Will Grey College cement legendary status? New global schoolboy rugby title up for grabs

Followers of youth rugby will no doubt be aware of NextGenXV, the undisputed leaders in youth rugby coverage. The young media company is entering a new era in which they will take on the events side of the business – launching the Global Schools Challenge in partnership with long-time collaborators RugbyPass and Supersport Schools.

The tournament is set to be hosted at one of the biggest names in the schools game – Grey College – from the 14th – 18th of December this year, with games streamed live for international audiences available on RugbyPass TV and, for South African audiences, the familiar Supersport Schools app.

King’s College from New Zealand and Strathallan from Scotland are among the first international schools to sign up for this tournament that features not only a unique player draft component available to all athletes of all levels but also further plans to spread the competition globally.

RugbyPass sat down with NextGenXV director Tom Pullen, the man behind the tournament to give us insight into what awaits.

RugbyPass: What was your motivation to move from the media space into a tournament format?

Tom: Simply put, as with any business we had to get out of our comfort zone and try something new. Having looked at other tournaments we felt we could offer something different, with our insight and knowledge of the schools game we believe that we understand what both players and coaches are after and we can deliver a top-notch experience that balances the needs of schools and the appetite of the consumer.

RugbyPass: What is the tournament format and how do you see it developing in the future?

Tom: Our format in a big picture sense is a travelling carnival. Each year we plan to rotate between South Africa, the UK and Australia/New Zealand over three-year cycles. We are already in discussions with schools from all countries in terms of being future hosts and we hope to announce the next set of hosts up to the year 2029 before the start of this year’s tournament. This will allow schools to carefully plan, budget and fundraise for tours years in advance and further will mean that schools and athletes from these countries that ordinarily would not have the chance to tour overseas will now have a chance to play overseas schools in their own back yard.

In terms of format, we plan to have three match days, all fixtures will be pre-announced and will effectively be overseas teams versus local teams. This means that teams can prepare well in advance for their fixtures and there is no risk of having to play against a team from the same country as can be the case in a knockout competition.

RugbyPass: Will there be a tournament winner? Could one say that the winners are the best rugby school in the world?

Tom: We will have a league system in place with log points which means that anyone can effectively “win” the tournament but the trophy will be more ceremonial than anything serious. No tournament exists or will ever exist that can claim their winner is the best in the world, due to the different calendars, seasons and available players creating an impossible scenario. But is that what a school rugby tournament should really be about? Sure it would be ‘sexier’ and more marketable but we are far more interested in what is good for the schools and the athletes. We sometimes forget that these are school kids and they should not be treated as commodities. First and foremost it should be about fun, then the experience of playing against and meeting people from different backgrounds and finally learning from each other.

Regardless, as you well know we do a global top 20 rankings each year, and that has far more credibility than any tournament or festival has, and that includes our own.

RugbyPass: It seems there are many international festivals in the calendar, what makes yours different?

Tom: I think it starts and ends with one word and that word is ‘community’. We have long been covering the schools game and believe we have laid solid foundations and that boils down to creating a community.

We have for example a ‘shadow coach’ program where we will have a coach from a disadvantaged background join one of the schools to learn about their systems, tactics and culture. Our great hope in this initiative is that the shadow coach can then go back to his community and share what he has learned and finally, we hope that the schools stay in touch with each other and assist in development, fundraising and any other activities that can help grow the game at the grassroots level.

There is the player draft. This is something we are really looking forward to and we expect it to grow into something special in the future.

RugbyPass: Can you explain a bit more about the player draft?

Tom: I think of the countless players out there who may not have the opportunity to play at a major tournament or festival. The draft gives them the opportunity. There could be numerous reasons for this, perhaps they are playing in the 2nd team at a major rugby school or attend a smaller school that does not have the ability to attend such an event but whatever the reason, the player draft gives everyone a chance to come play some rugby and have a great time.

Players who are selected for the draft will only know which teams they have been selected for on draft day which will be live-streamed. It is based on the American draft, so players will be selected by draft coaches before the tournament begins and then have their jersey presented to them and after that, the fun starts.

RugbyPass: This sounds like an exciting initiative, how do players get involved?

Tom: They just need to head over to our website www.globalschoolschallenge.com, hit the sign-up button and a draft manager will get back in touch and explain the process.

RugbyPass: Tom, thanks for your time. Any parting words?

Tom: We just hope to organise a competition that is going to be fun, competitive and played in the right spirit. We hope that the locals in Bloemfontein will delay their holiday plans a bit and come over and watch some great rugby.  It is truly a rugby-mad city and we believe that the crowds are going to add a tremendous vibe to the challenge.

We are really looking forward to hosting the overseas teams and showing them good old-fashioned South African hospitality – naturally that will involve some braais and great stories to be told around the fire. It’s going to be fun!

For more information around the festival head to NextGenXV.

For more information around joining the Draft, click here.