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Western Province Rugby Institute players for 2013

4 February, 2013 beet 18

The Western Province Rugby Institute (WPRI) officially came into being in 2007. Its objective is to tap into the vast rugby talent pool that exists in the Western Cape and then to fill any positional gaps with players from outside the region. The Institute accepts that it is not the beginning point of rugby development (schools are), nor is it the end point, however what it has set out to achieve is use a one year programme to transform dedicated rugby players from “young boys into rugby playing men.” …

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Thank goodness! Affies vs Klofies is back

1 February, 2013 beet 5

There were a few years during which the two Pretoria powerhouse teams were not playing each other. Fortunately this period of “isolation” came to an end last year when the two schools squared off…

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The real Dale College head coach

31 January, 2013 beet 8

I have to extend a humble apology to coach Steve Turner, Dale supporters and other readers for misleading all with a blog that suggested Luke Smith is the new head coach at Dale.…

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New school scrum law Q&A with Boishaai’s technical guru

31 January, 2013 beet 8

Thanks to the efforts of BoishaaiPa and with the help of a few SBR bloggers who have a vested interest in what happens in the scrums, we were able to present Richard Visagie, the Paarl Boys High scrum guru with a handful of questions about the new school scrumming laws that will come into effect this season. Apart from playing over 100 games at hooker for Boland, Richard has over 30 years of school rugby coaching experience. Along the way he has coached the WP Craven Week team and is currently a WP school selector. He has been responsible for helping to shape the careers of a  number of good props (and hookers) over the years.…

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All eyes on Northwood at the Night Series

31 January, 2013 beet 28

Northwood is bound to draw the most attention from neutrals in attendance when the Damelin Night Series kicks off at Port Natal on 01 February 2013. The Durban North school would have stated their campaign to win back the floodlit rugby title they last held in 2011 as the clear-cut favourites, following months of hard work put in to assemble a team capable of challenging the very best that KwaZulu-Natal schoolboy rugby has to offer once the season proper starts in March.…

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Glenwood confirms the make up of their Night Series team

29 January, 2013 beet 24

Glenwood has confirmed that their Invitation XV team for the Damelin Night Series kicking off on Friday, 01 February 2013, will be a blend of their extended 2nd XV squad which includes loads of boys that played 4ths and 5ths rugby in 2012.…

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New Grey College Head hints at future fixture changes

28 January, 2013 beet 148

Deon Scheepers, the former Hilton teacher and 1st XV rugby coach for one season, is now firmly in the driving seat at Grey College, having taken over as headmaster from the legendary Johan Volsteedt. In a recent blog, Scheepers highlighted the importance of achieving a healthy balance between academics, culture and sport for boys at Grey.…

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Schools of the 2013 SA Super Rugby squad players

28 January, 2013 beet 72

Taking the South African Superugby wider squads for 2013 as they appear on Wikipedia, here is the long list of the 202 players with the schools that 197 of them attended. The 5 Kings foreigners are overlooked.…

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Varsity Cup Young Guns: UCT Trojans squad

25 January, 2013 beet 5

The UCT Trojans squad definitely gives the impressive they are students that can play rugby as opposed to the Maties and Tukkies who seem to be rugby players that know how to study. …

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Varsity Cup Young Guns: Tuks leaving ‘niks’ to chance

25 January, 2013 beet 26

The University of Pretoria (Tukkies) are the defending Varsity Cup Young Guns champions. With this year’s tournament about to kick-off, they have put themselves the best possible position to retain the under-20 title by naming a star-studded 57-man group. …

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Varsity Cup Young Guns: Maties squad

24 January, 2013 beet 8

When it comes to rugby, the University of Stellenbosch (Maties) has a long and proud history. They have produced 172 Springboks and 15 Springbok captains. To this day, their students form the nucleus of the Stormers, the Western Province senior and under-21 teams as well as the Vodacom Cup team.…

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Boishaai, Gimmies, Paul Roos or …?

24 January, 2013 beet 73

Silly season is nearing its completion and soon all questions about where the various school teams actually fit into the big picture will start to be answered. When it comes to pre-season discussions about who will be top of the pile in the Western Cape, conversations don’t often progress much further than a chat about what the outcomes will be in the intense and pulsating games between Paarl Boys High (HJS), Paarl Gim and Paul Roos.…

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Northwood ready to wrestle the mantle away from Michaelhouse

24 January, 2013 beet 20

How Michaelhouse will fare during the 2013 season remains a bit of an enigma. Those that have followed the progress of the team will know they have the right ingredients for a meaty pack of forwards. Their power in the forwards should be most obvious come scrum-time. Here they could prove to be very hard to contain.…

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Queens College gives their assistant coach the nod

24 January, 2013 beet 29

Old Queenian Murray Basset has been handed the head coaching reigns at 154 year old Queens College. Basset has been the first team assistant coach for three years now, working alongside former head coach John Duncan.…

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Schoolboy dies after being tackled

23 January, 2013 beet 21

Tragically a Newcastle Gr.11 schoolboy has passed away as a result of an injury sustained during a trial match on Tuesday. The accident is being investigated but it’s believed that he sustained a fatal neck injury after being tackled.…

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Tyler Fisher still on the bench for SA u20

23 January, 2013 beet 14

With first choice outside centre Justin Geduld’s withdrawal from the SA under-20 squad so that he can join the Blitzbokke for a Sevens trip to New Zealand, good money should have been on Westville old boy Tyler Fisher to slot into the starting line-up. It’s not the case. Coach Dawie Theron has opted to go with Sylvian Mahuza instead. …

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Proper school drug tests cost R2800-R3000 per test

21 January, 2013 beet 7

The good news is that the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport has reported that more 100 schools in South Africa have agreed to do drug testing and that the first five tests per school will be on the house. However thereafter it could cost between R2800 and R3000 per internationally approved test. …

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Luke Smith is the new Dale coach

21 January, 2013 beet 50

42-year old former provincial flyhalf and Dale Old Boy Luke Smith is the new coach at Dale College. Smith takes over from the school’s legendary coach Griffy Griffiths who has moved to Hamiltons Club in Cape Town. Interestingly Smith like Griffiths also played in an unbeaten Dale side in 1990. …

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Glenwood, Westville & DHS make front page news

21 January, 2013 beet 93

Months after the initial Glenwood/Westville rugby fallout was blogged here on Schoolboyrugby.co.za, it has made the front page of a local KZN morning paper. Although it is not a new story, for many not close to school rugby in the province it will come as a huge shock to find out that two of KZN’s biggest schools don’t have any first term fixtures against each other on the cards as well as no rugby match in 2013.…