Which players are on your radar coming into the 2020 schoolboy rugby season?
The 2020 schoolboy rugby season kicks off in just a few weeks time and I know anyone with a keen interest in the sport will have the names of a few players they are looking forward to watching floating around somewhere in their heads.
Already SARU has identified a group of u18’s that they have termed as “elite” players and who they will be working with during a camp at the end of the February 2020. Experience (and even the stats) tells us that over and above the names on the SARU list, there is an abundance of other good players who during the course of the next few months will up their game and come close to the highest achievable standard of play at this age-group level. Some are bound to even prove to be match-winners on their day. Those who turn out to be your personal favourites might provide you with the sort of good memories that last for years to come.
Just off the top of my head I picked a team of players I am looking forward to seeing in action this year. I limited my selection to those who did not make it onto the SARU list but in truth and as mentioned above, there are a lot of rugby boys around the country who belong in this category. I did my best to limit my choices to one per school.
Anyways here is my “Preseason XV”
| No | NAME | SCHOOL | WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE PLAYER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Francis | Northwood | Converted from hooker to LH prop at the start of the 2019 season. Upped his game big time and peaked at the perfect time to cement a CW berth. His scrumming and work-rate were of a high standard. |
| 2 | Brandon Beukes | Monument | Put in a solid performance against Glenwood in 2019. Played like he was the Lions CW 1st choice, when in actual fact he was only the Witbulle second choice filling in on the day. Looks like quite a prospect for 2020. |
| 3 | Dylan Minnaar | Selborne | Wore no.17 at the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, producing form worthy of a single digit jersey wearer. He is a big unit and uses his time on the ball effectively. |
| 4 | Justin Kalamer | Jeppe | Good sized player who is expected to catch the eye as he transitions from support player to a main go-to option for his school this season. |
| 5 | Andrew Beyrooti | St Charles | Showed promising signs of developing into one of KZN’s best and most reliable big-ball-carriers. Was dominant in collisions in the match I watched but also kept his energy level up which was encouraging. |
| 6 | Damon Royle | GreyHS | Following in the footsteps of Grey’s brilliant CJ Velleman is this turnover specialist. In a season in which the likes of Raynard Mouton (Monnas) and Alex Skudder (Helpies) are likely to be amongst the the big name fetchers, set an equally high standard for D.R. because he is consistently good. |
| 7 | Ruan Claassen | Framesby | ” Ysterspeler!”. A hard as nails player who puts his body on the line time and time again. An absolute pleasure to watch. |
| 8 | Brian Dosemba | DHS | Probably not tall or heavy enough to cut it in this position after school but at this level his combination of electric pace and desire to do well for his team make him stand out. |
| 9 | Jaden Collaros | PretoriaBH | A bit of a rough diamond in a specialist position in 2019 but the skills, rugby brain and a bit of physical presence are evident in what he does and the influence he is able to exercise. |
| 10 | Alec Vermaak | HTS Middelburg | Good balance plus and educated boot. He might start the season down the pecking order in terms of the rated 10 out there but watch out – this will be a different kind of Rooibulle team, possessing a potent backline and if the forwards can hold their own, a strong General at flyhalf won’t go unnoticed for very long. |
| 11 | Larry Nkonki | Westville | A thrilling lively player with ball in hand who can carve up even the most organised defence. |
| 12 | Meyr Retief | Stellenberg | Nice sized outside centre who looks light on his feet and plays with a bit of flair. |
| 13 | Connor de Bruyn | Kearsney | Has been a pedigree loose-forward in KZN in the junior age groups. Now about to start his second season as a full-time midfielder. Reminiscent of last year’s u18 international Henk van Wyk from Monnas in terms of stature, strength on his feet and that touch of explosiveness. |
| 14 | Bradley Mayekiso | PretoriaBH | Low centre of gravity broad-shouldered player with the ability to execute a fairly well-disguised wicked cutting step off his right foot. |
| 15 | Lloyd Koster | St Andrew’s | Versatile tall player. Reads the game well. Should prove to be a handful to stop. |
@De-flea the Dog: jeez dude – let it rest. You’ve made your choice – no need to justify it. This is a rugger blog ………..
@Vleis: it certainly is a contributing factor to the decline of rugby as a sport at schools in SA. You and I have discussed in the past how very few JHB schools now play rugby as opposed to 30 years ago. Even a school like St Stithians with close to 1000 boys in the high school can only put out 12 teams these days. When you see the behemouths taking the field it is no wonder Moms, Dads and kids are saying aikona !
@Vleis: Almost all former model c schools stil have fairly high academic standards and they are atracting the better teachers…
@De-flea the Dog: In addition to the privates, I’d include a huge amount of govt schools – e.g. monastic schools like Affies, HJS, KES, Westcliff, SACS, etc; plus co-eds like Northcliff, Garsies, Westerford, Menlo, etc.
@De-flea the Dog: Hopper, when House and Hilton meet your old school this year. Are we going to play your U25 side or U18 side. #justaskingaboksmartquestion or #areyoumakingacomebackonthewing
@Carl de Kock: yep, but the Sean Erasmus who made Natal in the 90’s a different fella.
