Blue Bulls launch new league
The Blue Bulls Rugby Union and their Schools Rugby Association, in co-operation with sports promoter Willem Strauss on Wednesday announced an innovative and exciting new rugby competition that will combine clubs and schools.
In this new competion the eight Carlton League clubs will combine fwith school in their area in a tournament that will involved 46 schools competing in those eight club sides.
The clubs – uTkkies, Police, Centurion, Oostelike Eagles,Silver Valke, Naka Bulls in Woinderboom, Pretoria Harlequins and the Vikings of Tshwane University of Technology will all enter Under-19 teams made up only of boys in matric but excluding boys who will have played for the Blue Bulls at one of the national weeks.
Strauss said: "This will not only broaden our player base, but will also benefit players from smaller schools and those who develop a bit later, as they will now have a platform to showcase their talents.
"We have perfect examples of such players in Marcell Coetzee and Juan Smith and we believe this competition can deliver gems like that."
The tournament will be played in the June school holidays and all teams will play three matches. A similar tournament for the Valke province is also in the planning stage and Strauss hopes to see the concept become a nationwide one.
Strauss said: "We see the clubs/schools league as the way forward to grow the game."
It was an easy buy-in from their side, according to the CEO of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, Dr. Eugene Hare. He said: "All unions in the country have issues with numbers in club rugby and this initiative can produce a big number of school players that will continue playing after school. It is also important to expose schools players to the club rugby culture and this will make that happen."
