{"id":47212,"date":"2023-08-10T17:54:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T17:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships"},"modified":"2023-08-10T18:55:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T18:55:02","slug":"rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships","title":{"rendered":"Rugby increasingly popular in South Africa’s townships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>On a parched pitch in an impoverished South African township, a group of young men do push-ups on the hard ground before kicking off a game of rugby.<\/b><\/p>\n

A few years ago the oval ball was an unusual sight in Tembisa, a predominantly black suburb northeast of Johannesburg, where dusty roads bustle with street vendors and football is king.<\/p>\n

But a 2019 Rugby World Cup victory by a national team skippered by Siya Kolisi, the first black player to wear the armband in an international match, has helped turn the tide.<\/p>\n

Once seen as a symbol of white rule, the Springboks, who will defend their world title in France in September, enjoy a growing popularity.<\/p>\n

Tembisa, where crime is rife, unemployment is high and some families live in makeshift homes made of corrugated iron, is no exception.<\/p>\n

“We have a lot of new players coming in week in and week out,” said Siyabonga Mogale, a 21-year-old with short dreadlocks and quick feet who plays as fullback for the local team, the Tembisa Stallions.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people are very interested in rugby now.”<\/p>\n

Yet, despite the hype surrounding Kolisi, analysts say the legacy of South Africa’s long history of racial segregation is still holding back progress towards equal representation in the sport.<\/p>\n

“Rugby has manipulated its image to brainwash black South Africans into supporting the very system that they are excluded from,” said Mark Fredericks, a sports activist and academic.<\/p>\n

Mind shift<\/b><\/p>\n

For 90 years Springbok selectors chose only white players, with black and mixed-race athletes sequestered in separate leagues with no international participation.<\/p>\n

Even after the end of apartheid progress has been painfully slow.<\/p>\n

The 1995 World Cup-winning side, famously celebrated by Nelson Mandela, was white except for one winger and only two black players were in the 2007 team that became world champions.<\/p>\n

The 2019 green and gold squad captained by Kolisi was seen as a turning point, with six black players in the starting 15.<\/p>\n

A national tour to show off the trophy started in Soweto, the heartland of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, where the Springboks were once hated.<\/p>\n

“It was inspiring to watch because I thought I can also make it,” said Tembisa Stallions captain Amohelang Motaung, 21.<\/p>\n

But scratching under the surface reveals a different story, says Peter de Villiers, who in 2008 became the first black man to coach the Springboks.<\/p>\n

“If you look at the Springboks team you will see the strides that they’ve made, the mind shift,” De Villiers told AFP.<\/p>\n

“But if you want the best to play for your country, there must be a mass participation in the sport, and this is yet to happen.”<\/p>\n

For those like Motaung who are born in a township, the path to sporting success is uphill.<\/p>\n

The same few private schools that used to churn out Springboks during white rule still dominate the scene.<\/p>\n

They have staff and facilities that are no match for public schools in the townships, where even proper lavatories are sometimes missing and physical education is an afterthought.<\/p>\n

Uneven playing field<\/b><\/p>\n

The issue is evident in Tembisa, where the Stallions, who are linked to a local school, play on a rugged football pitch with no goal posts.<\/p>\n

Some team members train in bare feet.<\/p>\n

“The field is not proper, it’s not straight as it’s supposed to be. There’s a lot of ground, the grass is limited…it’s not suitable for rugby,” said head coach Zwelakhe “Themba” Mawela.<\/p>\n

Most black South Africans, who account for about 90 percent of the population, cannot afford to pay private schools’ high fees or to dedicate all their energy to rugby.<\/p>\n

When he is not skippering the Tembisa Stallions, Motaung, a recent graduate in animal sciences, is busy looking for jobs.<\/p>\n

“We want them to have dreams, to be hopeful, to know that it’s possible even if you are black,” said Mawela, the coach.<\/p>\n

“But without the proper facilities, I mean what do you expect?”<\/p>\n

Elite schools have worked to broaden their intake and offer bursaries to promising athletes.<\/p>\n

Kolisi, who was born in a township and scouted by a prestigious college at a young age is one example.<\/p>\n

Yet, critics say that plucking scholarship winners from their communities perpetuates rather than addresses inequality.<\/p>\n

“They are just denuding the township forest of the tallest trees,” said Fredericks.<\/p>\n

Rugby is currently the second most popular sport in South Africa after football, according to SA Rugby.<\/p>\n

But its momentum risks proving short-lived if not backed by investments in public schools and infrastructures, says Francois Cleophas, a sport science professor at Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n

“Unless we have a system where good schooling is available to the mass of people, we’re not going to have a truly representative team from this country,” he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. On a parched pitch in an impoverished South African township, a group of young men do push-ups on the hard ground before kicking off a game of rugby. A few years ago the oval ball was an unusual sight in Tembisa, a predominantly black suburb northeast of Johannesburg, where dusty roads bustle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":47211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,371,234,3292,258,6444,6445,276],"class_list":["post-47212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi","tag-rugby","tag-south-africa","tag-suburb","tag-township","tag-youth"],"yoast_head":"\nRugby increasingly popular in South Africa's townships - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On a parched pitch in an impoverished South African township, a group of young men do push-ups on the hard ground bef ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rugby increasingly popular in South Africa's townships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On a parched pitch in an impoverished South African township, a group of young men do push-ups on the hard ground bef ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-10T17:54:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-10T18:55:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2023\/08\/sm_1691676533.270078.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rugby increasingly popular in South Africa’s townships\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-10T17:54:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-10T18:55:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\"},\"wordCount\":814,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2023\/08\/sm_1691676533.270078.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Malawi\",\"Rugby\",\"South Africa\",\"suburb\",\"Township\",\"youth\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/rugby-increasingly-popular-in-south-africas-townships\",\"name\":\"Rugby increasingly popular in South Africa's townships - 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