@De-flea the Dog: That’s fortunate (or very good planning on your part) to be in an area with such good schools.
Each to their own I guess, but I wouldn’t trade the SA schooling system for any in the world…with the caveat that one’s kids attend good schools in SA, of which there are many. I accept that we are some 6 to 12 months behind the UK academically (largely as we start later) but I don’t know of a single SA kid (out of about 20) that has struggled academically at the top universities in the UK after school in SA. Some have had to catch up a bit in maths, etc for six months, as A levels focuses in more detail on only three subjects v our matric focusing on seven subjects. I was stunned to hear of the mammoth pressure that four and five year olds are subjected to (including extra tutoring, etc) in order to get into a good primary schools in the UK…and that’s my pommie mates’ kids!
@Bush: yip-at again
@De-flea the Dog: Sean Erasmus took this school’s rugby to unprecedented new heights.
@BoishaaiPa: typical hopper hogwash
writing at 4–
then justifying his move to UK as web designer by stating saffa kids are stupid-the”pencil grip” comment the icing on the cake
but lets keep him-he is worth a good laugh-and he played 4th team lock-confirmed by one of his fellow scholars
@De-flea the Dog: Silly question..but what are they writing at 4/5 years old?..
@Vleis: I do have a son aged 4 turning 5 in May, so he is in reception and starting rugby in Sept. Yes, the good prep schools are hard to get into. The free gov schools around me are all OFSTED Outstanding so we lucky. ALL the Saffa kids joining are so far behind for their age they have to have 1to1 extra lessons to catch up. A Saffa boy joined my boys class and he couldn’t even write properly or hold a pen properly so lots of additional work to do to ensure he catches up.
@Bush: Bush I’m not Hopper so please stop referring to me as him. I’ve been out of school for 24 years, why would I be obsessed with it? I’m just interested in it, like any other Old Boy would be. School sport shouldn’t be the zenith of the sport as it is now…
@De-flea the Dog: Thanks Hopper for the psychoanalysis. Much the same as your obsession with your school. Nobody comes close to GW in being professional. Let’s see the results and let the schools play. 2 3 Obsessions
@BoishaaiPa:
@De-flea the Dog: Your lightie/s must be of school going age by now. Where have you enrolled them? From what I hear, getting a kid into a good primary school in the UK is extremely competitive.
@Carl de Kock: And what is that? The perception of recruiting post grade 8?
@Bush: Dude everything you talk about is phalic, Freudian slips or not, it’s super obsessive. Who cares if Hilton and House beat Glenwood, they are now only playing them having had a chance to bolster the ranks with 3 good years of recruitment. Maybe they now consider themselves as professional as Glenwood and that no injuries can occur. Look forward to seeing the results..
@De-flea the Dog: Is the Green Machine still the machine like all of us know it?
@Tang: I don’t think he ever defended GW, he was obsessed with the School. Going to be great to watch that Hilton vs GW game, then see Hoppers comments after that game. Lo and behold if GW lose. Beet will have to open a new thread REST IN PEACE BLOGGERS. Any way House going to chow GW this year. Hoppers going to think he’s back in the 90’s. 2 3 House going to give GW a Woody
@BoishaaiPa: Well I’ve never heard of Hopper or met him, so we must just be similar types of people. We did of course attend the same High School
@De-flea the Dog: How you use the facts is the thing that gives it away…and that is logic to me.
@BoishaaiPa: Same style? I just use facts to back my points, seems a logical style to me. Logic is something I was taught at school
@Tang: Ah thanks for the clarification, I must know him, he sounds familiar. I too am a passionate Glenwood Old Boy and enjoy schoolboy rugby. Did you hear of the elite league they trying to set-up that Grey Bloem seems to be included in. It has a few requirements for no a teams etc.
@De-flea the Dog: Hopper I agree. Don’t let them treat you like a pest.
@boerboel: I played 3rd team No 8 with a handful of games for the 2nd’s. Chubby? Well I’m not skinny marathon runner, but not sure what that has to do with the comments on this blog
@Vleis: Same style of conversing, same Glenwood hype, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck..it’s probably Hopper!
@Tang: I am 100.0% sure that he is Hopper – good to have him back though.
@De-flea the Dog – I think you may as well change your handle to Hopper. Hopper was a Glenwood old boy and frequent contributor to posts. I think Hopper left Schoolboyrugby.co.za because he got too much abuse for defending Glenwood.
It seems many of the contributors think you are Hopper with a new handle.
Beet a guy who caught my eye this weekend was HMK flanker Michael Jonker. He played 1XV last year as well as well as for the Lions at Academy or Craven Week XV level as well.
yip for a chubby 4th team lock he is very clued up
@Bush: Not sure what you banging on about, 2,3 Glenwood!
@Beet: Agree with you 100 % on this one Beet – he will be firing on all cylinders !
