Saturday, 16 March 2013 represents the first full fixture rugby weekend in KwaZulu, with all the Tier-1 teams in action. Here’s a preview of what to expect.Michaelhouse vs Northwood
Against House, Northwood are going to meet their match up front. Michaelhouse prop Cameron Holenstein is a beast, maybe even the best scrummer in KZN this season. Couple him with any combination of Chris Whiting, Farai Mudariki and/or Jasper Epsom and they form a potent force for the set-piece and hitting the rucks. Northwood’s SA under-16 prop from 2012 Ngoni Chidoma and Pete Stravinou are going to have to be at their best to cope for the full 70-minutes. That said, Northwood hooker Trevor Nkwamba has been outstanding though and along with speedy no.8 Gareth Murran they have and should continue to be the players the visitors draw inspiration from. Two other House forwards to keep tabs on will be mobile lock Chris Schoeman and flank Cian Grendon, who believe it or not you, represented the KZN Academy Week team as a prop last year.
The guys over at HSSM (High School Sports Magazine) do some fine work. They outdid themselves by recording some of the stats from KZN Top Schools Fest at King Park last week. (check it out here: http://www.hssm.co.za/news/rugby/kwazulu-natal/2013/kzn-top-10-rugby-schools-collide).
Amongst the most interesting stat for me – passes made. It’s something the SuperSport crew should consider putting up as well. So in the Northwood – DHS game, Northwood won BUT they only made 23 passes compared to DHS’s 61. That tells a story all on it’s own about Northwood and where they drastically need to improve things. With their big forwards, they are capable of laying a good foundation for attack but it’s what they do with the ball after that that has been so uncreative and unthreatening.
After initial concerns that the backs were going to be House’s weakness this season, they appear to have come together quite nicely. Don’t expect Michaelhouse to have the flashy backline they had last season, especially with ace wing Bruce Arnott out until next term, but expect them to have the edge on Northwood and possibly take the game beyond the visitors’ reach in this department.
Kearsney vs Glenwood
Well Glenwood has looked sharp when they move the ball wide. Not all things worked out against Framesby, with the timing of passes being out but the vision to see where the best paths of attack were was evident in that performance. Against Framesby, they IDed space on the wings and were not afraid to make long cut-out passes from inside their own 22 if they had to – it was just about getting the ball out to the wing in a hurry and it was effective. Against College a few days later, they had an appreciation for launching a few assaults in and around midfield. There is versatility to the Green Machine’s attack. I don’t want to oversell young fullback Morne Joubert or place undue expectations on him but his is a pleasure to watch. There is still a steep learning curve ahead of him. Already his understanding of the game, the lines he picks and what he does after he breaks makes him quite possibly the most exciting player to watch in KZN at the moment.
Glenwood’s pack is going along well too. I can’t help but feel that it all starts with hooker Kieran van Vuuren providing a lot more confidence to the lineout than the Greens got last year. The 25-metre rolling maul try against Framesby was evidence of what they are capable of when things go according to plan. In the forwards Mzwandile Mazibuko has been great. He’s not the most physical player around but he’s a terrific support runner and his quick acceleration makes him dangerous from pop passes. Add in his lineout ability and he already has Craven Week selection written all over him this early in the season.
From Kearsney’s side the big question is once again will the Du Preez twins play? Answer: it does not seem like they will start. That sort of leaves it open to possibilities. Maybe arrive early and watch the second team game. Their two brilliant individuals aside for now, last week in the convincing win against Northwood, Kearsney were all about a team effort. The players that filled in for the du Preez’s were outstanding. Those that were asked to assume the SA Schools twins’ responsibilities on the field did it with distinction. There might have been a concern that Kearsney lacked a bit of oomph in the outside backline positions. Here they even managed to lay those fears to rest. My feeling is that Kearsney has to hunt as a pack again in this game. The Glenwood forwards are heavier and their backs are skilful. Kearsney need to absorb the pressures that are bound to come by being a lot more defensively alert than they needed to be against Northwood. The home team must also deal with the physical challenges and make the most of their own ball by continuing to play the intelligent brand of rugby they did against Northwood. In my books Glenwood are the slight favourites despite being the visitors but I’m biased here and everyone wants to be the underdog for this one. From Glenwood’s side they basically just need to keep on doing what they have been doing so well so far in 2013.
Here is an interesting one and absolutely nothing to do with passing judgment or suggesting right or wrong. Once upon a time private schools were regarded as the ones that did the recruiting of players at various age-group levels to strengthen their A-teams. Well here in 2013 is a private school team consisting 100% of boys who have been at the school since Grade-8 up against a government school that looks to have taken the lead in the province when it comes to recruitment. How times have changed!
