Local rugby talent drain continues
Seven Zululand players in Durban clubs
THE rugby talent drain continues to haunt Zululand rugby.
Rhinos 1 players Adu Wessels, and David Harel along with KwaZulu-Natal U18 players JB Heunis and Jaco Pretorius, have been scouted and will play for Durban clubs this season.
Wessels and Harel were approached by UKZN Impi coach John Mitchell and offered a full bursary for his studies, as well as the opportunity to play in the Varsity Shield competition.
Heunis and Pretorius, who recently matriculated from Richards Bay High School, were snapped up by Johnson College Rovers.
Other local players, namely Jors Danhauser and Dean Moolman, already ply their trade in Durban.
Sevens star Brendon Asherwood, who currently plays for Western Province and the South African Sevens outfit, is an ex-Zululand player.
This reason our top talent is poached so easily is the fact that there are no professional clubs in the Zululand area that can help young talented players pursue a career in rugby.
The Empangeni Rugby Football Club (ERFC) does play in the premier club division, but this merely results in Zululanders being noticed and poached with more lucrative offers.
The ERFC is the only ‘platteland’ side in South Africa competing in a premier division.
Surely this means something and John Smith and his team of executives should take a serious look at this issue and grant smaller clubs bigger financial aid to help develop club rugby in the country areas instead of starving them of talent.
I don’t see a problem here. They play good rugby, so they can be poached by better clubs. It happens all over the world.