@De-flea the Dog: Sho Hopper that’s a ton of info. You very clever. Was your intake cleverer than the intake of this decade? You very obsessed with your school. Maybe return from Mud Island and become the Director of Marketing at GW. Then you can shout 2 3 I’ve got a Woody
@Bush: Angus Martyn, yes….he was a very good player. Nick Cruickshank went from DHS to College (95 to 96). Rudi de Vry 95 to College 96. There were many in those days
@Bush: Glenwood Natal schools reps 90’s
1990 – zero
1991 – zero
1992 – 2 – Leighton Pardey (prop) & David Terblanche (No8)
1993 – 1 – Lee Fernandes (prop)
1994 – zero
1995 – 1 – Stuart Kerr (scrumhalf)
1996 – 1 – Sean Erasmus (prop)
1997 – 2 – Lucky Maduna (wing) & Victor Tsewu (prop)
1998 – 2- Nic Strauss (Lock/Loose-forward) & Victor Tsewu (prop)
1999 – zero
Total: 9 in a decade. Glenwood get that per year now. House had 24 reps & College 50 reps in the same period.
People bang on about selection bias these days, there was certainly was then too.
@Bush: yep, Dom Sjunka (1991), Leighton Pardey (1992) and John Botha (1992) were very big boys. However from 1993 to 1997, the core postie years Hilton and House were way bigger. Maybe it was just a very poor period for Glenwood, I think the worst in the schools history where we even lost to Afrikaans Hoer Durban Noord in 1996 (7-19). The 90’s produced our lowest number of Natal schools reps ever. it might have been a perfect storm, weak Glenwood and strong House. Vs Michaelhouse 1991 – 1996;
1991 – lost 9-15
1992 – lost 3-39
1993 – lost 6-10 (a Massive House pack & Glenwood had an u16a prop having to play 40 mins) – young Barrett Pardey held his own vs Sean Collins (god he was huge). That front row was scary, Collins, Davidson and Knight, plus Macquet, Bluett, Pitts, Band and Bold…scary pack. Our locks were barely 6ft2 and 90kg. Barry Clarkson our No8 was our only player to break the line with ball in hand.
1994 – lost 9-40
1995 – Drew 18-18
1996 – lost 16-37
….thank goodness the last 20 years have been way better. Hopefully we can take it this year…2,3 Wood…
@De-flea the Dog: Hopper I never mentioned the 90’s. I don’t think Dom Schonker (if I have his surname correctly spelt), was much of a dwarf. The GW front row of 1991 was massive, in fact that pack of that year was a tower, bigger than House.
Don’t forget Angus (can’t remember his surname) that came from KC to House and Captained SAS that year. 2 3 House
@De-flea the Dog: I know Kingswood run a strict programme where posts have to register with UNISA. There are cases which makes sense. A cheaper, more productive way to take a “gap” year.
@Bush: Who is Hopper you guys keep mentioning? In the 70’s all schools had boys who ‘plugged’ and were probably close to 20 in matric, Michael Barker played for about 4 years in the DHS team. The 90’s ‘pluggers’ were not allowed to play 1st team if not U19, so you talk kak. House had a few from Grey Bloem, Herkie Kruger one of those very soutie okes from Balgowan. Gary Laue the great College No8 who played Natal schools in 95 for College and 96 for House. BJ Botha is another, a Kloof boy who did post matric at DHS. You guys had no issue with this when winning, the gov schools just played on regardless. Imagine if this happened these days, DHS would be throwing their toys out the cot. Regularly you saw Gov schools playing their best U16 players as 1st team reserves where they could be playing a ‘boy’ 3 or even 4 years older than them, not Boksmart or whatever they call it. Glenwood packs in the early 90’s were dwarfed by the House and Hilton ‘boys’…
@De-flea the Dog: Hopper, I take it GW didn’t do “I will rewrite matric 15x” in the early and late 80’s. MHS and Hilton did Post Matric, UNISA. GW did “rewrite Matric”. At least Post Matric actually had a point. It’s wasn’t usually GCB Boys. Guys came from all over the country and world. Even from Paarl
@Deon: Was Koster back in 88, I’m sure he was 90’s. When you say Post, do you mean Post Matrics who are under19? In KZN Michaelhouse and Hilton used to have many of them, usually Grey Bloem Old Boys. Eventually the gov schools started to have them to compete, but this was in the 90’s and faded out by 1999. I do know you can only play provincial as an u18 so not sure what the real benefit of being an u19 post matric is, other than the glory and getting the chicks…
@De-flea the Dog: @Vleis: That was the year they openly cheated against Paul Roos as per video, when Koster missed poles, and the flagmen screwed up. Teams full of posts every year.
@De-flea the Dog: Tank played in 89 as well
@Vleis: I think 88 had Tank Lanning, Michael Ehrentraut, Lee Feurer, Andrew North and Paul Searson. Not 100% sure though. I do know Ehrentraut scored 48 tries & 424 points in 62 matches for Bishops, plus was SA Schools captain in 89.
