SARU Academy Programme continues to flourish
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) Academy Programme continued to flourish in its second year of operation with several players making their presence felt in the Absa Under-19 and Under-21 B Division finals last weekend, helping their teams to secure provincial titles.
Four SARU Academies, funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), were established in Border, Eastern Province, South Western Districts and Boland towards the end of 2012 with the objective of broadening the base of talented players in those regions and grooming them for elite rugby.
This year, 14 players in the EP Kings’ match-22 and 10 players in the SWD squad that participated in the Absa Under-21 B Division final in Welkom were products of the SARU Academy Programme, while eight players who represented Boland in the Absa Under-19 B Division final were members of SARU’s Boland Academy.
This achievement was bolstered by the fact that two of the players, EP Kings Under-21 fullback Selvyn Davids and Boland Under-19 fullback Lohan Lubbe finished their respective Absa Junior Championships as the third and fourth highest point scorers respectively.
This success followed on a fantastic opening year in which several players who participated in the knock-out stages of the Absa Under-21 and Under-19 B Division competitions were linked to the SARU Academy Programme as the EP Kings were crowned the Absa Under-21 and Under-19 B-Division champions last year following victories against Boland and the Junior Valke respectively.
SARU CEO Jurie Roux said he was happy with the significant strides made by the SARU Academies in their first two years of operation. “The success of these Absa Junior Provincial Championship teams is a testament to the hard work done in those provinces and it certainly shows the value of our SARU Academy programme,” he said. “The SARU Academies have played a crucial role in the identification and development of talented young players in the last two years and we believe this will assist significantly in the implementation of our Strategic Transformation Plan in future.
“I would like to thank the respective provincial unions for their co-operation since the inception of the programme, and I believe that if we continue to work together, we will reap consistent rewards at junior and senior level.”
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