Launch of Derby Series looks to reinvent schoolboy rugby in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG - Schoolboy rugby in South Africa has received a major boost with confirmation from Provantage Sport that they have launched the King Price Derby Series.

The 55-game series kicked off on March 15  and aims to expand the reach of the sport to millions of homes and mobile phones nationwide.

It will see interschool clashes involving teams including Paarl Gimnasium, Maritzburg College, King Edward VII and Jeppe Boys face off in a clashed that will run until August 30.

Speaking to Eyewitness News, Managing Director of Provantage Sports, Xhanti-Lomzi Nesi, shared how the idea of the Series came about.

“South Africa has always had the best schoolboy rugby in the world,” he said.

 “We’ve got the biggest crowds. Tens of thousands of people are going to these games but the challenge is that it’s not that well-structured for people to follow.

So, if you are not an old boy of one of the schools like KES or Jeppie, you don’t know when they are playing, you don’t know what the results are, you can’t really follow it.

So what we have done is go to all of the schools, because we’ve got this incredible asset, this amazing array of schools, and school boy rugby but we just haven’t managed to put it in a nice simple way for our country to follow and that is what the King Price Derby Series is”.

With the source of success for various sports often stemming from grassroots and the pitches of schoolboy derbies, Nesi has explained how the format will play out in order to showcase the best of South Africa’s next generation.

“It's a collection of games,” he explained.

“It’s not a league or a tournament where there is a winner. It's just a collection of games across the country that every Saturday we televise. We will show the best three, of which we think are of national interest, have been long standing and people would want to watch. It’s not necessarily the top schools but a diverse array. It covers the full country from Upington to Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg”.

Along with providing a platform for aspiring Springboks to catch the eye, Nesi also wants the Series to create lifetime rugby supporters.

“You’ve got to start early,” he added.

“It’s difficult to make someone a fan when they are already 25. They’ve already chosen what they follow, and they already have a set lifestyle. We have a really great opportunity to capture the country at a youth level to then start building the following of these players. We are looking to ensure we socialize people to know a player so that it can translate into support once they make it into the national team”.