Here are some of my personal thought on the games on Goldstones on Day 1
Video of Outeniqua and other tries here compliments of the High School Rugby World:
EG Jansen 39 Noord-Kaap 12
The thing that struck me about EG is their good structure. They are a well coached team. Players in the team understand their roles and the execution often makes for very enjoyable rugby to watch. EG forwards are able to dominate the collisions and this is where they hurt Noord-Kaap most of all. Big physical impacts, clean ball and ball runners off the sides of rucks having a good understanding with the halfback. Here Marco Holmes’ (8) forceful carrying helped earn him Man of the Match. His partner in crime flanker Morne Swart (7) is right up there as well in terms of destructive ability with ball in hand. EG also has a very handy backline. Sampie Hearn made a name for himself here in KZN at the Kearsney Easter Festival and even before this year the likes of Ruan Potgieter (10) and Johan Labuschagne (9) who sadly picked up what looks like it could be a long term knee injury, were known as class acts. Also impressing on the day was wing Martin van Wyk. Noord-Kaap are by no means a bad team. However they don’t seem to match up well against strong packs of forwards, as was the case against Monnas at the Maritzburg College 150th. When the backs did get good quality ball they showed good attacking enterprise and Dimitrio Tieties (13) got the better of tacklers on a couple of occasions.
EG Jansen:
Tries: Martin van Wyk (2), Marco Holmes, Christopher Schimper, Quintin van der Schyff.
Conversions: Kobus Engelbrecht(3).
Penalty: Engelbrecht.
Noord-Kaap:
Tries: Hillford Clarke, Nico Graaff.
Conversion: Dimitrio Tieties.
Glenwood 36 Boland Landbou 13
Glenwood have got themselves onto a roll now. Some really good form is being shown. What’s more they are getting results by playing an attractive brand of rugby. Generating quickball, identifying space and trying to create overlaps all seem to be part and parcel of their new total attacking style. The inclusion of Kenny van Niekerk (1) and Ntokozo Vidima (5), both converted loose-forwards has increased the mobility and physicality of the pack with losing anything in the setpieces. Sparks Ncgobo (11) almost seems to be the go-to man and Glenwood players to his inside do ever so well to free up space for the speedster but hats off to him for his finishing ability. Setting Sparks apart from other wings is that he is able to go from 0 to 100 in just a few paces and defenders are finding this rapid change in gears hard to adjust to when covering the angle or trying to use the touchline as the extra defender so to say. Under-17 No.8 Jaco Coetzee was my man of the match. He had an excellent game in the loose and set up a try for another stand out Corne Vermaak (15) as well as scoring a brilliant one himself.
For Boland they were very competitive up to a point again. Their first try was the result of excellent work by fullback Danrich Visagie which tighthead Mattys Basson rounded off with excellent.
Glenwood:
Tries: Sphamandla Ngcobo (3), Corné Vermaak, Curtis Jonas, Jaco Coetzee.
Conversions: Corné Vermaak (3).
Boland Landbou:
Try: Matthys Basson.
Conversion: Tian Nel.
Penalties: Tian Nel (2).
Monument 36 Drostdy 14
The Monnas pack of forwards were also too strong for Drostdy. Under Hans Coetzee Monnas no longer play the big physical bashing game. They tend to pass it to one big ball-carrier off the side of a ruck and try to play wider from the next breakdown. The result is that more is asked of the backs in terms of making meaningful plays. The Monnas centres certainly cannot complain about the service and ball that came their way. One thing that has become apparent about Monnas in watching them over 2 games on Goldstones, is how clinical they have become. A couple of tries were the result of individual brilliance with flank Dwayne Pienaar doing some really good work to achieve line breaks and also big loosehead Frans van Wyk bouncing off a defender before racing 20-metres for a try, however it’s almost become their unwritten law of the Witbulle that visits to the redzone have to end in points being scored.
