In SA we have quite a unique problem when it comes to rugby. Other countries really don't experience it and if they do, I don't think its to the same extent. That is how do we integrate each other’s cultural play into one team.
I wasn't the best at rugby, but I still had the basic Nguni tribe rugby trope. If you're black and in the backline, sidestep as many times as you can and embarrass your opponent. And on defence, try and murder them. And you could see this feature in black people all the way to the first team. Zulu and Xhosa players love that step and are, and always will be very flashy. You didn't want to be one-on-one with a black guy isolated cause you might get embarrassed. You never really saw us at the number 10 position cause of this though. Our first thought would always be how do I step this guy silly. Not where is the space for me to kick too (still find this notion silly really). Want beautiful tries, we were the ones to speak to.
Then you also had the black forward. Hard headed and enjoyed destroying guys in the ruck. They found so much fun in the big EATS and those bounces (shoulder charge) that embarrassed the opponents. Don’t you dare let yourself be on the receiving end of this though, as your boys will never let you hear the end of it. 6 years later I still hear about that Affies boy who ripped me a new one when I was at fullback. (flashbacks)
Then you have your Afrikaans men (cause even at 5 years, they can be described as men really) if he is coming at you, get out of the way. You will get hurt. They will run through you (except the number 10, they were the softies of the group). The efficiency they played with in every position was wild and they just did the job, didn't always look good but they did the job. They just sometimes lacked the creativity, but their roughness got them through it (after many games against Affies and Grey College I found this out the hard way). As a backline player you always saw the big number 12 with a comb-over that he brushed just before he got the ball and went to physically abuse the other team. There would be no sidesteps and maybe a dummy or two if he was feeling frisky. But mostly it was heads down and hard running…. The type with a nasty handoff I tell you.
Coloureds were a tricky one. You were always scared when you saw a coloured guy at fullback. They had the flair of a black guy but were good kickers too. You never saw a lot at the forward position though… never that. They didn't get their hands dirty like that. If it wasn't showy then you can miss them there. They could also get very aggressive and were a danger on defence. To be honest they had a bit of both white and black in them (This is not a joke about them being mixed).
So, with all these personalities and playing cultures, integrating all of these personalities into a working team is quite the task. Our coaches must try to take away flair from where it's plenty, and add a bit into an efficiency machine. They must try to stop the coloured guy from trying to run through the whole team from kick off while the black winger is fighting the urge to step back in… this truly is a unique dilemma. But I feel like it also makes our countries rugby very interesting. By the time they get to the national team these tropes have been decreased but are all still there. De Allende is your big 12, Sbu Nkosi, well just wait for the step back in there….
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