It certainly looks as though South African rugby is beginning to find its feet for the first time since readmission to international rugby in 1992. On a weekend that saw a famous victory in New Zealand, so too was there the culmination of one of the best Craven Week Tournament in the history of the event.

Much like John Smit has said that the victory was foretold amongst the team this last week, so to was I quietly hoping that what had been shown at times during the Super 14 and first game of the Tri-Nations, would pay dividends in New Zealand. South African rugby is beginning to look surprisingly strong and I say this with respect. You see, compared to the Kiwis and Australia, South Africa has looks a little better off in the talent depth stakes now that so many players are heading off to the European Club scene.

That is why I feel that the Craven Week level in 2008 and the school’s system in South Africa in particular give hope to the future of the game here in South Africa.

The club and provincial scene needs serious revising and the lack of quality structures in these areas will mean that the consistency is still somewhat off a bit, but the talent pool is amazingly large and strong. That along with a seriously passionate, humble and competitive coach for our national team and benchmark, and we sit with some fantastic ingredients to keep South African rugby’s standards at a competitive level.

I could not help but sit and wonder this weekend just how amazing it is that players like JP Pietersen, Bismarck Du Plessis and Frans Steyn are all still under 23 years of age and yet have a World Cup win and a NZ win under their belts. It is going to be quite amazing to see just how many of the 18 year old prodigies from this last week make their mark because there were quite a few and it bodes well for the game here.

Perhaps SA Rugby (the company, associations or governing body) should look seriously now at scrapping the Vodacom Cup at provincial level and ploughing that money into the levels of school, club and university rugby. Add that effort to the already fantastic First National Bank initiatives of ‘Classic Clashes’ and Varsity Cup rugby and the entire rugby development programme of ALL players will look after itself.

Just look at the side and players that South Africa now has at its disposal and one realises just how important the work of Jake White was and just how much a character like Peter De Villiers is perfect for the next few steps. Obviously, all this is written on the back of a wonderful weekend of SA rugby. Again (and I know the 'ed' does not like my rantings about these issues), it is so ironic that it was Victor Matfield who received the card for what was quite honestly a shoulder hit that moved upwards after impact while the attacking player ducked, while the Kiwi boys could hammer away all night without a care in the world – is there really not some form of protection or conspiracy behind all of this? It is pitiful and an embarrassment for the game just how inconsistent these rulings sometimes are when it comes to New Zealand teams.

Anyway – back to the point of this article. If South Africa can just keep working on the mental aspects of winning test matches away from home, if Butch James can just find that split second that he had at RWC07 and for Bath and if the talent and admin structures can feed the Boks as they should, then, based on what was evident this last weekend, South Africa could be well on track to remain a top rugby nation and perhaps further trophies for the cabinet in Cape Town.

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