25 Feb 2023. Visiting Trio, the Kroonstad school formed by the amalgamation of the AHS Kroonstad (Rooiskool) and Kroonstad HS (Blou Skool) a few years ago, gave a Grey College XV a good preseason run at President Steyn festival in Bloemfontein, going down 38-10 in the end.
Although Trio lost the match to the national powerhouse, they produced enough to suggest that in their local league their pack is going to take some stopping this season and if they secure front-foot ball, there is going to be a lot of energy point-scoring coming from their backline. Centre Charlton Basson and fullback Jaco Steyn look like two players who will pose a huge threat if they are fed quality ball.
The Trio 1st XV is coached by a Quintin Geldenhuys, a Saffa who represented Italy as a lock at international level.
For Grey College, it proved to be a lacklustre performance. Missing several first choice players didn’t assist. Grey were always in control though. They dominated facets, looking particularly good at the breakdown where they won numerous turnovers and had more expansive flair than they were able to conjure up on the narrow field in Thailand during December 2022. However as the match went on, Grey’s passing cohesion and accuracy seemed to let them down, turning it into a somewhat uncharacteristic performance, especially in the second half. Tighthead prop Jean Erasmus is an yster who looks set to be rated amongst the very best players in the country this year, while fullback Vincent Wolhuter was perhaps the surprise package, using his agility on the counter-attack to rake up the metres gained.
Trio starts 2023 as the defending Kovsie Liga champs but the big news is that they will participate in the expanded Wesgrow Sentrale Skole Sportsreeks for the first time in 2023, after being voted in to replace Kimberley’s Noord-Kaap in the multi-sport Co-Ed school event.
The Wesgrow format has changed from a two-group round robin leading to semifinals and a final, to a league structure where each of the eight schools plays the other and the top school being declared the winners.
Wesgrow fixtures for 2023:
| DATE | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat.11Mar | Jim Fouche | – | – | Goudveld | |
| Sat.11Mar | Sentraal | – | – | Witteberg | |
| Sat.18Mar | Jim Fouche | – | – | Voortrekker (Beth) | |
| Sat.18Mar | Goudveld | – | – | Sentraal | |
| Sat.18Mar | Trio | – | – | Fichardtpark | |
| Sat.15Apr | Voortrekker (Beth) | – | – | Trio | |
| Sat.15Apr | Jim Fouche | – | – | Fichardtpark | |
| Sat.15Apr | Goudveld | – | – | Witteberg | |
| Sat.22Apr | Diamantveld | – | – | Sentraal | |
| Sat.06May | Sentraal | – | – | Fichardtpark | |
| Sat.06May | Trio | – | – | Goudveld | |
| Sat.13May | Witteberg | – | – | Voortrekker (Beth) | |
| Sat.13May | Jim Fouche | – | – | Sentraal | |
| Sat.20May | Diamantveld | – | – | Jim Fouche | |
| Sat.20May | Trio | – | – | Witteberg | |
| Tue.23May | Diamantveld | – | – | Trio | |
| Fri.26May | Fichardtpark | – | – | Voortrekker (Beth) | |
| Sat.22Jul | Voortrekker (Beth) | – | – | Diamantveld | |
| Sat.22Jul | Fichardtpark | – | – | Goudveld | |
| Sat.22Jul | Sentraal | – | – | Trio | |
| Sat.29Jul | Sentraal | – | – | Voortrekker (Beth) | |
| Sat.29Jul | Witteberg | – | – | Fichardtpark | |
| Sat.29Jul | Trio | – | – | Jim Fouche |
Firstly all the best for 2023 guys! I hope it is a fantastic year for all of you on, next to or away from the field.
Grey had a pretty good start to their season especially considering they had a few players or athletes missing.
The one result that does worry me or should I say…the one result that would worry me if I was a Grey supporter would be the narrow win of 18 or 19-11 for the U14 group. Yes it could certainly be that Trio has a strong U14 group this year or that Grey’s U14 group is weaker than normally the case. Chances are strong that it’s the latter hence the reason for concern.
We will know for sure on the 11th of March when Monnas travels to Kroonstad for their friendly against Trio. From what I hear Monnas will again have a strong U14 group. The 2022 U14 group ended 4th, 5th or 6th in the country depending on which ranking system was used. They had a disappointing end to their season. They lost their way a bit in their last 5 games. I am sure they would want to fix those mistakes in 2023. And the U14 group of 2023 looks to equal if not better that ranking.
The U16 group of Monnas is the one age group that would be a worry for 2023. They were the only Monnas team that did not qualify for the Noordvaal play offs in 2022. Let’s hope Monnas can get that sorted in 2023.
In the 1st team for Monnas there will be many stand out players this year. To mention a few…The one lock, both flanks, scrumhalf, flyhalf combination, one centre and the fullback. There are other players that could also stick up their hands as their is enormous talent across the board. Monnas should again have a very strong first team. The one thing that they will have to do better than last year is travel or play more consistently away from home. Monnas away from home in 2022 was up and down. One good game one bad, up and down. At home they were consistently good.
Looking forward to a fantastic 2023 season of all teams countrywide and all age groups!