Drostdy competed well for the first 20 or so minutes of the game but then struggled to contain Monnas’ points scoring spree after that. The Donkeys did however miss a few try-scoring opportunities of their own via little mistakes and the score in the game could quite easily have been 36-28 had Drostdy converted just a couple of those chances.
Monument:
Tries: Stefan le Roux (2), Dwayne Pienaar, Frans van Wyk, Erik Fourie.
Conversions: Gerdus van der Walt (4).
Penalty: Gerdus Van der Walt.
HTS Drostdy:
Tries: Hanro Liebenberg, Yousrie Savahl.
Conversions: Wynand Roets (2).
Affies 41 Framesby 21:
Affies:
Tries: Eduan Keyter (2), Thys van Wyk (2), Jurie Linde, Francois Steyn.Conversions: Ivan van Zyl (4).
Penalty: Van Zyl.
Framesby:
Tries: Ernst Stapelberg, Wessel Strydom.
Conversion: Stapelberg.
Penalties: Stapelberg (3).
Grey College 42 Oakdale 20
Oakdale really surprised. They came out and played an excellent first half. They have decent size team and their structure was really good. Furthermore they got stuck in and really disrupted the Grey Bloem pattern of play. The second of their 2 tries was memorable. Flyhalf Arno Moolman realised that the play was going the wrong way, switched direction, made a good pass and the energy was never lost – good passing and direct running produced just enough space for Juan Terblanche to score in the right corner.
Grey lifted their game in the second half. It was not the fluent flowing style of play many of us have become accustomed to seeing but it proved to be effective in the end. Carel Durow looked more the part at inside centre and Julian Jordaan was full of life at 10. Also catching the eye were Theo Ferreira (14) and EW Viljoen (15). Ferreira who operates very well in limited space, has some upperbody strength and cuts well. Viljoen is a technically sound player but what was enjoyable to watch this time round was his improvisations to keep play alive. It’s wonderful to watch how he keeps the ball away from contact with an outstretched arm and manages to get good passes away that other school players would struggle to make under the same circumstances. Grey’s reserves also make a huge impact on the hot afternoon via the likes of Luan Reynders and co.
Grey College:
Tries: EW Viljoen, Carel Durow, Julian Jordaan, Heinrich Sander, Luan Reynders, De Wet Bezuidenhout.
Conversions: Stephen Rautenbach (3).
Penalties: Rautenbach (2).
Oakdale Landbou:
Tries: Hanno Snyman Juan Terblanché, Francois Du Toit.
Conversion: Jan Oberholzer.
Penalty: Oberholzer.
HJS Paarl Boys High 55 Sharks Invitation 15
Paarl Boys’ High:
Tries: Darren Papier (2), Daylen Daniels (2), Dante van der Merwe (2), Damian Stevens, Charl-Francois du Toit, Thomas du Toit.
Conversions: Luan Boshoff (4), Stevens.
Sharks Invitational XV:
Tries: Jonas Mikalcius, Rogers Zondi.
Conversion: Willie Spies. Penalty Spies.
Grey High School 51 Diamantveld 10
This turned out to be a very good game for Grey PE in the end. They actually played well from the start to finish but the opening stanza was characterised by Grey’s last touches letting them down and preventing genuine try-scoring opportunites from being completed. They however remained focussed and in the end most of the team looked good on the day. The players on the outside had a field day. Dylan Vermaak (14) went on to be named Man of the Match and although he did not get onto the score-sheet Luca Dallavecchia showed some good skills, while Keanu Vers contributed with meaningful runs. Amongst the forwards CJ Vellerman showed promise and Martin Groenewald was once again outstanding as a ball-carrier and worker off the ball.
Grey High:
Tries: Dylan Vermaak (2), Johan van Niekerk (2), CJ Velleman, Junior Pokomela Jeremy Ward, Keanu Vers, Linley Kritzinger.
Conversions: Richard Bryant (2), Matthew Alhorough.
Diamantveld:
Tries: JD Swanepoel, Jon-Pierre Abrahams.