@Roger: Eish! Only loss of the 87 season out of 18 games I think. 12-7 to KES. There were also 2 draws against St Andrews and Grey PE. KES would have been immense. Urban legend is that the Dale coach was willing to impregnate his wife and name the kid after whoever scored the winning points for Dale.
The Dale faithful have never forgiven KES for taking an unbeaten season away from them. I see we will meet again at the KES Festival this year.
@Vleis: they played at the Saints festival and Bishops won 16-4. Tries were four points back then (as I’m sure you remember?). Those were the days when the Saints festival was the only show in town! If Balikibaba still reads this blog I’m sure he can tell us about that Bishops team but i remember Michael Ehrentraut (?). KES’s big win that year was Dale who toured JHB and were unbeaten up to then. Maybe Playa can tell us more about that team too!
@Roger: That’s a good season. What was the score v Bishops? If memory serves, Bishops was arguably #1 in the country in 1987. They beat Maritzburg College by 41 to 9, who had quite a few in the SA schools team that year, including the captain – Catteral. I watched the Bishops v Maritzburg game in CT, as I was at UCT then. My Martizburg mates say that it was the only game that they lost that year.
@Vleis: had to go dig up some magazines to get ’87 results – they lost only 2 for the year – to Bishops and Boys High, beat Grey PE, Monnas, Dale, DHS, Michaelhouse. Gavin Lawless was in that team. They were pretty useful.
@Smallies: Believe it or not – Elon Musk left Bryanston High to go to PBHS after having his head kicked in by some pupils at Bryanston. If memory serves, he was in Intensive Care for a while after the incident. That said, I definitely used the term “Bryanston Brekers” with my tongue in my cheek!
Those Bryanston Brekers bullied Musk, but they would’ve had the k@k kicked out of them if they’d attended most other schools – especially Athlone Boys or Monnas! 
@Roger: It was the team a few years after me (in 1987) that played SACS and Wynberg and won one and drew the other. I think the only game that they lost that season was to KES, which had a very strong team that year, I think.
@Smallies: and remember how strong club rugby was? The Pirates Grand Challenge was hard, tough rugger. Clubs like Germiston, Randburg, Randfontein, Union, Police, Wits Technikon, Goudstad – do any of them still exist?
@Roger: actually very sad the way that schoolboy rugby went backwards in Gauteng and especially on the old witwatersrand there are only a few schools that are actually competitive today
@Smallies: certainly was – just have a look at some of the Tvl currie cup teams in those days and the schools the players went to. I’m betting a lot of them can barely scratch a team together nowadays??
@Roger: Yes I do ….schoolboy rugby in JHB was tough in those years
@Smallies: then you will know what I am talking about – I think it was 1985 when Sandringham and Highlands North were the top teams in JHB – that’s not a stat you will ever see again. I’m not sure if Sandringham even have a rugby team anymore and Highlands probably have less than 10!
@Vleis: Musk is a maverick – hated school, both Bryanston High and Pretoria Boys High, he was bullied and didn’t fit into the macho SA culture – skipped the country to Canada to avoid national service and has made his billions. He was a square peg in a round hole – our traditional school system back then wasn’t for everyone. Read Lewis Pugh’s book about his time at St Andrews – scathing. So to Wilbur Smith and his time at Michaelhouse – many examples!
@Smallies: Ek is maar nuut in die Paarl skole ding.
Manne praat van Gimmie Guts…ek probeer dit nog verstaan, maar sien uit na 2020 se rugbyseisoen, sal Gim dophou.
@Strepie: Gim gaan n ongemanierde span he die jaar en alle aanduidings is dat die nr1 span in Suid Afrika op die laaste dag van die wildeklawer bepaal gaan word….soos verlede jaar ook
@boerboel: Die Gimmies kan skynbaar nie uitgepraat raak nie. Volgens betroubare broone is hy die hoof oorsaak vir die totale ommekeer vir Gimmie rugby.
@Strepie: Baie smart ou
oud hoofseun v gim-later by dville voorberiding as sportorganiseerder-toe na gim as werwer/afrigter
@Roger: I actually grew up on the east-rand and played a few games against Randpark and Northcliff and Mondeor
@Smallies: Bryanston High back in the late seventies, eighties and early nineties, produced some quality teams – so to did Greenside, Sandringham, Northcliff, Sandown, Randpark, Roosevelt, Mondeor etc – rugby has all but died at these JHB co-ed schools – but in their day, they were competitive. @Vleis: will confirm – he was part of Greenside team that klapped Rondebosch, SACS, St Stithians and a few other big names back in the day.
@De-flea the Dog: They played Aliwal-north in 2015 their U14,15,16 and First team got klapped by a school who dont have any B teams
@Smallies: Isn’t Bryanston a bit of a ponce area?
@Vleis: whaaaaaahahahahahahabaha Bryanston se brekers
@De-flea the Dog: @Tang: @Roger: @boerboel: Well if ever there was a chance that a headmaster could convince Musk to part with a few shekels, it must surely be the incoming headmaster? After all, they’re about the same age, so would have been in the school at the same time – hopefully he didn’t bully Musk like the brekers at Bryanston!
