U-21 side in prime condition

When the season started, Brakpan Rugby Club’s u-21 side had not beaten any of the top neighbouring clubs in a long time.

The u-21s of 2019, however, have turned a corner as they have beaten United three times this season, scoring more than 50 points on two occasions.

Not only have they managed to hammer some of their biggest rivals, the local side are set to finish the league stage of the Valke term with a home semi-final set.

So what has been the secret this season?

“I think it’s having a clear goal from the start of the season. Everybody comes and we make a decision as a team to commit to the goal,” said coach Darlton Botha.

“From day one there shouldn’t be any doubt. Everyone should have a clear goal for themselves. From a coach’s point of view I speak to every player and set them individual goals and then I give them team goals. We play for fun, but it’s only fun when we win.”

Brakpan has been so good that the only team they are yet to beat this season is North West University, who they face next week in a match that will likely decide who finishes the season on top of the log.

“That’s our goal, we just want to beat them,” said captain Dylan O’Neil.

“That’s the next hurdle in our line of hurdles.”

Of course, their next match is this Saturday against traditional rivals Springs. Brakpan has been so dominant this season that they will go into that match as the favourites.

The performance of the u-21 side often gives an indication of where the club’s senior side might be headed to in the coming years. With recent changes in players’ contracts in South African Rugby, this could even be more than just club rugby.

Read: Super festival of rugby at Bosman

“Let’s break it down a bit,” says Botha.

“The Blue Bulls are the biggest union in South Africa, money wise. They can only contract 45 professional players. Which sounds like a lot when you play only 23 on a match day, but a season of rugby is a war of attrition with a lot of injuries. So what will happen is they can contract semi-professional guys from Super Rugby Challenge to fill that role. Right now they have over 100 players on their books who will be cut and those guys go to Super Rugby Challenge and below that you have to go to club rugby.”

This means club players will have a better chance of moving up to professional rugby than they had before and the performances of the u-21 side means some of them could still find their way up to the professional ranks.”

This excites Botha, who is already planning to invite high school players to come and watch his side and do battle in the semi-finals when the time comes.

“I’m going to invite the first teams from Hoërskool Stoffberg and Hoërskool Die Anker,” he said.

“Show them there is life in rugby after school. If Brakpan does well as a team then the eyes are out there. I record all our games, so if a player has an agent and he wants to go abroad or wants to get his name out there, we give him snippets of his play if he requests it. We can use that to promote him. There are good rugby players on the East Rand.”

Listening to Botha and his players, one gets the feeling they all believe in the system and there is a general feeling of trust among the players.

“The commitment of the team is much better than last year,” said centre Stephan de Klerk.

“If you set a goal the whole team helps you to strive for that goal.”

The goal for now is to beat Springs and North West University to finish the season on top. Those who have seen them play are confident they can reach this target.

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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Thelma Koorts  (Editor) brakpanherald@caxton.co.za

 or Stacy Slatter (News Editor) stacys@caxton.co.za

 or Miné Fourie (journalist) minev@caxton.co.za

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