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DHS played an exciting brand of rugby at Kings Park. Their handling was good and the energy levels were very positive. I can’t help but feel they will enjoy the same kind of freedom to run the ball again against Port Natal. It will be a test but I expect that if they are able to recycle ball with efficiency then School will win by a comfortable margin. The big advantage most Tier-1 teams will have over Port Natal is at the breakdown and possibly in the scrums. Porties has a relatively small pack of forwards, so those physical collisions do eventually start to take their toll and if it’s backed up by good tackling around the fringes and effective contesting of the ball on the ground, it can lead to the White Knights having to concede turnovers and/or having to give up ground and therefore play off the backfoot. Despite their lack of size mainly in the front row, Port Natal is a stronger team than they were last year. They have a useful backline, some nifty set moves and an exciting player to watch in Philo Mzileni.
DHS: 1. Bobo Xoshombe, 2. K Mazibuko, 3. Kyle Phileratou, 4. Dayne Mare, 5. Werner Kotze, 6. Aza Thutsha, 7. N Sithole, 8. Matt Drew, 20. Kwanda Ngidi, 10. Kurt Webster, 11. Sandile Biyela, 21. Le Roux van Zyl, 13. Blessing Buthelezi, 14. N Mabaso, 15. Mabutana Peter
PORT NATAL: (not available)
Westville vs Hilton
Everything about this match suggests a Westville win. Westville enjoy home advantage. They have a longer preseason build-up and played three tough games during that time. They are battle hardened and should be comfortable with the higher tempo of the 1st XV game. Hilton is still a question-mark. They seem confident but with just one easy pre-season game under the belt, no one is really going to know how good they are until after tomorrow. Two big factors counting in Hilton’s favour are age of the team (mainly grade-12’s) and the stability with the majority having played together at under-16 level. Also on paper their backline looks very good.
Westville has all the ingredients for a successful season, with reliable players in all positions but questions continue to be asked about their defence further away from the breakdown. Here the players simply have to show more commitment in contact.
There are a couple of good head-to-head duels in stall. Hilton’s stand out loose-forward Nqobi Maseko and supremely talented scrumhalf Cameron Wright are both outstanding players but their efforts could be neutralised and maybe even outdone by the gutsy flank Andre de la Rey and quality scrumhalf Reece McHardy.
It’s the battle of the birthday boys. College is 150 and Campbell turned 50 this year. It’s also a bit of history in the making, the first time these two schools meet at 1st XV level. Personally I have a lot of respect for George Campbell and the work that they do. In the last 25 years, KZN Tier-1 oppostion has contracted. Schools like Beachwood, Northlands joined while others like Pinetown, Gelofte and Alex no longer provide suitable opposition to the big schools. Campbell should have been off the chart a long time ago but here they are in 2013 without a boarding establishment, expanding their horizons. They are fighters. What continues to impress me is the love and pride their boys have for the jersey. College are overwhelming favourites to win this game but George Campbell won’t go down without giving all they have for the full distance.
For Campbell, they need to focus on making their passes stick not. Unforced errors have resulted in much closer outcomes that they should have achieved this season so far.
A lot of people have asked how closely the College team that played against Glenwood in the Kings Park friendly resembled their actual 1st XV. The answer is 4/15. Four starters from that game will start on Goldstones. Of the 11 that were rested in order to give the summer sportsmen a chance, 6 are returning 2012 players with extensive 1st team experience amongst them. For College, lineouts are the potential Achilles again this season. The locks are short and there is no go-to man in the form of Reegan Smith at the back of the set-piece either. To get by they will have to be smart and accurate. Campbell won’t pose a threat in this department but the game will represent an opportunity to fine-tune their lineout play ahead of the challenges that awaits College at their 150th Rugby Festival over Easter.
Maybe HF1 is touching on a problem that is inherent to DHS though.
When I was at boarding school it was key that matrics set the example and I imagine it isn’t much different at day schools like Westville and Glenwood.
If a culture of dropping out of sport in matric has developed at DHS, I can well imagine the negative impact it must have on the overall attitude towards sport at the school in general.
@ Greenblooded- I think H/F is taking the piss. I overheard a few boys talking on Saturday that there is a pool of 60 boys going for the 7th/8th teams.That means that 30 boys will basically not play on a continuous basis which is a real shame. I suppose they drift off to basketball ect. In my day we had an eleventh team (consisting mostly of the surfers) which could have given the 3rds a go. DHS had 12 teams and so there was action for everyone which is ironic as there are now more boys.
