Johannesburg - The wisest headmaster I worked for in my teaching days used to remind us that the most important rugby coach in the school was the matric mathematics teacher. Get her on your side, he said, and you could have a successful season.
He was referring to the remarkable, when I think back on it, fact that those 1st team players, as dedicated as they were to the game, would abandon it without a blink if there was a maths test, or an extra lesson that clashed with the rugby programme. As frustrating as it was at the time, in retrospect I think it was a good thing.
It showed a degree of balance and I wonder if that still exists in the “professional” set-up you find in the rugby programmes of the top schools these days. I thought of those days after speaking recently to a coach who described the amount of time his players are spending on pre-season preparations at the moment - and the season is still a month away. But, before I lapse into my default professionalism-bashing mode, I want to acknowledge there are a lot of good things that have come out of the scientific, highly organised way in which the game is being run at schools these days.
Probably the most important of those is the adoption of the protocols around injuries, medical care and returning to play after recovery. I go cold when I think of how we never had any sort of medical support present at practices, of how match-day first aid typically consisted of a few keen schoolboys equipped with ice and water, and of how we used to cajole key injured players back on to the field before they were ready for it.
That we never had a serious injury in my time as a coach is by the grace of God. Thankfully, it’s different now. Those hours spent in pre-season training may not be doing much for the maths marks, but the players are in better physical shape to play the game now, and the top schools employ exercise specialists to keep them that way throughout the season.
World Rugby, and SA Rugby through its BokSmart programme, have laid down minimum requirements in terms of fields, equipment and coaching qualifications the schools have to adhere to, and the rugby law changes that are made quite regularly these days almost all have to do with the safety of the players.
An important example is the handling of concussion and head injuries. “Recognise and remove” is the mantra: see that a player has been affected by a bump on the head and get him off the field. And once that has happened there are procedures that have to be followed before a decision is taken on whether he is okay to start playing again. A significant development in this area has been the introduction of “baseline testing” of the type done by Dr Jon Patricios and his Sports Concussion programme.
What that means is that the brain function of a player is measured and recorded before the season starts so there is a standard of normality on record. If a head injury is suffered, the player may not return to contact sport until he is back to normal – no discussion entered into.
That same clever school principal of mine also recognised the role our mothers play. If they can see that as much as possible is being done to keep their boys safe, they will be happier in allowing them to play rugby. Thankfully, the trickling down of the professional approach into our schools has made it easier for those mothers to relax while their sons are playing – although I know many who never really do. Now all we need is to get the coaches to shorten practices during maths test week.
Independent Media