Grey College will head into 2014 with the relatively young coach Wessel du Plessis official in control of 1st XV coaching matters. Du Plessis joined the first team coaching staff in 2012 having achieved good success with the under-16’s before that. He had been described as having a good rugby brain and his positive impact at under-19 level was immediately felt, as Grey lifted their game and produced very good results in the third term of 2012. His “apprenticeship” ended when the 2013 concluded. From here on out as Director of Rugby, he will be making the big calls for South Africa’s leading rugby school. Du Plessis succeeds Ingo Machts who was head coach from 2009 – 2013 and spent 3 seasons before that as an assistant coach. Machts’ who said he always regarded himself as part of the management team rather than the head coach, had a very impressive record during his time with the 1st XV. Between 2006 and 2013, Grey played 152 games, winning 143, drawing 2 and losing just 7. 6 of those defeats came in the last 2 seasons, meaning that between 2006 and 2011, Grey Bloem lost only 1 game, an away fixture at Paul Roos in 2009. Grey College also produced no fewer than 26 SA Schools players in those 8 seasons when Machts was coaching, a truly remarkable record. Machts’ services will not be lost to Grey. He continues on as a teacher with decades of experience and will now be active in a new rugby role of mentor to the younger coaches at the school. Grey College will start the 2014 season as one of the firm favourites to be ranked the number 1 schoolboy rugby team in South Africa. (Thank you to the Volksblad for their article which was used as the foundation for this blog and can be found here: http://www.volksblad.com/sport/2013-10-19-machts-groet-grey-rugby-met-wenpersentasie-van-94)