Also a word of caution(to all teams) regarding Hilton. With little match preparation and playing away from home they were a bounce of the ball away from beating Westville. Had Cameron listened to Bradd about going for poles it could have been a very interesting last few minutes.From a Westville perspective a good one to get out of the way.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: 5/8 sounds like a spanner size that my grandfather used to use on his 1958 Chev cylinder head. Where do you come up with that number? Thumb suck? Just a feeling? Some concrete facts to back up your theory would be nice.
I would say at least 33% (1/3) of gov school matrics play rugga so about 70 or so boys out of 220. The other half of opens would be grade 11’s. The rest of the matrics do other sport like hockey, cross country, surfing, baseball, basketball etc. Those not playing sport must do something so chess, debating etc..
@HORSEFLY NO.1: “Most matrics in gov. Schools don’t play rugby whilst they do at pvt schools”
Huh?
Are you saying that all those matrics just give up the chance of playing 1st team and Craven week?
I would expect to see about 50% on average Gr11 and Gr12, just the law of averages. It happens at U16 hockey – because there is no U15, that the mixed age groups start showing the guys with early talent, but to say that “most matrics don’t play rugby” is a massive overstatement. Westville, Glenwood and College turn out at least 9 open rugby teams = 75% of the all Gr11’s at the school?
@star:
It does happen. Not at 1st team level only but ALL eight sides. 5/8 sides at Westville are grade 11. Just the way it is.
@greenblooded
Same at Glenwood…
And now for something completely different. Don’t watch this if you have a weak stomach. You don’t see anything at normal speed, hard to see in the first slo-mo but all is revealed in the 2nd slo-mo. Who said referees don’t get injured!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0oXQ3zKrQA
@star: Horsey – not sure where you dreamt up that theory. It certainly does not happen at Glenwood.
@ Horsy- 2 grade 11’s in the Westville 1st team. How does that reconcile with your theory that Govt schools 1st teams are ” carried by grade 11’s”?
@beet:
Same thing happens at Westville and Glenwood. Not College.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: That theory might be subjective.
My feeling is that it does not apply at Glenwood, Westville and College
Most matrics in gov. Schools don’t play rugby whilst they do at pvt schools because most of the time they kinda have no choice(either that or pull your hair in boredom). Gov schools open sides are carried by grade 11. Look at DHS, they only have four sides but the amount of matrics playing only make one full side with grade 11 filling the spaces
@beet: I think that in the lower age groups, the govt. schools have an advantage in depth.
However, I think that in the open age group it levels out. The fact that the 3 top private schools are able to field 7 or 8 open teams tells a story. Add to that, they can offer the best coaches/teachers a better package, they have top facilities, lots of fields and boarders that play touch together a lot more often than most the govt. schools.
@Grasshopper: I hear what you are saying but here is what I’m getting at:
This is what Hilton attempted to do this Saturday (they did not get it right)
550 boys ÷ 5 grades = 110 per grade x 2 grades = 220 boys in open age-group
Rugby = 8 teams x 15 = 120 players
Hockey = 4 teams x 11 = 44 players
Total players = 164
Total boys in open age-group = 220
Commitment level = 75%
For Westville to match that number of 164 players, required a commitment level of about 33%
If Westville decided to pick open age-group players from Grade-12s only, it would effectively double their commitment level to 66%.
So when I say I expect the smaller school to be more dependent on Grade-11s to make up the numbers, this above is what I’m getting at.
Just the numbers alone tell you that Hilton is pushing it to the limit. If they made 3 more open rugby teams + 1 more hockey team, they would run out of schoolboys.
@beet, Hilton has 5 or more times the number of boarders. Boarders play a key role in rugby strength. 500 odd boys living on the grounds playing touch and building friendships everyday counts for alot. Everyone always says gov schools are bigger so must be better. More than half the boys never play rugby so in fact privates have an advantage…
@Westers: Point taken. We have to also take into account that Westville are 2½ times the size of Hilton. One is inclined to assume that the smaller school would be more dependent on Gr.11s to fill the gaps in the 1st team.
Westville only have 2 players in the team who are not in G 12, Martin and Anderson so that pretty much evens things out on the experience front. A close game in store.
@Amelekite, agree with your predictions, pretty spot on in my opinion. DHS by 20 though and College by 20 or more…
My predictions are
DBS by 15
Westville by 8
Kearsney by 6
Michaelhouse by 5
College by 20
My predictions:
M. College vs George Campbell – College by 15
Michaelhouse vs Northwood – House by 10
Kearsney vs Glenwood – draw
Westville vs Hilton – Westville by 4
DHS vs Port Natal – DHS by 14