Balie Swart, a World Cup-winning Springbok in 1995, has been given an innovative new role by SA Rugby to assist coaches and referees in the proper application of scrum law.
From the Official SA Rugby web site:
Swart was announced as a referee selector for the 2010 season by SA Rugby on Tuesday but will have a dual role as a go-between for coaches and the refereeing hierarchy and as a coach of legal scrumming technique.
“Balie worked with our referees throughout the 2009 season on a one-on-one basis to keep them up to date with scrumming technique and how it impacted on the application of Law by match officials,” said Andre Watson, SA Rugby’s manager of referees.
“We’ve now appointed him as a referee selector 2010 and, in addition, coaches are invited to bring matters to his attention regarding refereeing. There is a misconception that the refereeing community closes ranks and that it is pointless to raise issues. Hopefully the appointment of Balie will provide a channel for coaches to raise their concerns through a channel with which they can more easily relate.”
In addition Swart will also be available to assist teams in coaching legal and safe scrumming technique, according to the Law and the protocols of SA Rugby’s Boksmart rugby safety programme.
“Safety is obviously a primary concern at the scrum and Balie will be able to advise coaches on those aspects as well as those areas where they’re going to get penalised by referees,” said Watson.
“We’re constantly looking to improve the performance of our referees and hopefully this initiative will allow us to raise the bar even higher.”
Well, let’s hope this move bears fruit, the fruit of SA Refs finally understanding what’s potting in the scrums… and let’s hope the SA Refs set the bar for International referees to follow.
Now all we need is for all SA Franchises to appoint proper scrumming coaches too and for SA to combine resources so that all Unions have a joint view forward for scrumming in SA.
Let this be the beginnig of the “School of Scrummaging in SA” or the start of the “Scrumming Academy”, which our friend, Tight Head has pleaded for, for a while.
Mr T… come on… don’t be shy… throw it out here on the blog!
Well we on the right path there getting Balie in.
Now when will we have a specialist scrumming coach appointed to coach the Boks? I say we need Os. Just look what he done with the Cheetahs scrum? They have the best scrum out of all the franchise in the country.
3@ Puma – Not only the Bokke, Puma, each blerrie Franchise needs to appoint a scrumming guru… but more than that, they need to teach and share a common vision of where scrummaging in SA is heading to, develop a SA way of scrumming, so that players can easily interchange into the Bokke setup and back at their Franchises.
These scrumming guru’s at the Franchises can have a much wider portfolio, to include helping with their respective Vodacom Teams, U 21 teams and also one step lower than that. He could also hold workshops in his demographic area for First Team schools coaches, to teach and formulate the common vision forward…. “This is how you’re going to scrum the Saffa way, from now on!”
Can’t be that bloody difficult!
GBS
Must also get proper training for Refs, face it they are not consistent.
on the All Blacks official website they have a section called the Coaching Toolbox, where it deals with front row play they do not give advice but says the following.
WHY THE ‘FRONT ROW FACTORY’?
The Front Row Factory is set up to instruct junior rugby players on how to have a safe and effective technique in scrummage.
Many Provincial Unions are running these sessions for coaches and players. These must be run by qualified presenters; therefore contact your local Rugby Development Officer for more information.
6
we NEED something like that, from grassroots level.
Well we called for this, and so this is a step in the right direction.
However here is the real fight as I see it:
We need to make sure they do not change the laws in order to make the scrum less of a technical contest, because you can be sure this is the easy solution they will look for.
What needs to happen is that they concentrate their efforts on educating refs, rather than the easy route of law change.
Props get away with whatever they can in a game.
That means an uneducated ref is a pleasure to have as you can often get away with what you want.
However when the ref is on to you then you have to change your plan of attack.
Playing the ref and playing the penalty is part of front row play.
Hehe!!!
Sorrie ouens, but I go to laugh at this story. I can well remember Balie giving Watson a yellow card on the field and receiving a card and his marching orders from Watson in return.
Seems like they’re still exchanging cards – only business cards this time!
But jokes aside: its a great idea and long overdue.
9@ Fender – Bwahahaha, true Kitaartjie. I’d forgotten about old Balie giving Watson a card!
Old Balie’s come full circle now, hope there’s a few more cards in his pocket for wayward refs!
I was speaking to a former England U16 coach at a development clinic recently. What became apparent is that the RFU basically do dictate how England teams of all levels should perform certain functions of the game.
It also became apparent that there are analysts with organisations that sit and analise the minutest details of the major Rugby playing nations methodology.
I found it a most informative discussion.
To think this guy is a level 4 IRB coach (and a qualified referree) and he’s not involved with the sport at all anymore.
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