Soccer not so beautiful in our country

If you mention the beautiful game at the moment, most people will assume you are talking about football.

It's a fair description of soccer, but I'll tell you what, Willie le Roux's artistry and vision on the rugby field is something special, if you enjoy that type of thing.

The Springbok fullback seems to have captured the imagination of every rugby fan I've seen on Twitter in the past few days.

Sure, he might not be in the same salary brackets as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is not dissimilarly skilled.

This is a great time to be a South African rugby fan. The All Blacks are looking vulnerable, and our under-20 youngsters offer much hope for the future.

Apparently the under-20 tag refers to their age, although I was wondering if it wasn't under-20 tons; some of these youngsters are monsters.

According to mythology, the Greek gods conquered the Titans, but I think these giants were never defeated. They simply got bored with fighting with the deities of Olympus and emigrated to greener and golder pastures in South Africa.

It's always good to have beef, but as a traditionalist I enjoy talent, flair and brains - at least in the backline.

I relish watching players like Willie le Roux, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers.

They all reflect the healthy state of rugby in this country, which seems to be going from strength to strength.

So why does our soccer appear to be going backwards?

How many replacements have we had for the stars of the 1990s like Benni

McCarthy, Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish?

Clearly not enough, which is why we are watching a Bafana-less World Cup that is packed with entertainment.

Maybe SA football needs a solid schools system that matches rugby's.

When SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan stops sulking at his critics one day, perhaps he and his board will consider a way of transforming SA football into a world powerhouse.

One option could be taking the sport into all of the country's schools, particularly the private and top government ones.

Imagine if Bishops, Grey College, St John's, Pretoria Boys, Hilton College and other traditional rugger schools offered soccer and put the same efforts into it?

Thinking back, it would have been great if soccer had been offered as a sport at my old school in Cape Town, SACS.

How different the school-yard scraps would have been then.

My average scuffle involved me taking a punch at some bully, always bigger, who had caused offence, either by pushing or name-calling.

Not having boxing on offer at school, none of us knew how to slip punches. That was good for me because I would always land the first blow - my preferred target was anything soft so I didn't hurt my hand.

After that came that sinking feeling in my stomach as my target stood there, unmoved and unimpressed, about to retaliate. That part wasn't so good for me.

Had I had a soccer-playing foe, however, I reckon he would have collapsed to the ground in a spectacular swan dive, clutching his shin in agony. Victory would have been mine for once!

Seriously though, South African soccer might be in a far healthier state if it was offered at all schools.

I don't know if it's feasible to introduce football into these institutions - especially without damaging rugby, or hockey - but until a solution is found, I'll carry on watching Le Roux play his beautiful game.