There may have been one or two reservations about Grey College before the season started. A question-mark about their X-factor ability along with their ability to work the spaces out wide, were up for discussion. But now after a few weeks of the regular season, its becoming very clear that this Grey team currently appears to be in a league of their own when compared rival schools competing in that same space for a national top 10 finish.
Head Coach Jannie Geldenhuys humbly praises all the coaches in his system and plays down the part he plays, but there is little doubt that he has stamped his own playing style on Grey first team rugby ever since he took over. Grey plays an impressive forwards dominant game. Unmatchable at the moment. The “All-for-one, One-for-all” musketeers take charge of situations up front using their size, physicality, urgency and rugby intelligence. They boss situations. They create ideal platforms for their backs.
Two forwards have SA Schools written all over them – tighthead prop Jean Erasmus and no.8 and captain JJ Theron. A number of others in the pack will present tough, tough decisions to the Free State Craven Week selectors as step one in the process of gaining the opportunity to be picked for SA Schools.
In the backline, no one is comparing the boys to any of the greats who wore the same navy jersey numbers in recent years. However as a sum of the parts, the backs are doing outstanding work on attack and now more than ever as a consideration in schoolboy rugby, they are hostile on defence as well. Good examples: Flyhalf Ian van der Merwe, is not Johan Goosen, yet he has proven to be a five-star, general with his prodigious left boot. He is exactly the type of player pro rugby scouts are after. Wing Martin Botha is hardly likely to be compared to the iconic beefy Marcel Muller, but what Martin does with ball-in-hand and by having the strength to stay on his feet effectively is high on the rugby IQ charts. Even though Vincent Wolhuter is not EW Viljoen, he is a weapon of mass destruction from the back and has counter-attacking DNA in his veins. As mentioned all these youngsters are exceeding expectations on attack while remaining fully aware of their defensive duties and their cohesion in execution is fantastic to watch.
Under Old Grey Coach Jannie’s tenure, which started during Covid after his brilliant predecessor Wessel du Plessis moved up to join the Bulls in 2020 (where he has enjoyed immediate success) , Paarl Gim has proven to be his achilles. Gim under the all old boy duo of top notch Pieter Rossouw and highly rated assistant Helmut Lehmann, engineered defeats in 2021 and 2022, in true absorbing memorable “test matches”. The final scores being nailbiting 16-18 and 17-22 respectively.
So in 2023, for Grey to produce a comprehensive 33-12 against their most difficult rivals in recent years speaks volumes, especially since Gim are a team rated to do well this season.
There is a long way to go, but the Grey barometer of unbeaten excellence is shining favourably on a team that are now trending as a surprise package of 2023.
As jy ‘n skool wil wen, is dit Grey! Geluk, Grey College. Julle lig die platvorm.👏👏👏👏👏
@Jakkals: ek ken hom nie persoonlik nie ,maar ek weet hy is al n rukkie by die skool ,hy is koshuisvader van Murry huis en het vroer die O16 A span baie suksesvol afgerig ,hy het ook n paar Grant Khomo tietels in gepalm saam met die Vrystaat O16 span,ek het die idee gekry dat hy nogals gewild is onder die seuns ,en die feit dat hy koshuivader is se vir my dat hy nogals geinvest is by die skool,ek dink hy was nog tot hy first team coach geword het fulltime onnie ook….
@Smallies: what can you tell us about coach Jannie and his vision for Grey? The one thing I can see different ia there is a real venom and relishing in defence…Grey always defended well but prefered attacking…this team is vicious on defence and seem to enjoy crushing opposition ribs
They are looking good ,I do think that Outiniqua, Affies and Boishaai will test them…especially Boishaai and Kwaggas away from home…as for coach Jannie I have the feeling that he might turn into a Dries Van Der Waal type coach at Grey….I think he will be at the first team for a while.