@BoishaaiPa: Jean Stemmet (ek dink dit is sy naam) se naam loop wyd en suid en is op almal se lippe.
Ken nie sy agtergrond nie, maar blyk die ou ken van!
@Tang: in his autobiography
@Tang: Really though, $130,000 is what he would spend on tea for his office. Surely he could just give PBHS this money once a year, with a caveat that it must be made public and named after him….
@BoishaaiPa: to add, schools like Glenwood, Westville and Maritzburg College have around 100 players who are rugby focused only OR rugby is their key sport, the others are just in it for the fun. I remember playing where calls were being agreed 10 mins before kick-off. We didn’t even know who was playing lock, centre and fullback. The difference is schools like Grey Bloem etc have 400 boys focused on rugby & down to E & F team with proper training. Soutie schools have too many distractions at the beach
@Roger – I’m not 100% sure about the Elon Musk story. It could be an urban myth.
@BoishaaiPa: I’m aware of that, look at Boland Landbou, Marlow, Oakdale etc, very competitive but nearly every boy plays. Same applies to Glenwood, only 300 to 350 boys of the 1,150 play rugby. Of those 300, about 150 are boarders. So schools like Maritzburg College, Grey Bloem and others with 300 plus boarders are always going to have better depth. 150 Day dogs playing make the teams weaker. Boarders are key in rugby strength OR the school being in rural area where the kids are from farms..
@De-flea the Dog: Boishaai won most of the matches (70%) against Gim for most of the time..The last 2 years Gim have been coming into their own and has started to even up below A team level. The actual numbers of boys playing rugby in Boishaai, Gim and Paul Roos is about the same as they have around 24/26 teams each. You must compare apples with apples. The number of boys in the school is irrelevant, it is how many participate in the specific sport.
@Roger – PBHS won the return fixture 13-11. PBHS were down 11-6 with minutes to play. The ref awarded PBHS a penalty. I remember distincyly how PBHS scored next to the poles after choosing to tap an go. The KES boys thought the ref had awarded them a penalty as he put his hand up incorrectly.
PBHS lost the first 2009 fixture 15-17. At 15-10 up with a kick at posts, PBHS thought the game was won. I don’t think anyone from PBHS expected the brilliant try from KES that gave them the victory.
Two great fixtures in 2009.
@Smallies: Not a bad idea, that would be fun!
@De-flea the Dog: I think that Glenwood must make peace with Westville and then combine to face Grey,like Waterkloof and Norries did last year
@Smallies: like Queens of yesteryear. Glenwood like to hope we provide some resistance at A team level but after that it’s just carnage. I actually would prefer if just our A teams played Grey Bloem, maybe mid-week or at WildeKlawer
@De-flea the Dog: The hardest matches i have seen Grey play is not agains the winelands schools but agains Selborne in East londen ,at home Selborne is a beast of a school,granted Grey wins most of the games but they are a battle from start to finnish….
@boerboel: Hulle het Vrystaat skeidsregter truie aan ,so ek neem aan hulle is vrystaat revs….nie eers n ou klein paltteland se skooltjie soos Aliwal-noord gebruik onnies as revs nie
@Smallies: vir o14 d?
wakker word ou grotew
@Strepie: yep, and Boishaai vs Gim and Pual Roos. I think they underachieve against Gim who has a tiny number of boys compared. I think only Boishaai, Affies & Paul Roos can really compete against Grey Bloem down the line.
@boerboel: Dis nie Grey se revs nie ,dis revs wat vrystaat rugby aan wys
ha ha-moenie die vraag ontduik nie
kom ons vra die bloggers-dink julle grey se refs is biased/skelm?
@boerboel: moet tog nie die revs so blameer as julle spannetjies nie goed genoeg is nie ,maar ja ek vergeet ons revs travel mos saam met ons die hele land vol,dit is seker maar die rede hoekom ons oral dominate ….die revs,Immelman ,en Barret-Thomsen is mos Grey old boys nie waar nie
@Smallies: nope gcb
dit weet almal
hulle is goed genoeg-weet hoekom hulle nog skelm is nie
@boerboel: kaap se skelm revs ja
@Roger: r1m cheque-and dot contact me again?
@Smallies: ja ek stem
skelm grey refs het ook n 10/15 p rol in daardie resultate.
@Strepie: ek vermoed dit sal maar baie soos die results teen Boishaai wees,redelik gelyk op in terme van wen en verloor by die A spanne ,lear af dink ek Grey sal bietjie meer wen as verloor
It would have been interesting to know how PaarlGim would compete with Grey on an annual basis.
@De-flea the Dog: 5 year cycles are probably the most relevant in measuring current strength , but from 2014 to 2019 Grey and Boishaai played 162 matches, Grey won 80, BH won 78 and they had 4 draws. Most of the years are very close except for 2016 when BH won 20 out of the 26 games played and in 2019 when Grey won 18 of the 27 games played. So two years that are spikes, but the rest pretty even with margin going to the homeside.
