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“The state of schools rugby is in the dwang – ethically, educationally…”

3 March, 2014 beet 19

An article from the Saturday Star, written by Theo Garrun

A couple of weeks ago I wrote of the kidnapping of two under-14 rugby players by a coach at another school. I’ve not heard anything more about the matter, so I suspect it didn’t actually happen – I hope not, anyway.

A day or two later another story did the social media rounds – about two young rugby players – Xhosa speakers – who were lured to an up-country Afrikaans medium school, no doubt by bursaries and promises of big money. Apparently, they soon discovered that they couldn’t speak the language, didn’t fit in and were very unhappy.…

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SBR Fixtures & Results – week ending 01/03/2014

2 March, 2014 beet 36
DAY DATE SCHOOL SCHOOL EVENT
Fri 28/02/14 M/College Preseason XV 12 5 Westville Preseason XV Voortrekker Night Series
Fri 28/02/14 Voortrekker (Pmb) 3 29 Kearsney Preseason XV Voortrekker Night Series
Fri 28/02/14 Howick Linpark Voortrekker Night Series
Fri 28/02/14 Greytown 0 34 Westville 2nds Voortrekker Night Series
Sat 01/03/14 Pinetown 0 67 Port Natal
Sat 01/03/14 George Campbell 27 0 KZN Development
Mon 24/02/14 Diamantveld 21 14 Fichardtpark
Sat 01/03/14 Jim Fouche 26 0 Klerksdorp Brandfort Rugby Day
Sat 01/03/14 Duineveld 11 20 Diamantveld
Sat 01/03/14 Hentie Cilliers 43 0 Zastron
Sat 01/03/14 Sentraal (FS) 20 12 Noord-Kaap
Sat 01/03/14 Louis Botha 32 8 Landboudal
Sat 01/03/14 Goudveld 0 111 Grey College
Sat 01/03/14 HTS Middelburg 9 11 Transvalia
Sat 01/03/14 Alberton 26 29 Jeugland
Sat 01/03/14 Middelburg 17 8 Ermelo
Sat 01/03/14 Marais Viljoen 15 10 Rustenburg
Sat 01/03/14 Standerton 3 7 Ben Vorster
Sat 01/03/14 Brandwag (Benoni) 27 22 Florida
Fri 28/02/14 Stellenberg 14 12 Drostdy
…
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Butch James invites the KZN school coaches to discuss u19 rugby

28 February, 2014 beet 9

The correspondence from former Rugby World Cup winning Springbok flyhalf and Maritzburg College Old Boy, Butch James reads as follows: “please see attached invitation to join Jake White and Myself to a Cocktail Party to discuss U19 Rugby at the Sharks and other rugby matters going forward. Hope to see you there and to get your input.” …

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Voortrekker Night Series 2014

28 February, 2014 beet 4

The annual Voortrekker Night Series will be sponsored by KFC and will be played over three Friday evenings starting on 21 February 2014. Three top KZN rugby schools, Kearsney, Maritzburg College and Westville will participate alongside the hosts Voortrekker (Pietermaritzburg), Greytown, Howick, Linpark and Weston in the unstructured preseason friendlies tournament.…

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Top u19 recruiter Gavin Melvill leaves the Sharks

27 February, 2014 beet 32

Former Natal centre from the 1970’s Gavin Melvill makes up 17 years worth of a total of 227 years of coaching experience that will no longer be part of the Sharks set up as a result of personnel departures. Melvill has serviced in different roles at the rugby union but has always had a hands on approach with regards to the contracting of junior players. …

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Blue Bulls to combine u19 school & club rugby

26 February, 2014 beet 5

Blue Bulls schools/club league gets major boost

The Blue Bulls Rugby Union and their Schools Rugby Association, in co-operation with sports promoter Willem Strauss and coffee retail franchise Enrista, on Wednesday announced an innovative and exciting new rugby competition that will combine club and schools rugby that will boost player numbers for both entities.…

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It’s Paul vs Roos at PRG school rugby trials

26 February, 2014 beet 12

Paul Roos Gymnasium head coach Hein Kriek is bound to have one of those preferred headaches tomorrow when the process of narrowing down a big pool of talented  candidates to just a starting 1st XV starts in earnest with a rugby trial match on Thursday, 27 February.…

