Apologies to Northwood

Back in March 2017 I blogged this about Northwood’s televised match against Kearsney:

Bizarre moments of the match

I imagine that an outside centre (in this case Northwood’s Tyren Kroos of the Netherlands) being constantly used in the lineout forward is something that would take a few seasons to go by before a similar re-enact occurred. It’s a most usual coaching decision. If I see a prop dropping back into the pocket to take a drop-goal this season, I’ll probably say to myself: “oh well I saw Northwood use a centre at lineout time!”

(full post here: http://schoolboyrugby.co.za/?p=15432)

Lo and behold in the 42nd minute of the South Africa vs France third test match at Ellis Park on 24 June 2017, Springbok centre Jan Serfontein is the go-to jumper in the middle of the lineout and from that bit of innovative play, stand in captain Eben Etzebeth goes on to score one of the tries in his team’s 35-12 victory. It was a first ever win for the Boks again the French at Ellis Park and with that result the home team completed a 3-0 test match whitewash.

Jan Serfontein’s lineout take and Eben Etzebeth’s try here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZG7hU0-GNk

So my bad on that call. Well done to the Northwood Knights for thinking outside the box.