- Simon Vickers. It feels like part of the furniture was removed from the Hugh Reece-Edwards Field now that the familar passionate personality will no longer patrol the sidelines as the Northwood conditioning coach. Simon, a Northwood old boy, one of the top S&C coaches in the country and part owner of the Fitness Factory Gym at the school, assumed numerous rugby roles over the years including Head of Rugby and Assistant to legendary Barry Wilson at 1st XV level. He lived through the lows and got to be a vital part of Northwood’s climb in KZN rugby. Climbing has become a huge part of Simon’s life. He has climbed part of Everest. In mid 2022 he set up shop in Underberg, to be closer to the Drakensberg mountain range where he has more climbing options. He will be sorely missed by the Knights, and the Northwood community.
- Barend Steyn. A bit sad Barend, who was appointed head coach in 2001 and has headed up Kearsney rugby ever since, did not stay on in the job until retirement to add to his legacy. U16A coach Niel van Heerden, who is also a teacher at the private, takes over. Barend will still be hands on as Head of Rugby.
- Elwyn van den Aardweg, the outstanding Kearsney headmaster stepped down after 22 years at the helm. Too many achievements and success stories to mention during that time in charge. Interestingly in the college’s little over 100 years of existence, he was just the seventh headmaster.
Kearsney Headmasters:
Pyne Mercier (1921–1922)
H. Matterson (1923–1946)
G. Osler (1947–1964)
H. Hopkins (1965–1974)
W. Silcock (1975–1990)
J. Roberts (1991–2000)
D. van den Aardweg (2001 -2022)
Alwyn’s replacement is Patrick Lees, a Michaelhouse old boy, who was an accomplished all-round sportsman back in his day. He kept Dale Benkenstein out of the 10-jumper in 1990 and played alongside the Protea as well as Lloyd Ferreira and Craig Sudgen. - Dr Andri Barnes took over as Glenwood head in 2017, during a difficult period for the school. She became the first lady to head up a big traditional boys school in South Africa. Her replacement is the likeable and passionate Pierre Jacobs, a Grey High alumni who amongst his many achievements has been the Queen’s College 1st XV rugby head coach. A few other Queens affiliates have joined Glenwood as well – John Duncan, another former 1st XV Head Coach and 1st XV loose-forward stalwart Justin Hollis.
- Hein Kriek, the Maritzburg College Director of Rugby, left for the Stellenbosch Academy of Sports, after a short stay in Sleepy Hollow. His replacement is experienced Hendre Marnitz, who joined from Garsfontein, where he was Director of Rugby.
- Ivan Jooste, the Westville Director of Rugby, moved to the Western Cape, where he teamed up with a former Sevens teammate Peter Schutte and now assists to coach the Durbanville u19A. Ivan is replacement is former Sharks player Dusty Noble, who was Head of Sport at Hillcrest High School for nine years.
- Jono Piek, old boy and rugby recruiter / rugby coach at Glenwood, left to work in the business sector. His role of recruiter went to Grey High/Kingswood old boy JP Jamieson, while in the coaching department Glenwood landed a quality acquisition in the form of old boy Torsten Sorensen, who amongst his previous assignments has been Head Coach of Northwood firsts and Assistant Coach of Westville firsts. He joins from DHS where he was u16A Head Coach.
- Grant Ball, who is the son of well-respected former SACS headmaster Kenny Ball, vacated the position of Michaelhouse Head Coach and will coach u14A in 2023. James Fleming, who heads up rugby at House, returns the volatile post of Head Coach. There has not been much stability in this key position at House for the best part of a decade now.
- Petrus du Plessis, the St Charles Rugby Specialist and Head Coach quit last year to pursue a more stable career in the business sector. He was effectively replaced by Jose dos Santos of Glenwood (Head Coach) while existing staff member Mzi Nyathi assumed the post of Rugby Specialist.
- Zander Erasmus moved down 1st XV Assistant Coach to u16A Head Coach. WOB Monde Hadebe, a former Sharks hooker, steps into the 1st XV berth.
- Drikus Hoffman, the Maritzburg College 1st XV Assistant Coach from 2022, is now assisting former MCOB Goi le Roux with the Paul Roos u14A. In steps another MCOB Kelvin Elder, to assist the 1st XV.
- Brendan Gittins. After 17-years at Jeppe, Brendan resigned as Head of Rugby and u16A coach to take up the deputy rector’s role at Michaelhouse, where he has proven to be a popular choice. Appointed as u14B coach for 2023 because of his admin work commitments but what an asset to have as a B-team coach.
@Henkies: From checking names on programme with last year I see a few are in the 1st team. The 2 wings, the one lock and a prop. They all looked good despite the loss and few opportunities. The rest of the team is all in 2nd team and they lost a close one 11:8 I think, so will be interesting to watch them this season. Perhaps if the 10 had functioned better to be honest there would be have been better continuity. He also got charged down and had a kick off that didn’t go 10. It was so tough, shame man. I hope he settles before Westville this weekend!
@Jakkals I believe so.
That must have been a tough watch @Skywalker. Could be a case of things just not yet gelling in the first game of the season. Northwood had a strong u16A team last season – do you know if some of them made it into the 1st side?
@Skywalker: disappointing….is Jeremy and Jacques still in charge there?
The Northwood Hilton game was a let down. I did not expect NW to win but they were so poor. Hilton were not special. They are not as good as last year of course but still very clinical as always. They give very little. NW on the other hand gave so many opportunities to them. The Flyhalf had a nightmare. Shame I felt for him actually. Not a single thing went right. Missed 2 simple conversions, kicked to out on the full, knocked on in his 22. I hope he can improve because there looked to be some dangerous runners at wing and fullback and they never got a chance to do anything. The 13 who went off on a stretcher is a key player I hear and unf. it looked serious. He had 2 incisive runs and he will be missed! They had a lock also go off with a head clash. The captain and the no. 5 battled hard and there were some scrum penalties but really no fluidity or moves or anything. Another long season I fear. The U15 age group did well but the u16As lost badly. Frustrating.
@Henkies: Agreed. Dusty earned his stripes at Tier 2 level and deserves a shot at Tier 1. James Flemming has a good Rugby mind and will do well with House 1sts. Double win over Hilton this year….interesting switch with Xander and Monde…
Lots of movement in KZN when you list it all out like that Beet. Sorry to be losing Torsten. He did amazing things for DHS u16A. Good on Dusty for his move to Westville.