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Ryan Strudwick is the Director of Rugby at Maritzburg College.

“At 3.30 on a Saturday afternoon, our entire school community is more united than at any other time. We all pull for the first XV, because their success is such a vital component to the well-being of the place as a whole.”

Those are the words of Maritzburg College deputy headmaster and Master in Charge of rugby, Keith Guise-Browne. In essence, those words apply to every major school in KZN, the country even.

Web forums such as rugby365 are littered with heated conversations between parents, old boys and the man on the street, all arguing about why their school should be ranked higher than their neighbours’.

What used to be a pastime has now become a business. Indeed, there can be more pressure contained in one decisive moment on Saturday afternoon than any maths or geography exam could muster.

That sport, and rugby especially, has acquired even greater importance in the minds of schools and their leaders is evident in the recent appointment of Ryan Strudwick as director of rugby at Maritzburg College, a role Brad Macleod-Henderson fulfils at Hilton College.

Both former players have been instructed to provide their respective sides with a cutting edge, as the schools felt themselves being left behind on the rugby field.

“It was a no-brainer for us,” Guise-Browne emphasised. “Ryan’s expertise, and his willingness to be part of the school’s rugby culture, was something we couldn’t miss out on. He will take over the first XV, and the current incumbents will become the forwards and backline coaches.”

The increasingly professional approach to schoolboy rugby is the result of pressure from all sorts of corners. Old Boys, governing bodies, parents ... it is relentless, says Hennie Havemann, the director of marketing at Westville.

“When parents are trying to decide where to take their boys, one of the first questions they ask is about the strength of the school’s sport. But our first priority has always been academics, and that will remain so.”

Going against the grain, Westville have returned to a system where staff members coach their boys. They had former Sharks star Hugh Reece-Edwards on board, but went back to the traditional route.

“The bond between players and coaches gets compromised when the coach is not a teacher, we felt,” Havemann explained.

“I am not knocking what other schools are doing, but we felt it was important to get that personal touch again.”

One of the most successful schoolboy teams in recent years has been the “Green Machine” of Glenwood.

Sean Erasmus, the head coach for the past four years, recently returned from a tour to Argentina with two sides, which raised a few eyebrows.

“That trip was originally supposed to happen last September. But due to complications with the dollar, we had to postpone it to recently,” he explained, before admitting that the timing was not ideal from an academic perspective.

“I’m not too popular with some teachers right now, but from a rugby perspective, the trip was very educational for the boys,” he countered.

Erasmus admitted that there was increased pressure on him and his players, especially as they have become the premier rugby school in KZN.

“There is always going to be pressure, but I try to deflect as much of that to me here,” he continued.

Another controversial issue has been the supposed use of under-19 players in teams. Some schools were even threatening not to play against Glenwood, as they deemed the practice unethical and unsporting.

“I’m supposed to have half a team of 19-year-olds. So if the other coaches know where they are, they must please tell them to come to practice because I need them,” Erasmus joked.

“The reality is that I have two boys who will be 19 this year. And it is a bit ironic, because this practice started with the introduction of post-matrics years ago. The schools that initiated that practice are the ones complaining now.

“I have contacted all the schools and explained our position. But just as an aside, Saru themselves deem school rugby as an under-19 sport. So you could have an entire team of under-19s, and that wouldn’t be against the rules.”

With all these issues, it is almost too easy to forget the young men at the centre of all these debates.

“There is pressure on the boys, certainly,” Guise-Browne admitted. “But there are spin-offs too. The first team rugby players are still the most recognisable in the school. They are looked up to, and I think they feed off that.”

Erasmus agrees, and says he has gone so far as getting his players to sign a code of conduct, in keeping with their status as role models.

“All these boys have goals to go to an academy, to play for the Sharks, and then the Springboks. There is pressure from all the stuff they read in the papers and on all these blogs, but they also put themselves under pressure,” he pointed out.

”We have certainly had to step up our recruitment structures, and that is one area where Ryan Strudwick will also play a role,” College’s Guise-Browne confirmed.

“But we don’t believe in attracting 17- or 18-year-olds. We want boys who will grow in the school, understand the history and the traditions, and then rise to play first team.”

Crowds of 5 000-10 000 are not uncommon at “derbies” between the likes of College and Glenwood, or Hilton and Michaelhouse.

It is a business, and one which schools across the province are taking more and more seriously. Training starts earlier and earlier each year.

Schools are equipped with gyms, with instructors and programmes to get the best out of their athletes.

The good old days of friendly rivalries are not as easily recognisable these days.

For those who win, the sun will rise a lot more happily on Sunday morning.

And, as Westville’s Havemann admitted, “Everybody loves a winner”.