Paarl Gymnasium 45 Wildeklawer Invitational (Harmony) 18
The biggest surprise of this game was that the Wildeklawer XV actually led at one stage. Gim played like they were thinking ahead to the Waterkloof game on Saturday. They went through the motions and upped the temp slightly in the second half but always looked comfortable and in control.
Paarl Gimnasium:
Tries: Wayno Visagie (2), Rikus Bothma, JD Schickerling, DJ van Niekerk, Brendon Nell, Dylon Fairbridge.
Conversions: Wyatt Murphy (5).
Wildeklawer Invitational XV:
Tries: Sylvester Lewis, Dwayne Softley.
Conversion: Ethan Williams.
Penalties: Ethan Williams (2).
Paul Roos 30 Maritzburg College 17
Paul Roos came out and played like a totally different team that attended the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival. Their approach revolved around greater intensity and speed injection. There was also a lot more innovation.They were rewarded for this more aggressive and creative style of attack with 4 tries. The 10-12-13 of PRG: Aidyn Cupido, Daniël du Plessis and Tristan Cramer all looked good with ball in hand even though there is still work to be done here on defensive organisation and commitment. Flank Christo van der Merwe was justly awarded the man of the match and he came up with some big plays from which Paul Roos scored points. Also doing well were the defensive lineout jumpers of the Cape visitors. They got up and stole plenty of ball from their hosts.
College endured a lineout nightmare. Their lineout in the first half appeared to be way too predictable and therefore easy to turnover. As a result they were starved of possession. When they did have ball, they really tested and found weaknesses in the Paul Roos defence. Wings Banele Ngwenya and Lindo Ncgobo were quick and lethal on attack. Replacement flyhalf Jason Alexander also added a dimension to the College attack. Darren Goodson (8) proved to be a courageous and determined all round player.
Paul Roos Gimnasium:
Tries: Daniël du Plessis, HW Barnard, Joel Heugh, Christo van der Merwe.
Conversions: Aiydon Cupido (2).
Penalties: Cupido (2).
Maritzburg College:
Tries: Banele Ngwenya (2), Kevin Elder.
Conversion: Marcel Coetzee.
Outeniqua 39 Waterkloof 19
DUHAN VAN DER MERWE. He killed it. An off the charts performance by the SA Schools left wing was the highlight of the day.
The Kwaggas started this game with more intensity. Their cohesion was much better than it was against Gimmies a week before. The lineout confidence that had gone missing against Gim was also back. Early on Outeniqua turned down a kickable penalty and aimed at touch. From here a well organised lineout close to the line paved the way for Geor Malan (9) to exploit the blindside and go over in the right corner. 5-0.
Van der Merwe’s first big run can in the 7th minute and produced a good tackle by Klofies fullback Tristan Nel to stop him. However there was nothing to halt DVDM shortly thereafter. A partly charged down kick saw interchanges from Remu Malan (9) to Dewald Human (10) to DVDM to Douw Schoeman (13) and back again to DVDM for the try. 10-0.
Waterkloof then produced a really good move off the back of a scrum with Sean Joyce doubling around and making the hard yards. Nel made a good contribution but the Klofies wing Divan Swanepoel was forced into touch in the redzone. Kloof managed to get the ball back but a good tackle by Douw Schoeman saved the Kwaggas. From the scrum on their own 5-metre line, Outeniqua decided to run the ball. One of the Malan twins (Remu) put DVDM in space. He once again ran strongly and feed ball to Geor Malan who returned the pass near the halfway line. DVDM then got to show his incredible strength on his feet as several defenders struggled to forget put him on the ground but stop his upright leg-drive with them hanging on. It was quite an impressive show of power. The end result was the Kwaggas scored another try after DVDM freed up his hands in the tackles and offloaded to Schoeman who fed it to no.19 Christopher Roelfse.17-0.
