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It's rugby trials time, and I don't miss the cold

 


My school sporting highlight of the week? It’s more a time of year, rather than an event, and I love it because of the memories it stirs: provincial rugby selection season.

When the first chills of winter begin to bite, as they have this week, you know the Craven Week trials are on. I spent 10 years on those selection panels and the one consistent memory of those times is that it was bloody cold. On a typical U18 trials day the final game will kick off at around 5.30pm – sunset – and you’d have been on the side of the field in places like Alberton, or Krugersdorp, or, worst of all at UJ, deep in the valley and next to the Westdene Dam, all afternoon, steadily cooling down.

We’d whinge, but I used to look forward to it all year, and from year to year.

 It wasn’t easy. Trials are definitely not the best way to pick a team and, as the years passed, the task was made more difficult because racial quotas had to be met – it’s much worse now. And you’ll never please everyone, or sometimes even anyone, except for those who actually get the nod. I’ve seen the final trials teams for the Golden Lions U18 and U16 teams (they play against the Leopards on Tuesday, after which the final squads are named) and there will be those who see glaring omissions and clear signs of bias. I'd like to believe, though that everyone wants the teams to win in July, so there is no way they won’t be picking who they feel are the best players.

And I have the worst FOMO. Attending those weeks and seeing if the players you picked were really good enough was the highlight of my career in school sport. Nowadays, thanks to SuperSport Schools, you don’t actually have to be there to see the action anymore.

We are so lucky that there are still teachers who are prepared to brave the cold for weeks on end during trials season to make it all happen. Bless them.

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