South African schoolboy rugby has increasingly adopted the characteristics of a professional sport while every participant remains a child, according to a 96-page research paper titled ‘Bought, Not Built: The South African schoolboy rugby market has no rules’. Authored by family law attorney Bertus Preller, the report likens the current environment to a ‘meat market’ driven by an escalating arms race among elite institutions.
The Business of Schoolboy Rugby and High-Stakes Scouting
Leading rugby schools in South Africa spend an average of approximately ZAR6-million annually on their first-team programs. Some institutions dedicate up to ZAR10-million on bursaries starting as early as the Under-14 level. A 2025 peer-reviewed study of elite boys’ schools cited in the report reveals that scouting often commences in Grade Six, around age 12. Scholarship offers at this level can reach 120 percent or 130 percent, covering laptops, clothing, medical aid, and tours. Preller stated to @rugby365com that schools scramble to outshine competitors by zealously recruiting the best rugby talent available across Under-15 to open age groups, creating an environment where top-20 schools resemble college NFL systems through strength, conditioning, and expert nutritional guidance.
Legal Frameworks and the Call for a Binding National Code
Preller participated in the critical negotiations for South Africa’s inaugural professional rugby contracts in 1995 alongside the South African Rugby Players’ Association and helped draft the constitution for the South African Rugby Employers’ Organisation. He asserts that existing legal frameworks already delineate how the transition of young athletes should be managed. He argues that establishing a national code to regulate the movement of schoolboy players is long overdue. While players are not compensated directly, they are effectively funded to attend these institutions. Preller emphasizes that his recommendations do not diminish the esteemed status of schoolboy rugby, but rather ensure that the game’s commercial evolution remembers that the boy in the jersey is a child first and a player second.
Development Versus Acquisition: Lessons from Springbok Icons
The research paper contrasts the acquisition of older players with the cultivation of homegrown talent, pointing to national icons as examples of effective opportunity bursaries. Siya Kolisi, the two-time World Cup-winning Springbok captain, received a scholarship to Grey Junior and a subsequent bursary to Grey High School at age 12 after impressing at a provincial Under-12 tournament in Mossel Bay. Preller notes that Kolisi was developed over five years rather than acquired as a finished product. Similarly, Breyton Paulse was supported by the owner of the De Keur estate in covering university fees at Stellenbosch, and Makazole Mapimpi emerged from amateur club rugby with Border before reaching a World Cup final five years later. According to a study published in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine in 2011 tracking players from the 2005 Under-13 Craven Week, only about one in four progressed to the Under-18 Craven Week. Preller argues that investing a rand in coaching under-14 teams cultivates a school’s own players, whereas spending on a Grade 11 recruit from elsewhere displaces existing talent while developing no one.
Anticipated Debates and Future Regulation
Preller expects his research and upcoming proposals to ignite considerable debate and opposition, similar to the initial resistance faced when professional contracts were introduced in 1995. He maintains that regulations made professional rugby sustainable and safeguarded its participants, and a similar governing code is now essential to protect schoolboy players who remain minors.
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