Dewald Human then showed a bit of his x-factor ability once again by opening up the defence on a counter-attack but he backed himself to slice though a second gap and did not pass the ball when DVDM was free on his outside otherwise it would have been a certain try.
Next the Kwaggas showed beautiful hands which included an improvised pass by Human off the deck to keep the flow alive. The movement ended with Warrick Gelant (12) who otherwise had a quiet afternoon racing over but being held up in the process of scoring.
The Kwaggas next try would start at a lineout set-piece. Fullback Hennie Barnard joined the line from deep and gets in with the help of his body momentum. 24-0.
The next try came almost immediately thereafter. Outeniqua appeared to just be going through the motions as they shifted the ball wide in a hurry to Leighton Eksteen (14). The Klofies had no defensive answers to the speed of play by the Kwaggas. 29-0.
The most memorable try of the game was to follow. It was Duhan van der Merwe at his absolute best. Following a good powerful run down the left hand touchline, DVDM saw the space being closed down in front of him. With all the confidence in the world, he changed his line to one of a diagonal run, now towards the far right-hand corner post. So he basically ran across field from one touchline to the other. It was not a clear path either. Several Klofies players were in the way and had the change to bring him down. None of them were up to the task though. Astonishingly DVDM with his combination of speed, power and hand-off brushed every one of them aside and scored in that right hand corner. 34-0. In the context of schoolboy rugby and the strength of Klofies who are a very good team, it’s just something that everyone has to see on Youtube to fully appreciate. It was unbelievable stuff from the 1.94 metre tall blonde wing.
No one in their right minds could have predicted a halftime score of 34-0 to Outeniqua before the game kicked off. As a contest the match was effectively over and much of what Outeniqua did in the second half suggested they were content to just defend the lead rather than try as hard as they did in the first half to grow it.
Waterkloof’s fightback in the second half was an interesting one. Instead of trying to up the temp, the Pretoria school players appeared to do the exact opposite. Slow the game down as much as possible. Make it tight and reduce any risk of Outeniqua being able to counter-attack. It paid off . The more concentrated attack resulted in them winning a somewhat dull half 19-5.
For Outeniqua’s try Remu Malan identified space behind the defence about 20 metres out from the tryline and grubbered ahead for his brother Geor to run onto unopposed.
Outeniqua:
Tries: Duhan van der Merwe (2), Geor Malan (2), Hennie Barnard, Christopher Roelfse, Leighton Eksteen.
Conversions: Eksteen (2).
Waterkloof:
Tries: Tinus de Beer (2), David Joyce.
Conversions: De Beer.
@Greenwood: disappointing to hear that, oh well!
Gungets –
on watching Gwd u16s’ playing Monnas this morning on the B field came across a group of College Lads watching the game – on inquiring who they were supporting – their answer Monnas !!! (My GWD shirt was covered with a jacket )
I admit i was a bit taken aback by this – if MC had been playing no doubt I would routed for MC and will do so in the future
@GreenBlooded: Yep, light rain predicted most of the day. Chilly in Durbs too, didnt stop the lighties from surfing from 6 till 8.
Hopefully the College team will support Glenwood, hope the team is there at 11 for their 4pm match
@Gungets Tuft: Sure hope they do. Glenwood certainly supported College on Thursday – clapped them on in their No 1’s.
Damn chilly here in the Burra. Looks like rain on the way.
@gimmie: Agree about the research, but would Gym offer a video to Grey Bloem before they play Boishaai, and what would you think about it. Perhaps I expect too much, like College will support Glenwood today..
All is good and well then, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy your schoolboy rugga today. I’m off to Selborne to support Queen’s. Still can’t believe some of you KZN okes haven’t seen each other, I have met like 3 bloggers from here already and the great Beet himself
By the way Maroon, any school coach that don’t accept a video about an opponent should be fired. All top schools research their opponents. gym plays Paul Roos next Saturday…please be assured that we will be recording today’s game between Affies and Paul Roos like you will be making notes about our clash with Klofies….
