Boland Landbou have continued with full 70-minute matches for the main games at their annual early season festival, while all the other matches will be 20-minute per half preseason warmup hit outs for a good number of local WP and Boland region schools.
Head coach and old boy Divan Batt will see his Stellenberg side, possibly the most experienced in the Top 40 this year coming up against the Worcester Donkeys, HTS Drostdy, who will have seasoned Hans Coetzee heading up rugby operations for the first time.
In the main game, another old boy head coach in the form of relative newcomer to the position, Philip Molnar will direct Boland Landbou in what is expected to be a really tough encounter against the Outeniqua Kwaggas who are expected to have another meaty pack and a bit of flash amongst the backs. The school from George is coached by yet another old boy in the form of Abrie Minnie and amongst his assistants is SWD Craven Week head coach Jaco Jansen van Rensburg. The Kwaggas have an eye on their 100th birthday in 2023, so with their bench, they have no fewer than 11 players who will return next year (5-6 starting vs reserves split).
@Die Ken: If I can’t thank you for anything else this season, you at the very least deserve credit for defining where the border between Noord and Suid lies
Perhaps it should be called the SNemsiphere.
Talking to the insiders on the WC and NV sides of the SNemisphere, the NV with perhaps the exception of Kloof are much happier with their preseason and build-up to Noord-Suid this year.
@beet: I am not so sure if the North teams learnt from 2021 lessons (playing the Southern teams). According to my calcs, most teams, on both sides of the “hemisphere” – which is Beaufort-West, I guess
will only have played 1 or 2 games when entering NS? I also think that the North teams would make a big mistake if they pinned “undercooked” on their 2021 performance, they were outplayed, and out-tought…big difference
@Wonder: I think Boishaai are going to have legitimate claims the “undercooked” title heading into Pretoria for Noord-Suid. They are the only team that planned to have a competitive game (at Porterville yesterday) which would have formed an important part of their preparations and which was cancelled through no fault of their own. So far all the other schools’ match arrangements have fallen into place as planned.
@beet: I agree with above,my concern is that Garsies will play their first official game this year against Drostdy,under cooked,I think.
@Arend: 100%. I have been to live SBR two weekends in a row now after two years. I am grateful as always to the likes of DigiTV and SuperSport Schools for their successful productions from around the country, which allowed me to watch matches in Bethlehem, Kimberley and the Windmeul area of Paarl this weekend but nothing beats the depth perception, the crowd excitement, the fresh air and many other pluses of being near the field side.
@Wonder: Yes it was by far the better game of the two main matches of the Boland Rugby Day. I agree about the Drostdy pack. They were big there were signs that they will improve. The no.7 really stood out for his carrying ability. I thought their 10 was also up to the challenge and if he is u18 still will surely move onto the SAS radar. I wasn’t totally convinced about their backline beyond the strong running 12 though. I know the wind was a factor that impeded the quality of play in the afternoon, more so in the final game, which was far from a spectacle. For me the jury is still out on the HTSD backline. All-in-all I thought the Stellies backs were more effective. I think a combo of the Donkeys pack and the Stellies backline would have been ideal.
Without seeing what the Bere have to offer yet, its hard to make the comparison. I do however think the leading teams from the North have done their homework for this year’s NS. I think we will see more backline flair and they will be sharper at closing down Western Cape opponents backline space.
So I like what I’ve seen from the Donkeys so far, but I’m not putting any money on them to beat Garsies just yet.
@beet: Hi Beet, thans for the link. Just watched Stellies vs Drostdy. Drostdy has a massive pack and good backline. I thought it was a good game. Garsies is in for a hard game against Drosdy at Noord-Suid.
Wetter dit is darem lekker om weer skolerugby te kan kyk. Vandag was ‘n fees, ek kom agter dat daar orals in SA opwinding is. Lekker 🤤
Matches will be on SuperSport Schools today
https://youtu.be/VAyA2cbe6yE