether you are a 1st team player or an Under 14D player, you represent your school, you represent your community and you stand side by side with your brothers in arms – these are the things that develop character, not the final result.
There is a term we often use in rugby circles when a score reaches a ridiculous level, we call it a “cricket score” and lets face it; Schools Rugby is just not cricket.