Guys, schoolboy rugby has become very professional. Teams study each other very carefully and every team must assume that their opposition has seen footage of them. We play on national TV at least twice a year, this year 4 times. We therefor must assume our opponents will know our structures. It’s like super 15. The trick is to execute properly. The modern game is all about deception and giving the ball carrier multiple options. If you do that the opposition can have as many videos as they want it won’t help. As for Paul Roos vs Affies, don’t hold you breath, Affies will be far too strong. Paul Roos’ reputation is not backed up by results over the last 40years. They mostly lose the big games. I don’t know why because here is a school with 1200 boys and vastly superior financial resources to the Paarl schools. By the way Gym has 550 boys…Paul Roos has a top u16 team, they should be in the top 3 in 2015. Good luck to all the teams, it’s goin to be an awesome schools rugby day: my predictions: Oakdal by 5,gym by 15, EG by 30, Kwaggas by 25, Boishaai by 10 ( sorry Gassy.. )Wildeklawer by 5, Boland by 5, Affies by 15, Grey by 15, college by10
We need an annual bloggers piss up somewhere, would be great. I could even convince Beast I’m actually a lekker ou!
@Gungets Tuft: You know the phrase “teer en veer”. We will see you in Pretoria then. If you dare
@Gungets Tuft: @Maroon: In all honesty, a blind man with a one-eyed guide dog would have worked out the weakness in the College lineout in very short order. But the idea that someone out there is peddeling videos to opposition schools is not cool – if indeed that is what is happening.
Good luck to everying today. Must admit it’s frustrating knowing that fellow bloggers are there and not knowing who they are. Would be nice to eye-ball a few of you and say hello. I’ll be in jeans and a black golf-shirt. I’m heading up now to secure a decent parking outside the Goldstones change-rooms before they are all gone – being a ref does have it’s advantages sometimes
@Maroon: Thanks, and same to you guys. Affies is a huge game, quite a few bloggers hoping you can knock them over as it will overturn the whole ratings race for this year. A few Affies supporters will then invite me to a “chat” when we play Affies on 20th July.
@Gungets Tuft: good luck for tomorrow. We are certainly going to require some luck. We are up against a very classy Affies outfit.
@Maroon: The conversation was not aimed at PR, not at all. In fact, as I said, this era is pretty professional so I am not too fussed about whether they saw a video. After tomorrow there will be videos available of most of the sides. But no smoke without fire, someone was apparently bandying it around, such is life.
I have chatted to some close to the squad, there are no excuses, College has faults but making excuses in defeat is not one of them. It’s a pretty new squad this year and they learned some valuable lessons out there yesterday. I think they were much better in the second half; add to that a few simple changes and the line out problems can be solved. There was no lack of penetration from the backs, give them decent ball and they are away. Tomorrow will show if they are willing and able to learn, we Collegians trust they can and will. Beet and Greenblooded will hopefully keep me updated while I watch my date-misguided nephew walk down an aisle.
@Gungets Tuft: not new here at all. I mostly just follow the conversation. PRG would not take a video of MC, even if they were offered one. I have seen the highlights of the game and most of the MC line outs that featured were just poor execution. I might have jumped to conclusions, but it gets my blood boiling if we are somehow being painted as not being respectful of the opposition or school boy rugby.
@Maroon: You must be new here. Ask around, see if I have ever made excuses for anything. Then read back on these blogs and see if there was anything but me discussing that if we could not get our lineouts right it was our fault. Then, next time you gatecrash a conversation, make sure you get at least a slight idea of context before jumping in. It’s just good manners. The question asked is not whether PR were better on the day, scroll up, the score is on the board. The question is, did someone offer PR a video of the game, and if so, why. Clear?
@Gungets Tuft: Not to burst your bubble. By all acounts your line out work was of such a standard that no video was required. Secondly, to not change line out calls regularly is just plain stupid! You lost, get over it.
