The triumph of the Junior Boks this past weekend against the Junior All Blacks to win the World Junior Championship may have been celebrated for the incredible achievement it is, but it would be wrong not to credit SA Rugby for their incredible role in it.
Too often governing bodies are bogged down by bureaucracy, politics or just plain incompetence, and given the pressures on SA Rugby over the past decade, it certainly is a time to stand up and give them a round of applause.
Last season the team finished seventh in the World Junior Championship and a restructure of the High Performance Environment was announced. Dave Wessels took over and implemented changes.
Rassie Erasmus was left to the national side, but still has huge impact in the other structures, given the fact the Boks are South Africa’s No 1 team.
But Wessels, the former UCT, Western Force and Melbourne Rebels coach, moved quickly and quietly, making a number of significant changes that paid off and will still pay off in the future.
For one, the decision to change the role of the SA under-20 coach - which was primarily a development one over the past few years, and to add some gravitas to it, was a masterstroke.
SA Rugby decided that the coach needed to have franchise experience and while some eyebrows were raised when Wessels appointed Kevin Foote - his assistant at UCT, Force and Rebels, it was clear it came with a plan.
The addition of Johan Ackermann to the coaching team - as a consultant - raised that bar. Several of the Junior Boks have spoken about Ackermann’s influence - the weight of expectation he brings, the calmness and the way he works with players, and it won’t be a surprise to see some of these Junior Boks head to the Bulls to work more with him in the coming years.
That last point is a sensitive one in SA Rugby at the moment, and there are whispers already of teams offering their Junior Boks contract extensions this week upon their return to keep them out of the clasps of other unions (or heading to Pretoria for that matter).
But back to the High Performance Environment. The change in outlook and goal setting for SA Rugby is a monumental one.
The Junior Boks were prioritised. Ackermann was a welcome addition but to give him the credit alone would be wrong. Foote and others have spoken about the two other unseen members of the coaching staff that played exceptional roles.
Melusi Mthethwa, a rising star in coaching ranks, joined to take over the attack and skills for the under-20s. Mthethwa’s rise has been impressive, from his time with Pukke to taking the Cheetahs under-19 and under-21 sides, then head coach at CUT in the Varsity cup and attack coach for Griquas.
The other member of the coaching team that deserves praise Lumumba Currie, who coached the forwards and comes from just as long a line of success - taking University of Fort Hare to the Varsity Shield title.
The quartet of coaches, and their support staff, planned meticulously and gave the team enough preparation - for the first time they didn’t just face local teams such as Hamiltons and the Bulls under-20s, but also a tour to Georgia to hone their skills and the tough lessons of the Rugby Championship under-20s.
The planning was exceptional - the support staff under manager Zingi Hela - negated the 37 degree temperatures so well - even when Demitri Erasmus got heatstroke in the first game and negotiated bus drives of around three hours in the infamous Italian traffic by setting up mini base camps at hotels close to the stadium - in the final they even beat out New Zealand to the hotel closest to the stadium when others started copying them.
All in all, the victory came in many parts, and not just on the field. For the first time SA Rugby put together a support system that gave the side the best chance of victory. After all, what is the use of having the best school system if you can’t translate it into under-20 success?
This process will be continued now as the 2024 Junior Bok review highlighted a new optimisation process - which is the establishment of a new-look SA Rugby under-19 Academy squad, which will feed the under-20s when they defend their title in Georgia next year.
This squad will get together in November, and 40 of the most promising under-19 players will then be based at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
This will give Foote the chance to work with these players a lot longer than is normally the case. And to build the squad into a formidable feeder system that will benefit the franchises and ultimately the Springboks.
SA Rugby have done the same for the Women Boks who have a Rugby World Cup to face later this year, and have organised tests against Spain, Canada and the upcoming tour of the Black Ferns for them to prepare. The appointment of Swys de Bruin to revitalise Women’s Rugby is part of Wessels plan for overall success.
At the moment SA Rugby is privileged to be double fifteens World Cup champions, and won the Sevens World Championship in Los Angeles a few months ago.
With the Junior Boks’ success added to this impressive trophy cabinet, the future looks bright.
And given the struggles that SA Rugby have gone through with Covid, the equity deal and other issues, they deserve a round of applause.
The success is there for all to see.