Rugby academy on track for season

After a move from Uvongo to the greener pastures of the Genesis Youth Centre in Marburg, the Southern KZN Rugby Academy (SKZNRA) started its programme on Monday this week.

The programme will start the journey towards the season that will see them play in the Frank Norris League that will resume on April 22.

“We are geared up and ready to take to the field, planning on having a few warm up games in the first week of March, just to get things going so we can cross our t’s and dot our i’s,” said head coach Elton Barnes.

With the team currently away on a four-day camp at Lake Eland in preparation for the season, the academy will field two teams in the league, namely the SKZNRA and a Southern Natal Sub Union (SNSU) side that will be open to U20 players from outside the academy, with a tournament anticipated to take place in March.

“We don’t only want to build a strong programme through depth, but we also want to do it through longevity and that comes through development. So the the Southern Natal rugby side will offer that for all young rugby players on the South Coast,” Barnes said.

Although the fixtures are yet to be finalised, the first fixture will see both teams travel away in the Frank Norris Cup, and will see both teams kick off the season with an away fixture in Durban, before the first home game a week later at the Genesis Centre in Marburg.

All U20 rugby players are invited to join the SNSU team practices on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at the Genesis Centre.

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