@GreenBlooded: Perhaps PaulRoosPa can add some detail. Pretty open knowledge at WK apparently. I suppose in this semi-professional era of schoolboy rugby it is to be expected that schools will do research on their opponents, they ask for recordings of matches from past opponents. Depends on the school in possession of the recording as to what they do with it. That decision depends on relative relationships I suppose. Given our long standing ties with Grey PE, DHS, not sure they would help anyone outside of KZN. Video of Westville and Glenwood wouldn’t have helped.
Whatever, it’s a bit of a bush whacking when the opposition knows your calls in the first line out. Lesson learned I guess, have more variations at hand.
@Gungets Tuft: They were given video or they shot there own video? Don’t think College and Paul Roos have co-existed anywhere this year – so who would have provided them with video footage and why? Can only think a fellow Cape school must be spying on their behalf. Sies.
@Gungets Tuft:
Probably waaay too many times than I care or can remember. But no worries, this is as sober as I ever am .
@HORSEFLY NO.1: How many times have we warned you about drinking and posting on blogs??
@gungets
Found this on the DHS website. There have been 223 cricket matches between DHS and College,DHS won 84,College 77 and 62 draws !!
GO SCHOOL !!
@Umtata: I’m very excited about the Kwaggas, they’ve always been a very good rugby school, I just get the feeling that this might be the year that starts a special run for the school. Refreshing to see co-ed schools on top
“Their lineout in the first half appeared to be way too predictable and therefore easy to turnover”
Almost as if the coaching staff from Paul Roos had been given a video of previous College matches this year or something …..
At de end of de day it’s very true that the Currie Cup is not won in May…………………but it can be lost then.
@Umtata:
@Umtata
Stem saam dat ‘n Skool se ander spanne ook saak maak. Kan net van PRG praat, maar die vorige 3 naweke( Bishops, Grey High en SACS) , is 68 wedstryde gespeel, 65 gewen, 2 gelyk en 1 verloor. Dit sê tog iets van diepte. Daar is egter nog baie ander skole wat ook sulke uitslae het. Wonder net hoekom is 1ste span so stadig om op dreef te kom
@Umtata: Strangely, I am quite comfortable with them on top of the pile. But, I guess you are right- it makes things more interesting. But things are looking good for the next few years. But SBR on the Border, will need to pull up their socks very quickly.
@Umtata: But we need these one year wonders to become more competitive over a period of time. Having a once off good year only means that year the wallet was wide open and then it was too much hard work to continue. Unfortunately it seems to be in fashion to have a good team for a certain event at a school and thereafter well nothing.
…Now that…
@BOG: True! But you have to agree that SBR is much more exciting not that more teams are starting to compete with the GCB machine. This sort of competition can on be good for SBR and SArugby. My only concern is that some of theses schools only perform at 1st team level. U14D is also important.
@Ludz:@Umtata: Perhaps, you are a little too young to remember what Naas Botha use to say in his playing days. “The Currie Cup is not won in May”(I still maintain that this was his biggest contribution to rugby- I was a WP supporter then) But that idea could well be extended to the current rugby competitions, including SBR. Its very early days.
Well done Grey Boys ! Heard the backs moved the ball well. Pity the game tomorrow against Outeniqua won’t be televised.
@Ludz: I totally agree. I was excited with Noord kaap in 2011 but they couldn’t maintain the same standard last year. EC schools have a lot of catching up to do.
@Speartackle: it’s so refreshing to have different side doing well, nothing against Grey Bloem or Affies, but it gets a bit boring with them occupying the top 2 every year
Not really surprised by the Outeniqua/Waterkloof score. The Kwaggas together with Paarl Gim are just in a different class this year.
It seems as though the ‘Super Schools’ and in particular the ‘all boys’ schools are playing catch up this year. Could it be the absence of Thierry Mugler or Yves St Laurent fragrances in the hostels?
Beet: I hear there are some changes to the program tomorrow? Maybe post these up if you have them.