Revealed: How Boland can remain in the top tier

The Boland Cavaliers ended their decade-long dwelling in the second tier of the South African game when they qualified for the country’s premier domestic competition, the Currie Cup.

Cavaliers coach Hawies Fourie and his charges have been back on the training field for a month, after losing in the semifinals of the SA Cup.

Fourie recently confirmed the signing of five new players, including a Springbok, to bolster his side ahead of their Currie Cup opener against the Cheetahs in Wellington on July 27.

Veteran Bok scrumhalf Louis Schreuder headlines the union’s recruits, having helped Bath win the European Challenge Cup and English Premiership.

Along with Schreuder, a Currie Cup winner with the Sharks in 2018 and Western Province in 2012, also joining Boland, are flyhalf Juan Mostert (from Rovigo), Laurence Victor (prop), Llewellyn Classen (hooker), Sibusiso Sangweni (loose forward), David Brits (utility back) and Donovan Don (utility back).

However, that does not guarantee automatic success, and Boland Rugby Union President Bennie van Rooi admitted the real slog is just starting.

“To stay there [Currie Cup] will require even more hard work,” the Boland boss told @rugby365com in a detailed and explanatory interview.

And the BRU has a long-term goal, not just ‘instant success’.

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“Our feeding structures – the junior ranks – will need a dramatic revamp,” Van Rooi added.

“We have more than 23,000 registered players, of which about 25 percent are Under-20.

“Our selection processes will have to be spot to ensure our longevity in the Currie Cup.”

The biggest concern for the Cavaliers are the depth and quality of their tight forwards.

The Boland boss is not concerned about the quality of their backs and loose forwards.

“Our development plan will have to be executed with precision,” he said, adding: “We are talking to our equity partners to set up an academy where we can ‘school’ these youngsters.

“We must keep that talent wellspring very healthy,” he told @rugby365com.

“Development is a passion for me.

“Boland doesn’t want to have just a short visit to the Currie Cup.

“As long as I am involved, we should be in the top tier [Premier Division].”

Boland has long been a great source of world-class Springboks – the most recent being Willie le Roux and Cornal Hendricks.

Going a bit further back household names like Piet du Toit (Pieter-Steph du Toit’s grandfather), former Bok captain Dawie de Villiers and Errol Tobias, the first player of colour to play in a Test for the Boks.

Other luminaries include Tjol Lategan, Chris Koch, Buks Marais, Bertus van der Merwe, McNeill Hendricks, Stefan Terblanche, Wayne Julies and Marius Joubert.

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“That is why it is vital to have a healthy working relationship with our equity partners, to ensure we retain those kind of talents,” Van Rooi told @rugby365com.

“I was heartbroken having lost a player like Luan Giliomee [born-and-raised in Ceres], the star of the Craven Week last year, who signed with the Sharks.

“Those are the players we want to keep here in Boland.

“We’ll have to do something different to retain them, because parents are being given the impression that the players’ school fees will be taken care of.

“We have the best schools here in Boland and still parents are being convinced their children need to go to Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg.

“I have been speaking to the schools and the school unions about retaining those players.

“I am on a drive to retain those talented players, formulate some plans to get bursaries for those players and keep them in our structures.

“We must make our feeder systems sustainable.”

The BRU is by far the biggest union in terms of player numbers.

Their 23,000 is 21 percent of the registered club players in South Africa.

The union stretches over a massive geographical area in the Western Cape.

This includes towns like Vanrynsdorp in Matzikama Local Municipality, Saldanha Bay, Bredasdorp in Cape Agulhus Local Municipality, Ceres, Worcester and its headquarters is based in Wellington.

The BRU is based in 13 municipalities, three district municipalities – Cape Winelands, Overberg and West Coast.

The union has more than 200 clubs with 480 teams playing each weekend from February to November.

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* Don’t miss Part Two of the interview, which will focus on the vexed issue of Boland clubs and schools playing in the Western Province structures.