Battling to transform a mindset

Joe Humphreys reports from Johannesburg on why some South Africans are losing patience with the rugby establishment.

On a sun-kissed playing field in southern Johannesburg, you can glimpse the future of South African rugby. Each week hundreds of youths from the nearby township of Soweto, and neighbouring boroughs, flock here to play a game once denied to them because of their colour.

"We are expert at the art of persuasion," says Desmond Booysen, manager of the ever-expanding city club, recently renamed as Raiders. "This is predominantly a soccer world as far as blacks and coloureds are concerned. It's a hell of a lot of hard work to sustain interest in the programme. But our membership is increasing."

Raiders Rugby Club is an example of how much, and how little, has changed in South African rugby since the end of apartheid in the early 1990s.

Some 22 schools in what are called "previously-disadvantaged areas" have signed up for a development programme at the club. Raiders teams comprise people of all ethnic groups, albeit whites are in a minority - as they are nationally, representing just nine per cent of the population.

The club's senior squad has been promoted to the top local league, and is holding its own against the best sides in the country. Raiders can even boast their first Springbok - Ricky Januarie, who will face Ireland on Saturday at Lansdowne Road.

The problem is clubs like Raiders are so thin on the ground in South Africa they are almost an aberration.

South Africa's lack of progress on what it calls the "transformation agenda" is perhaps best seen in its national side. Of this month's 28-man touring squad, just seven are either black or "coloured" - the term used locally to describe people of mixed-race descent. Of the seven, two are uncapped, and two have had scant playing time. Just one - Bryan Habana - is a definite pick for the first 15.

The picture gets worse when you look at change in that other, one-time sporting preserve of whites - cricket. The Proteas are benefiting from a major influx of new blood, fielding their first black captain this year, and grooming at least one African player of world-class standard in bowler Makhaya Ntini.

"Rugby in South Africa is not changing fast enough," says Booysen, who played during the apartheid era, for a time with the Saru Springboks, the segregated national side for blacks and coloureds. "We already have enough black players to make up a Springbok back line. Those players would be able to compete with the best in the world but I don't think they are getting enough opportunities."

THE VERDICT IS perhaps a little harsh on Springbok coach Jake White, who has picked more black players than any of his predecessors. For doing so, moreover, he has been pilloried by sections of the rugby "old guard" who accuse him of prioritising "political correctness" over winning.

John Robbie, the former Irish player who is a prominent radio broadcaster in South Africa, has some sympathy for the coach. "He has experimented well. In the old days, you used to say, 'you pick your best 15' but you don't do that now. You pick young players, you pick players for the future, you pick players for a series of matches, and that is what he is doing."

Transformation will take time, Robbie adds. "You have to deal with motivation to start with. The majority of South Africans would rather play soccer than rugby or cricket. Looking at the Springboks is coming at the issue from the wrong end."

Earlier this year, SA Rugby published its long-awaited "transformation charter", which aims both to "significantly increase the number of black persons involved" in the sport, and to "dramatically improve performances". The rugby union said between now and 2014 it would get rid of its "white face" at all levels so that teams properly reflected the country's demographic profile.

A key part of the union's strategy is to identify talent in schoolboy tournaments, and then support it with specialist training and nutrition programmes. The importance of the latter is highlighted by research showing black children in under-18 competitions are on average 3.6 lbs lighter than their white counterparts, and coloured children 4.5 lbs lighter.

Herman Masimla, head of SA Rugby's high performance unit, says it has appointed school talent scouts and "conditioning coaches" in each province. "If a player needs specific support, like access to gym equipment, we will devise a plan for him," he remarks.

Booysen believes intervention is needed at an earlier stage: "Not one of the top 100 rugby schools in the country comes from a previously-disadvantaged area."

South Africa's top clubs continue to pay much lip-service to the issue. Rather than seeking to broaden interest in the game locally, such clubs tend to poach the best black and coloured players from the likes of Raiders, and other predominantly non-white teams, in order to meet informal racial quotas. "We are always saying goodbye to the cream of the crop - to players we might have had from under-nine - because we can't compete financially," Booysen laments.

South Africa's five Super 14 entries have been mean-spirited in this regard. This year, they were ordered to include at least eight black players in their 30-man squads, and each side named exactly eight. Moreover, many such players were left languishing on the bench for the season. As the local political magazine, Noseweek, put it, "For some coaches SA Rugby's commitment to development means putting two blacks on the wing where they won't get too much of the ball."

A group of entrepreneurs in Eastern Cape, the national province with the highest concentration of black rugby fans, has shaken up the scene by putting together a proposed Super 14 franchise comprising few, if any, white payers. The Southern Spears received the go-ahead to enter the three-country tournament in 2007 but SA Rugby has since blocked its plans following strong lobbying from the white-dominated franchises - one of which would have to give up its Super 14 place to the newcomer following a proposed relegation contest.

The High Court upheld the Southern Spears' right to play Super 14 for the next two years in accordance with written agreements with the union. But SA Rugby has appealed the decision - with a final court decision expected on November 23rd. Regardless of the outcome, the episode casts doubts on the union's commitment to reform. The organisation has itself cited the challenge of "reconciling the expectations of the historically disadvantaged with the vested interests (and rights) of the historically privileged class".

On current form, the latter is holding sway - and that is hardly surprising, given SA Rugby is dominated by officials drawn from the county's top professional clubs.

That said, foreign observers shouldn't be overly-judgmental. Sports Illustrated South Africa has estimated close to 900,000 youths from economically-deprived areas have been introduced to rugby since 1994. Moreover, SA Rugby has made some bold appointments, including the instalment last week of Zola Yeye - like Booysen a former Saru Springbok - as the team manager.

The appointment has been criticised by, among others, Freedom Front Plus - a political party representing conservative whites. Party leader Dr Pieter Mulder says SA Rugby's insistence on a black manager "is racism in a sense". Yeye is controversial also for being a strong critic of White's selections, describing transformation in the Springboks as "diabolical". Yeye said: "We should be seeing a true reflection of South Africa on the field - not a team as lily-white as the group who played in the 1995 World Cup."

For the union, the recent changes are something of a roll of the dice. The sport is in danger of becoming culturally marginalised - even before the hype surrounding South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup takes off. There is also the threat of the government legislating on the issue, specifically by introducing binding racial quotas for teams at provincial and national level. SA Rugby says this could happen "in the not-too-distant future" if clubs fail to improve their ratings on the union's transformation "score cards".

Some South Africans are losing patience with the rugby establishment. Last August, a coalition of black supporters and rugby clubs - led by Raiders - called for a boycott of the home Tri-Nations Test matches because of the slow pace of transformation. After emergency talks with SA Rugby, the group withdrew the plea, and now it plans to form a network of committees to monitor the implementation of reform policies.

"The time for window-dressing is gone", says Booysen. "If it doesn't come from the heart no rules, no policy, and no procedures will guide you to transform. We are all human beings with a passion for the sport. Let's embrace each other. If we do that transformation is done already."