The Natal Rugby Union which is now known as The Sharks signed up a club rugby player and offered him a professional contract this year. This may sound like nothing because this is how things used to happen all the time. With professional rugby all teams have academy players which is the taking on of younger players so that they can become professional players. Most rugby players are amateurs so are playing the sport for fun not expecting to turn professional.
This player they signed up was a 22 year old who had not followed the normal route taken by players today. He was discovered playing for a second division club side which is reassuring selectors and scouts are looking at all levels of rugby. The players are normally scouted from schools or universities and then follow a certain career path. Being 22 and not 18 or 19 gives hope to all amateur players playing at club level. I am sure if you looked properly you could find one or two more who could easily turn professional and have never been given the opportunity.
Most professional rugby players are already on a contract by the age of 22, but who says you cannot be discovered at 25 or 27 because you could be a late bloomer. I am not sure what work this player was doing at 22, but that career path is certainly on hold for now as the rugby career path will most likely be more lucrative.
I can recall my playing days prior to 1995 when rugby became professional after the Rugby World Cup. We were on the cusp of becoming a professional sport and would receive pocket money or expenses in an envelope placed in our shoes in the changing room whilst playing a match. There was no envelope given to players individually be a representative of your club and this was more of an under the counter no questions asked transaction. The season of 1995 was a strange season as we were all amateurs and being paid any cash was very much hush hush.
During my club game years our team had many provincial and Springbok players who were being paid via legal methods like insurance annuity policies the rugby union took out in their names. This was an indirect payment not tied back to the rugby union and serviced by an insurance company.
Selectors and the rugby union officials used to come and attend our club matches and after the match would be told to attend Mondays practice at the stadium. This was always unexpected because this is how a rugby career started by attending the provincial squad practice session and becoming part of the team. My team had around 8 provincial players of which 5 were Springbok players and the other 3 played for Scotland.
These days you will not find provincial or international players playing club rugby with amateurs. This is why the club level standards were so high and would be the equivalent of professional club rugby we see today. Crazy to think if I had been born 5 years later I could have played professional rugby. Many of my team mates took contracts playing all around the world playing internationally representing various countries. Some are still involved coaching teams like Russia and Japan.
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