@Tang: I remember that game well – Greg Haasenkamp was the Boys High coach and not even a few beers at the Radium could cheer him up afterward. That was a great KES team though – the current 1st XV coach’s, Mzwakhe Nkosi and Senna Esterhuisen, were in that team as well as Scarra Ntubeni and Wandile Mjekevu. The return game loss to Boys High (very contentious if I remember correctly) was the only loss of the season.
@De-flea the Dog: hehehe Grasshopper – you have obviously not heard the story re: Boys High’s request to Elon Musk for funds? Safe to say he didn’t break the bank – I’ll let Tang enlighten you.
@Roger – In the 2009 fixture, PBHS were kicking at posts to seal the victory. The kick was either missed or hit the posts and KES took the ball all the way from behind their own posts to score. If memory serves me correctly, the flank Senna Esterhuizen and the hooker Scarra Ntubeni were instrumental in keeping the ball alive and scoring the winning try.
In the 2009 return fixture at PBHS, PBHS pulled off a late win. I think KES were ranked second in South Africa at the time.
Had PBHS won the first game of 2009, it would have been 11 in a row.
KES have definitely had the better of PBHS over the last 6 years. PBHS struggle to win a single fixture at KES nowdays.
@De-flea the Dog – I’m surprised there has never been a Glenwood VS PBHS fixture. Both schools have loads of teams for both rugby and hockey. Perhaps it’s the cost of travel in an already crowded calendar.
@Tang: PBHS is a huge school, 1500 or so boys, surely you could cobble together a very competitive A team in each year. That’s 3 times the numbers of say a Hilton, Michaelhouse or Kearsney. Glenwood gave out 45 bursaries and scholarships this year, not all 100% and some were for academics of course. Ideally a school should aim to get in 10 to 20 great allrounders, boys who a good at most things including academics. Hard to find but worth it. PBHS wouldn’t have to invest too much to offer 20 bursaries. Your swimming and cricket are always competitive, in fact very good. Westville give out about 80 a year, but they now taking in around 260 a year, so the extra fee paying kids are covering the additional bursaries. Glenwood have a good Old Boy network and get some decent cash out of them, but nothing ground breaking like previous old boy Ivan Clarke and the likes of US Billionaire Stephen Saad at DHS. All it would take in Jon Smit to do some scouting in the primary schools to attract interest and maybe get old Elon Musk to give R2 million a year, pocket change. Four Musk bursaries a year. I have a soft spot for PBHS having been hosted there as a kid, they are genuinely nice people coming from good hard working Saffa families. I really would like to see PBHS super competitive again and please look into a fixture vs Glenwood, it would be a pretty even day.
@Tang: i played with and against with your newly announced headmaster. I am pretty certain he will not let the current status quo continue. I would love to see Boys High back up there again – even as a KES supporter!
caveat – KES still have a long way to go until we beat Boys High’s 10 in a row against us from 99-08 – i stand to be corrected but i think the current streak is on 6 or 7 – so Mr Haasenkamp can hold off on his reforms for a few more years
@De-Fle the Dog Spot on. If it was a pure numbers game, PBHS should dominate. PBHS have three boarding houses. Each boarding house has around 100 boys. One fifth of the school are boarders.
I personally believe Boys High perform way below par for the numbers of pupils. Even if Souties are a bit soft, PBHS should produce far better overall sports results.
I think schools operate in Macro cycles and PBHS have been in a sports trough for the last 8 years. In 2009, PBHS rugby started a general downward trend and there has been very little evidence to indicate a turn around as yet. The 2013 team were pretty good as were the 2019 team. Although the teams of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 were decent, there results should have been far better. I’ve spoken to many masters, parents and pupils and I would say the general consensus would be the change in our tradtional rivals. Most of us believe our rivals have stepped up in terms of recruiting and coaching.
Jeppe are probably the best example. Prior to 2009, Jeppe were incredibly weak. The Jackson fund and some strategic bursaries by old boys played a significant role in changing Jeppe’s sporting fortunes. I don’t speak for Jeppe but my view would be a general view held by most people I have interacted with at sporting fixtures.
PBHS have been slow to respond to the change and have paid little or no attention to recruiting. Whilst there has been a focus on coaching, most masters will tell you how difficult it is to compete against a team of recruits. The u14 and u15 results over the last 8 years have been extremly poor. PBHS only seem to catch up at u16 level and even then without recruited stars, it is very difficult to stay on par.
@Tang: However, I do think having a bigger Boarding Establishment definitely makes the schools rugby stronger. The BE boys are the spine of the A teams
@Tang: It was based on number PBHS would be smashing everyone, quality not quantity ;-)
@boerboel – “Souties are a bit soft though”
. You may be right but you may be wrong.
You know the performance of a school’s rugby teams has more to do with the size of the cheque book rather than the number of boys in the school.
@De-flea the Dog: if I’m correct only the cherries and playboys lost to boishaai at u 19 level in 2018
@Smallies: Of course, I’ve watched rugby at Paarl Boys a few times, the boys are perfectly well behaved, well groomed and a credit to their school. I just think WP supporters have no idea how well KZN schools actually do considering the tiny numbers playing rugby at primary school and high school level compared. There are probably less than 8,000 active junior players in the whole province!
