Study Warns South African School Rugby Recruitment Is Harming Young Players
- Cape Town attorney Bertus Preller published a research paper revealing elite schools collectively spend upward of R1 billion a year on high-performance rugby programmes
- Bursaries ranging from R60,000 to R130,000 are being used to recruit teenage players, raising serious concerns about exploitation and psychological harm
- Rugby analyst Jan De Koning backed a proposed national code that would regulate recruitment and shift accountability to the adults orchestrating player transfers
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A legal research paper has raised serious concerns about predatory recruitment practices in South African school rugby, warning that young players are being harmed psychologically and developmentally in the pursuit of elite performance.
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Cape Town family law attorney Bertus Preller authored the paper, titled *Bought, Not Built*, which examined how high-budget bidding wars between schools are distorting the development of schoolboy rugby talent.
According to the study, elite institutions collectively spend in excess of R1 billion annually on high-performance rugby programmes, with individual bursaries for talented teenagers ranging between R60,000 and R130,000.
Psychological toll on young players
Rugby analyst Jan De Koning, speaking on CapeTalk's Afternoon Drive with John Maytham on 25 September 2026, drew attention to the emotional consequences for children uprooted from their home communities.
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"You take a child out of a rural school in the Eastern Cape and put him in Pretoria, in a very fancy school in Pretoria. He doesn't have his mom and dad around or a family support system around. He's relied on teachers who have got hundreds of other kids to take care of," De Koning said.
He acknowledged that the study would face opposition from powerful institutions but argued the issue could no longer be ignored.
"This document is no doubt going to get pushback from some of the wealthy, prestigious rugby schools. But it's something that has to be addressed... We need to take the emotion out of it and look at the facts," he said.
Source: Getty Images
Proposed National code and the 80% rule
Preller's paper proposes a systematic national code covering recruitment restrictions, bursary transparency and institutional accountability. The framework is designed to redirect responsibility onto the adults orchestrating transfers rather than the players themselves, to prioritise long-term development over the purchasing of talent.
Among the proposals referenced by De Koning is an "80% rule," which he attributed to former Springbok captain John Smith. The rule would require that at least 80% of an under-19 team be made up of learners who have attended the school since Grade 8, limiting the ability of wealthier schools to assemble squads through late-stage recruitment.
The study's findings come amid growing scrutiny of South Africa's competitive school rugby environment and the pressure it places on teenage players.
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