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3 changes to Wildeklawer matchday 2 schedule

25 February, 2014 beet 34

The finalised Wildeklawer Super Skole fixture list for 2014 containing three changes was officially released by the organisers of SA schoolboy rugby’s premier festival today. The mouthwatering game between Grey College and Paarl Gymnasium just the way the late Basjan Reinhardt would have wanted it, will take centre stage on matchday 2. Paul Roos are also given the opportunity to avenge their 12-29 defeat at the hands of EG Jansen in 2013. …

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Kearsney’s 2014 rugby season starts

25 February, 2014 beet 3

Kearsney’s rugby season begins with a short warm-up game against the hosts at the KFC Voortrekker Night Series on Friday 28 February. Thereafter they depart for their annual Northern Natal tour where they have lined up fixtures against Vryheid on Monday 03 March and Pionier on Wednesday 05 March. That makes it three reasonably demanding early matches all within the space of five days.…

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Uitenhage’s Die Brandwag names their 2014 rugby squad

25 February, 2014 beet 10

Die Brandwag’s 2013 team contained some very good players that helped them achieve a set of good results. Included in that team was Malcolm Jaer who went on to gain SA Schools selection, joining the likes of Brandwag old boys Freddie Ferreira (1980), Sean Plaatjies (1996) and Riaan Arendse (2007) in the process. …

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Increased responsibility for KES coach Carl Spilhaus

24 February, 2014 beet 14

Carl Spilhaus, the highly rated King Edward VII School rugby head coach was recently appointed as the school’s new Head of Rugby. He is just a few months into the job and although he has a lot on his plate at this time of the year, all indications are that he is thoroughly enjoying the new challenge.…

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Young Guns Varsity Cup squads 2014

24 February, 2014 beet 11

In an effort to get to grips with who is who in this year’s Young Guns competition, here is a start. An incomplete table containing many of the player’s names of six of the teams (Pukke & Wits missing) and where know, the schools they attended. …

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SA Schools Cricket & Rugby Analysis : 1994 – 2013 (20 seasons)

23 February, 2014 beet 82

This is an analysis of the of SA School cricket and rugby selections 1994 – 2013, in other words the last 20 years. For the sake of creating a common base of measurement, schools have been assigned to their rugby regions as opposed to their cricket regions which differ in some cases. …

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Voortrekker Night Series: Westville’s first warm-up game

21 February, 2014 beet 13

Westville plays the first of four preseason fixtures against host’s Voortrekker at the KFC Night Series tonight. Kick-off is at 19h30. They will follow this up with matches against Maritzburg College (Vories N/S on Friday 28 February), KZN Development and Clifton ( Wartburg Festival on 08 March).…

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HTS Louis Botha benefitting from Craven Week quotas

19 February, 2014 beet 6

The under-18 Craven Week quota system specifying the minimum number of previously disadvantaged players each team MUST select for their squad of 22 has paved the way for transformed Bloemfontein high school HTS Louis Botha to rise up and become one of the biggest contributors of Craven Week players in South Africa.…

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SA u20 rugby training group 2014 by school & position

18 February, 2014 beet 62

 The South African Rugby Union (SARU) announces the names of the following players who have been identified to the SARU Under-20 Programme for 2014 in preparation of the IRB Junior World Championship which takes place in Auckland, New Zealand. …

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GEMS might need 10 wins to retain the Grogper Cup

18 February, 2014 beet 31

With the various Easter rugby festival fixtures finalised, the dust has settled and the virtually impossible task facing the GEMS (Gauteng English Medium Schools) has been made clear. If there aren’t any draws in the Grogper Cup 2014, the GEMS will need a massive ask of 10 victories against their fancied English-medium school opponents from the wonderful province of KwaZulu-Natal. …

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KZN school rugby to get a new u18 convenor of selectors

17 February, 2014 beet 5

At the end of February, Garth Giles (67) who was recently described as a coaching pillar in KwaZulu-Natal, will part ways with Natal rugby after decades of service as a player and employee of the rugby union. As far as schoolboy rugby in the province is concerned, Garth will also relinquish his responsibilities as the KZN under-18 Convenor of Selectors and Executive Committee member.…