Stranger than fiction: Rugby coaches cane schoolboy players

Posted by Traditional School Discipline June 13, 2021

Stranger than fiction: Rugby coaches cane schoolboy players

Sometimes my eyes pop and my mind boggles (whatever that means) when I read news reports of events that actually happened. I have to clear my head to make sure I’m not reading one of my own fictional stories or watching some “specialist” video.

Here’s a case. DON’T FLOG FOOTBALLERS, SAY ‘HEADS’ runs the headline on the news report. It’s actually about Rugby players, but we’ll let that pass. Coaches are caning players because they are slacking in practice. And it happens all the time.

Can this be happening in real life?

First, the facts: a report from The Daily Mirror (UK) from May 1951 filed by the newspaper’s correspondent in Capetown, South Africa.

Later, I’ll chunter on some more about the fiction.

Picture credit: Bad Education, Sting Pictures

A “No flogging on the field” order was issued to Rugby coaches and sportsmasters here today by headmasters of boys’ schools.

The ban follows allegations that at some schools coaches have caned the players during practice games.

Parents, teachers and sportsmen have taken sides in a big controversy since a thirteen-year-old schoolboy wrote an anonymous letter to a Capetown newspaper complaining: “Coaches lose their tempers and hit us with a stick if we make a mistake, or if we are not up with the ball all the time.”

A Capetown University student who attended five schools in England, Rhodesia and South Africa, said: “In every one I found a master who took pleasure inbeating the boys, except the stars, at Rugby practices.”

“Coaches are Fanatics”

Mr. William Edwards, Rugby-playing headmaster of Observatory Boys’ High School, Capetown, told me: “Rugger is a religion in South Africa. Undoubtedly many of the coaches are fanatics.

“Caning should be kept to the classroom, but no boy worth his salt objects to a smart smack on the rear if he is packing high in the scrum or loafing behind his team.”

Masters who admit having used the cane at practices to correct slovenly play, say: “The boys feel we are taking a keener interest in them.”

Mr. Tony Dumas, a founder of the Union Rugby F.C., said: “A boy takes far tougher punishment in the game than he will get from any coach – that’s all there is to it.”

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You couldn’t make it up! Except many have. There’s hardly a video studio that doesn’t use the coach / schoolboy scenario.

This is CP Services, London.

Then, British-Discipline,

.... and Mancspank : Caning a rugby player Williams is out on rugby training and gets caught smoking. He is sent to the headmaster's office where he is to receive 20 strokes with the cane. When he's had 20, the headmaster discovers that Williams had put padding down his shorts and they start over again. To insure the message gets trough, the headmaster makes Williams take the 20 hard strokes again, on the bare bottom this time.

All the above are nothing when it comes to sheer output. Sting Pictures is (at the time of writing) on edition 22 of Sports Report.

Previous editions gave us:

Sports Report 18 Fighting on the college sport field is very much frowned upon. It’s supposed to be a place of gentlemanly sportsmanship. When Jackson (James Lewis) again started to throw his weight around he soon found himself answering to his housemaster, Mr Sharpe! This time he’d gone too far and was immediately marched back to the changing rooms.

Sports Report 21 When the Housemaster (Marco) catches Kingsley (James Lewis) smoking in the changing rooms again he’s none too pleased. This is one of the colleges best runners and he should know how bad it is for his health. Time to remind him about the importance of personal fitness.

Sports Report 19 The junior Sports Coach (Ryan Conway) is tired of the behaviour of one of the senior boys (James Lewis) . He decides it’s high time to let him know he’s well over the red line when it comes to college rule book breaking. So many warnings means there’s now only one answer!

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The coach / pupil – player scenario was also a mainstay of the U.S. based Spanking Central for years.