There is no doubt the quality of the 1st XV schoolboy rugby is good - but at what cost ? What is schoolboy rugby really about ?
Schoolboy Rugby is about the 400 or 500 boys in the programme, not just the 1stXV and A teams. 1st XV and A teams is certainly the pinnacle for boys to aspire to ( note - not get parachuted into ), but it is not the be all and end all. I haven't seen many comments in this forum about broader rugby programmes, participation, number of boys in the programme etc., or about the boys in the 13Cs or 14Ds that were developed through and are now training in a 1stXV train-on squad - let's hear about those guys on this forum.
It is not the job of schoolboy rugby to provide a pathway for the betterment of the QRU / ARU - if the QRU and ARU got off their arses and did their job properly, pathways would lead to outcomes as a matter of course.
Nor should schoolboy rugby be a holding pen or incubator for NRL prospects.
Schoolboy rugby is about it meaning something to represent your school - not just playing a game as a means to an end.
Its about heeding a call of arms with your mates and bleeding every weekend for them and your school, about playing in the morning, and then hanging around with your mates to watch the First XV game - dreaming one day that you might get the opportunity to run onto the Main Oval at 2:30 . ( Its a bit hard to be engaged when you have to run off from training on Thursday, or on the weekend, to prepare for the Cyril Connell Cup! Even knowing your school warcry would be a good start !)
Schoolboy rugby is about setting the benchmark with that hot team in Under 13, setting aim and measuring your progress against that team each year through to First XV. It makes it a bit hard when that benchmark brings in 6 better players in Yr 10, and then another couple in Yrs 11 and 12.
The system is broken - full stop. The objective of these rugby programmes is counter-intuitive to what these schools should be about - scholarships are fine, but as long as they are in place for the betterment of the boy . This programme is arse-about, and the race to dish out scholarships today is primarily for the betterment of the school - the boy is really a means to an end.
Interesting - you have the schools using the boy, and the boy using the school - now there's a guarantee of commitment and passion !
The system is broken. You just have to see and hear the disenchantment of the boys throughout the schools - those who set that benchmark in Yr 8 and worked toward the goal of running onto main oval at 2:30, only now to be overlooked for boys brought in ( or bought ?? ) in Yrs 11 and 12. Even worse is the resignation of boys in Yrs 8 and 9 today, seeing what is going on ahead of them, and wondering whether it is really worth their while !
Simply responding that "everyone else is doing it, so we have to" is a cop-out.
The scholarship programmes are to the rugby culture in the schools what myxomotosis was to rabbits !