Gio Aplon in action for the DHL Stormers

“A good big player is better than a good small player” is something we have heard before on the rugby landscape in South Africa. Unfortunately, these type of utterances has been heard coming from the National coach, Heyneke Meyer, as well.

Is rugby not supposed to be the one game that people of every shape and size can partake and excell in? Remember when we were young kids, standing around with bare feet all excited about our very first rugby practice? Dividing the players into positions seemed like such a simple task…the fat kids were props, the tall kids were locks, the fast kids were wings. There seemed to be a position suited to every size and shape.

Professional rugby as we know it now has put paid to that philosophy, 15 supreme athletes seem to be the target for coaches. Centers weigh in at the 100kg mark or more, which is bigger and heavier than some of legendary Bok forwards of previous eras. Just this week the Under 18 Academy week was played in Worcester. One of the stand out players for the victorious Western Province Academy team was prop Carlu Sadie who weighs in at 122kg. The fact is, he is not judged on his size or weight, but on his playing ability and it would seem like this youngster has a bright rugby future ahead of him. Obviously when it comes to the position of front row, size is a huge asset, but what about the other positions?

Heinrich Brussouw has proven that size should not be the only determining factor when selecting players. Deemed as too small, he has single handedly rebuked those arguments by delivering stand out performances at the highest level. The fact that he can’t crack the nod in the current Springbok set up should not be ascribed to his size, but rather to personal preference from the coach. The two should not be confused, every coach has the ideal players for him in mind, and Brussouw unfortunately does not seem to fit into Heyneke Meyer’s plans. Whether it is personal bias or something more, we will probably never know, but what seems clear is that Brussouw doesn’t seem likely to play for the Boks under the current reign.

Shane Williams, a ‘Midget’ who played like a giant

Shane Williams is the still the record try scorer for Wales, and is third on the international list of leading rugby union test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata and David Campese. He is also Wales’ most capped winger and has been capped 4 times by the British and Irish Lions. Yet in his playing days he weighed in at a mere 80kgs. Would he have even had a career had he been born in South Africa?

Which brings us nicely to the question of, is there still place for the smaller player in modern professional rugby?

Gio Aplon, Bok, Stormer and Western Province wing seems to think so. For a decade he has played at the highest level, while being considered a “midget” by many camps.

“I know that stats show what size brings, but you need to judge what is going on between the four lines and, if the player brings something extraordinary, why not give him a chance?” the Stormers winger told reporters yesterday.

Arguably the most gifted open-field runner ever to launch a Stormers counter-attack, Aplon will join French club Grenoble shortly after the clash against the Sharks at Newlands on Saturday.

Finally free of a media muzzle, the 17-Test Springbok, shared his insightful perspective based on a decade of senior rugby at Western Province.

“I’m not saying you must pick every single small guy, but if there’s ability and potential, and he can do exactly what the other players are doing, why not give him a chance?”

Aplon, who will be remembered for making defenders miss tackles with his jaw-dropping agility, has played a significant part in nurturing his successor, Cheslin Kolbe.

“He is definitely the guy for the future,” Aplon said of his 1.71-metre understudy. “At the age of 20, he possesses a lot more qualities than I had when I started. The most important thing is that he gets judged on his rugby ability and not his size.”

Cheslin Kolbe, the heir apparent to Gio Aplon?

Aplon confirmed that the Stormers game plan will feature Kolbe’s explosiveness in the future.

“Coming from being very conservative for a few years and making semi-finals through that approach, we want to be a bit more expansive in the future. I think we have the personnel to do that and the team has got the mind-set now of playing attacking rugby in the right areas.

“You definitely need a bit of X-factor in semi-finals, but you also need to take into account that we had a lot of success with conservative rugby. That’s how a lot of teams play and they have success with that.

“The stats prove that the team that kicks the most wins the most, but on the day you need that something special, that surprise element, and that’s where the team is moving.”

Aplon has no doubt that the Stormers will bounce back in 2015: “We have the depth, ability and personnel to dominate Super Rugby in the future.”

We look forward to following the career of Kolbe and let’s see if he can have the same impact on the big stage as Aplon has had.