@boerboel: I doubt that, stats will prove it…
@De-flea the Dog: most of the Boishaai parents are great people and the boys are very well behaved,as in all school unfortunately you tend to get the assholes also
@De-flea the Dog: @De-flea the Dog: probably 50 /50 over the last 7/8 years
@boerboel: OK, so how do the results go from 3rd’s to 10th’s vs Grey, probably not well…
@boerboel: with the great trek back to the Cape for people seeking electricity and some semblance of governance, one would expect the Cape teams to be the strongest, yet Monnas, Grey and others still compete & usually win…
@De-flea the Dog: cherries lost to boishaai seccies 5 years in a row-overated
gim seccies the team to watch these days
@De-flea the Dog: stop blowing smoke up each others a….
smallies just seeking excuses for the draw-pumping up g/w
get a room
@Smallies: BUT you guys have the best depth by far, I mean in a normal year the Cherries and Peaches would beat most schools 1st teams. Glenwood used to play the Cherries every so often, usually losing. I predict Grey to be No1 again this year, no pack is going to touch them. Good luck on the road…
@De-flea the Dog: Grey played only 3 home games that year ,basically the same scedule as this year….gonna be a hell of a tough year
@Smallies: shows how good that Grey Bloem side was too! To draw away from home against arguably Glenwood’s best side ever. The 65 & 79 sides were different but of different generations! What’s amazing is 3 or 4 of them are in the SA u20 squad, Mdletshe, Ncube, Hendrickse, Coetzee, Jonker etc
@Buddy: the draw with Grey was the most epic game of that season…
@Smallies: would have been something to witness, what a team it was ……
@De-flea the Dog: don’t waste you time trying to explain anything to @boerboel. He’s actually a pavement special from the outskirts of the Paarl scavenging from the kind mom’s fetching their boys from Boishaai after school.
The scary part is they gave him a jersey representing HJS Paarl on this blog.
Voetsek !!!
@De-flea the Dog: Glenwood 2018 would proparbly have chowed Boishaai ,although we will never know
@boerboel: Also, your fishing isn’t going to bait me. Glenwood have been around 110 years they don’t need to prove anything to anyone. They not a rugby school, just doing the best they can with the resources available, just like any other good school. Their head is a highly qualified ‘Doctor’ and I’m sure she has some great plans for the years ahead. The one thing I can say is she certainly has installed great ethics and morals in all the boys
@boerboel: yeah because the intake is largely from previously disadvantaged areas, much more challenging than from wealthy farmers in Paarl Somerset West and behind the Boerie curtain.
@De-flea the Dog: acedemics-looking at the matric results not a lot of time on that
@boerboel: Half the number of boarders & we know boarders provide the core of the rugby teams. Not soft, just focused on other things like academics, surfing, girls and having a jol :-)
@De-flea the Dog: underachievers then?
with that amount of boys they should match gcb?
souties are a bit soft though
@boerboel: 1,200 of which 350 play rugby
@boerboel: Almost double the size of Boishaai.
@De-flea the Dog: how many boys in glenwood?
@Quagga: Big ups for Skudder – a specialist pilferer of note. I thought he really made his mark last year.
I also got a big tip to keep an eye on Divan Esterhuizen who is a much improved player at 11 or 12 depending on the Helpies need.
@Beet: Helpmekaar players to watch (for now) include Melbirt van der Spuy (centre), Tyler Skudder (open-sider or hooker …CW hooker 2019), Sebastine Watney (playmaker), Diego Cupido (playmaker, outside back), Jaques Raath (midfielder). HMK have not touched a ball due to summer sports commitments, so no doubt there will be other players that catch the eye as the season gets underway in the coming weeks.
@boerboel: Hilton & Michaelhouse yes don’t test themselves, but doesn’t mean they are weak. They recruited a very good u14 group 2 years ago, a side that would have pushed Grey Bloem, Affies, Gim & Boishaai. I’m really stoked Glenwood are playing both again plus the usual big rugby schools to test themselves. I would only change one thing and play the big schools at A team only as KZN don’t have the depth considering we have a 10th of the players
@De-flea the Dog: did not belittle Natal schools-i said the strength is weak with regards to rugby
rankings is skewed-especially in the age groups-often see sides like hilton u16 in top 10-wrong
@boerboel: @boerboel< I will sponsor you to go and see someone to help you sir , you have serious issues .
@Palma: Spot on!! and here in the North every cup final (all divisions) are special!!
@Palma: my point exactly…..
I don’t think anybody will deny how colossal the Western Cape derbies are. But I have watched Hudson Park vs Cambridge playing the final game of the season in front of less than 3000 people and the atmosphere is thunderous. Yes it’s not the Paarl derby 25000 in attendence, but to those boys this East London derby is more imperative than a world cup final.
