The South African Rugby League (SARL) national team, The Rhinos, will soon be taking on Lebanon and Niue, in a Tri-Nations competition which will be played in South Africa.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Tri-Nations competition , the matches, to be played on October 29 and November 2, will also serve as preparation for the Rugby League World Cup qualifiers, to be played next year.<\/p>
Five players from The Bears Rugby League team, based at the Elsburg Rugby Club grounds, have been named as part of the 15-man squad.<\/p>\n
Andries van der Merwe (27), Rudolph Prinsloo (27), Marcelle Viljoen (24), Robin Howell (25) and Zach van Loggenberg (27) are thrilled to have made the national team and look forward to competing against the international powerhouses visiting SA.<\/p>
\u201cWe have faced both teams in the past and are really looking forward to facing them again and improving on our previous results,\u201d said van der Merwe, from Elsburg, when he visited the GCN\u2019s offices on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Players are scouted for the team during their club matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the people scouted have been selected before, so we all know each other well and there is a good sense of humour among the team members.<\/p>\n
“We train and play well as a team,\u201d explained van der Merwe, who has been selected three year on the trot.<\/p>\n
The team trains on Saturdays for five hours and on Sundays for six hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe training is intense and includes fitness training, skills training, defensive lines and conditioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou definitely feel the training session the next day,\u201d van der Merwe said.<\/p>\n
He explained that rugby league is still relatively small in SA, adding: \u201cI think that league is a lot more entertaining than union games.\u201d<\/p>\n
This physical game demands a lot from each of its players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is fast-paced and the 13 players on the field have to be conditioned and well trained to keep up the pace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeague combines the best of sevens and union rugby and it rewards you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sport faces many challenges, according to van der Merwe, including a lack of recognition from government and SASCOC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the problem is that people think if league grows then union will suffer, which I don\u2019t believe is the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternationally the game is a lot bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
But van der Merwe and The Rhinos believe that, despite all the struggles, the sport is worth fighting for.<\/p>\n
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