Rugby Union to investigate reports of overage schoolboy rugby players

IN the wake of recent issues with overage players being fielded at schools’ level, the South African Rugby Legends Association (SARLA) says it may have been fooled in previous games and tournaments, but representatives are aware of the extremes to which some players will go to manipulate the system, and has strongly reiterated its commitment to the participants’ safety under their VUKA rugby development umbrella.

This comes after reports last week that a Durban school had admitted to inadvertently fielding overage rugby players. In a letter to parents, Glenwood Preparatory School confirmed the pupils in question had used fake documentation to lie about their age, and the two boys were 15-years-old when they played for the school’s U12 team. Both players then went on to represent the province at the U13 Craven Week – which KZN won last year.

Noel Ingle, Glenwood Prep principal and head of the SA Schools Rugby Association, said he was devastated by the news which was a disappointment to the school. He said he would be looking at measures that can be put in place to prevent this from happening again and believes there are more overage players in the system. The KZN Rugby Union has confirmed it is launching its own investigation.

Commenting on the matter, SARLA CEO, Stefan Terblanche, said: “We can’t deny that in certain instances, players who were overage have come through the system. But because of it, we are now able to make our selection process more watertight than it has ever been before. We can’t point any fingers, but we have been made aware of players coming through our ranks that have been guilty of such misdemeanours.”

He said unfair play in any form is something that he and SARLA feel strongly about.

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“It is our responsibility to ensure that every player is on an even playing field and competes on equal footing with his or her peers. We will do everything in our power to stop overage players from entering any of our programmes or competitions, and we will adopt the exact same no tolerance policy with performance enhancing drugs. I think the time has come to take a brutal approach to these issues, as they damage the game in very serious ways.”

He said parents can rest assured that, when their children participate in VUKA and Iqhawe Week structures, they are safe and protected by strict regulations, which are all designed with the players’ best interests at heart.

Jesreal Claassen, National Head for VUKA Rugby said: “These extremely unfortunate incidents go against the true spirit of great sportsmanship that VUKA represents. We owe it to the kids who participate in the programme to make sure that they get the best chance they can possibly have at excelling in their sport and in their lives. We will continue to adhere to SA Rugby’s strict admittance guidelines for players and will be initiating the appropriate tests wherever a player’s integrity is in any doubt. Where necessary, as has been the case in the recent past, bone density tests can help determine the player’s age beyond a shadow of a doubt, even if documents such as birth certificates have been falsified. We will implement these tests when and where they are deemed necessary.”

That is not to say that they will be excluding any players, and Claassen said they were committed to making sure that players are placed into their appropriate age groups so that they can participate in the sport that they love among kids their own age, who are equally as passionate about rugby.

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