@De-flea the Dog: Disrespectful to any school with tradition and values, some great schools in KZN
@Smallies: hahah! To put it in perspective Maritzburg College played Hermannsburg in 1870 & regularly against Hilton and Michaelhouse in the late 1800’s before they even knew what rugby was and played the Paarl derby from 1915. DHS started rugby in 1910 when Glenwood did. To say you can’t buy rugby culture is poor class & disrespectful to Natal rugby
@De-flea the Dog: He tends belittle everything not connected to Boishaai or Stellenbosch,kind of like an Apple fanboy who cant see the advantages of Android…or an Android fanboy who cant appreciate the build qualty of an iphone
@Smallies: Exactly, so your man doesn’t need to belittle KZN derbies, they are in fact older than most & need to be respected. KZN boxes pretty well for the small number of players they have. Half of SA is moving to the Republic of the Cape, so the talent is pooling there. KZN over the years have bloodied some noses..
@De-flea the Dog: I attended the Paarl derby in 1999 and 2000 ,mate only two games I know comes close, both involves Grey Kollege.But as always my point is that for you your schools traditional derby is the biggest game of the year….I can tell you Selborne and Dale dont give a sh@t about the Paarl derby ….
@BoishaaiPa: not sure what or who Grassy is, but yes by playing at a neutral venue it takes away from the home advantage. Playing twice a year is to give the teams more games and hasn’t always been the case. Playing in the school grounds gives it a much closer to the action atmosphere for everyone. Go to a House vs Hilton derby, not much better than that.
@De-flea the Dog: So because it is not played at the school ground, according to the dogma of Grassy, it is not a proper traditional derby. That is new to me!..Playing each other twice a year and getting two bites at the same cherry doesn’t sound like a proper derby to me either!..and sometimes they are the moer in with each other so they sommer dont play for a couple of years either!..Properse derbies that!
Somehow you all seem to miss the idea Beet is trying to convey here except Smallies…You are all mentioning players that are already on the SARU list of which we are aware..Beet is looking for players that is NOT on the list already who might catch the eye.
@boerboel: Playing since 1910, before many of the Paarl/Stellies derbies even started in 1915 (officially in 1927). Glenwood has played Maritzburg College 170 times and DHS 140 times since. Playing St Andrews, Selborne, Drostdy, Paul Roos, Monnas and Grey Bloem this year. Played Affies and Grey Bloem yearly for the past decade or more. Cape Derbies are generally tiny, I’ve been to a few. You okes bang on about the Paarl derby which is held in a stadium, the same could be done for any of the other big derbies in SA, KES vs Jeppe, Hilton vs Michaelhouse etc could all get 20k crowds if held in bigger venues. I prefer proper traditional derbies held in the schools grounds..
@De-flea the Dog: jip against the weak natal schools
cant buy a rugby culture
@Buddy: Glenwood predicted team for this year;
1) Kyle Erasmas
2) Ethan Biljoen
3) Kaleb Thomas/Ghanyana
4) Cade Esterhuizen
5) Henk Gouws/Ivan Walker
6) Nanto
7) Mdletshe
8) G Oekortze
9) Nico Steyn (Capt)
10) L Millborrow
11) Katlego Thinyane
12) Matt Halstead
13) C Mvalo
14) Katleho Thamanga
15) Logan Janeke
Looks a solid side who should be able to win 60% of their games, maybe 70%
1 Tielman Grey
2 Fourie Grey
3 Lombaard Boishaai
4 Evans Bishops
5 Potlood Rahl Oakdale
6 Hanekom Boishaai
7 du Plessis Ben Vorster
8 Nel Gim
9 Gim 9
10 Smith Grey
11 Sokoi Grey
12 Knoetze Grey
13 James Gim
14 Gertse Gim
15 Matthew Jacobs Gim
Renso du Plesiss – Loose forward
Sacha Mngomezulu – Flyhalf
Franco Knoetze – Wing or Fullback
Nico Steyn – No9
Sikholise Nanto – Hooker/loose forward
Henk Gouws – Lock/loose forward
…the spine of Glenwood, all in contention for higher honours. Ethan Biljoen bubbling under.
Other schools;
Heiko Pohlman (Monnas) – prop
Curwin Gertse (Gim) – wing
Connor Evans (Bishops) – lock
Josh Van Vredan (Selborne) – loose forward
Matthew Jacobs (Gim) – fullback
Tielman Niewoudt (Grey College) – prop
Herchelle Goodman (Monnas) – flyhalf
….
@Gatskop: nee wat hy 1ste keuse
194m 114kg
Luan van der Walt, the Monnas fullback is another player who is bound to up the excitement level.
@boerboel: Yeah Cameron Hanekom is definitely going to one to keep an eye on.
@boerboel: I think Coetzee will have a hard time to find a spot in the starting 15. There are a few big fellows.
Le Roux Coetzee 4
Cameron Hanekom 8
hjs
1 Joubert Schoeman ,Grey
2 Yanga Dinga Marlow
3 Cristof Du Rand Grey
U 16 Young Scheepers at Oakdale
Very well thought out.