One of the noticeable features of Paul Roos rugby has been the chopping and changing of the head coach over the last decade and a bit. While just about all the other Western Province Premier League schools have had a high level of stability in their 1st XV coaching structures, every few years there is a new face in charge of proceedings on the side of Markotter field.
Corne Uys signed up for the start of the 2022 campaign, looked like another who would come and go after a short stint in charge.
However after Saturday’s emphatic 35-17 victory over Boishaai on Brugstaat in Paarl, and with the huge promise that his u19A team is showing, surely surely he is knocking hard on the door to be the first head coach in a long while to have an extended stay (this if he has not already been awarded a new contract beyond the one believed to expire in 2024).
Saturday’s big Winelands matchup pitted the underachievers against the overachievers of 2023.
On paper the Paarl Boys’ High XV of 2023 looked impressive and still do. They are ranked very high nationally. Yet on the field it hasn’t been plain sailing. Instead it has been a bit of a yo-yo season. Yes injuries and the congested extremely difficult fixture list which saw Boishaai take to the field for a fifteenth time in 2023 versus Paul Roos’ tenth game. So which HJS team is going to pitch up? Clearly the wrong one for this Paul Roos match.
Paul Roos on the other hand were expected to be the team in the pipeline. Improve as the season went on, with 2024 being the year to remember. However they are arriving a lot quicker than most thought. Saturday away on Brugstraat in what most people predicted would be a tight encounter, turned out to be the coming of age of the Maroon Machine. Anyone who was talking Outeniqua or Garsfontein as the 1st XV in the mix, as the two who would join the bar-setters of the past few years, namely Gim and Grey; well now there is no choice but to include Paul Roos in the conversation.
It was total domination up front that paved the way for a convincing victory. Roos seem to do more damage to Boishaai on the scruffy looking Brugstaat surface, than unbeaten mighty Grey College did a fortnight before on the same field.
So over to the head coach. Corne Uys’ best moments in 2022 seemed to come when a certain Mr Jurenzo Julius was doing something off the charts to influence the outcome of key games. Uys also achieved the rare feat of beating Grey College in the high profile season ending home match, but again this was a Grey team without seven very influential SA Schools players. Now fast forward to 2023 and the questions about coaching pedigree are being answered. Its now very evident that the talent is being developed a good cohesive unit where teamwork and good execution are driving Paul Roos to a potential Top 3 national finish in 2023.
@PRondersteuner: Verstaan hy was n baie goeie onderwyser, seker die dat Jannie hom wou daar inspan.
@Deon: Frans Malherbe is ook van Bredasdorp. Blykbaar het BDs n goeie span die jaar.
@OomPB: Hein was 2 jaar by Pumas en toe het hy bietjie rondgeswerf. Hy was tot in Tjseggië. Was 2 jaar by Maritzburg College en verlede jaar Natal skole coach. Nou by SAS. Hy wou onderwys los en net coach, maar Jannie vd W wou nie dit hê nie. Hy het ‘n beleid gehad van alle coaches moet onderwysers wees.
@OomPB: Oom Sumarius Uys se klong of broerskind. Betonwerke en Dirk Uyskraal ? Bly om te sien die Zoetendalsvlei loop vol.
@beet: Cheers. Ja he is an excellent person. So his Pumas stunt didn’t last long.
Corne is from my neighbour Bredasdorp. Long may he stay with PRG.
Just my opinion but when things are on the up and a school is going well or improving, the headmaster deserves some accolades especially since he’s often one of the first to feel the pressure when things are not going according to plan.
@OomPB: He is working as a coach at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
He was director of rugby at Maritzburg College before that.
Good coach and a very nice guy
@PRondersteuner: wonder wat van Kriek geword het.
@Rainier: PRG se 2018 span was een van die bestes. Jy het nie ‘n goeie coach nodig gehad met hulle nie. Ongelooflik baie talent in daardie span. Maar soos @OomPB: sê, PRG was ‘n 1ste span skool. Vanaf 2022 is dit baie anders. Selfs in 2018 het omtrent al die ander spanne verloor. 2019 kon PRG net 1 wedstryd wen teen Grey, Boishaai en Gim. Corne Uys maak ‘n groot verskil. Nie net met die seuns nie, maar die met al die afrigters (selfs c to f spanne). Ek hoop net hy kan lank bly, want in my beskeie opinie het Jannie vd W ‘n groot fout gemaak om Hein Kriek te laat gaan.
@Grizzly: Maybe, but the PRG margins of victory in 2018 were even wider. Indeed, GCB only beat Selborne by 17 to 8 in 2019…and according to my mate, GCB was very lucky to win that game. I’m not convinced that my mate is correct though, as the game was held in EL and he is a Selborne OB!
@Vleis: Howzit Vleis,that team imo not close to Grey 19 team.Which imo was one of the all time best in recent history.
Had they played with their starting 15 the whole games instead of bringing on the bench half time,the results could have looked even worse for the teams they played.
@OomPB: Dan maak die gesprek meer sin.
@Snelvuur: Skies, vinger fout. Het 2018 bedoel.
@Rainier: 2019 was a pretty poor year. We generally measure a PRG on how they performed in the big games. In that year, they were hammered by Gim and Grey College and also lost convincingly against Paarl Boys. Won a close game against Grey PE.
Lost two out of three games in 2021 (against Gim and Bishops).
Certainly 2019 was not as bad as other PRG seasons in recent years, but that in and of itself does not make it a good season.
2018 was a pretty good team though!
@Rainier: Jy kyk net na die 1st team en nie die totale rugby spanne nie. Voor Corne oorgeneem het was PRG net n 1st team span veral teen die top spanne.
@Rainier: That 2018 team was arguably the best SBR team of the last decade. They absolutely hammered every single school…apart from their last game, which they lost narrowly away to GCB minus some four or five SA schools players. Of course, GCB were also missing their SA schools players…so it’s a great shame that that game was not played on a strength v strength basis.
@Snelvuur: 2de in 2019. A pretty poor year?
Miskien is my kop net te plat. Op BHP se ranglys was PRG Nr 2 in 2018. Wie verdien dan die krediet daarvoor? 2019 was swakker, maar PRG het oor die vorige 10 jaar baie slegter jare gehad. En 2022 was swakker as 2020. Ek is seker hy is ‘n baie goeie coach, maar dis nie asof PRG ‘n sinkende skip was in die verlede nie.
SAS speel ook n groot rol in PRG se hokkie. By verre die fikste span in SA.
Corne het verseker PRG se rugby omgedraai. Die proof is in die poeding.
Corne Uys brought a lot of coaching experience to PRG rugby. He was at SAS for quite a while. He worked with u14, 15 and 16 coaches a lot last year. The u15a coach was a 1st team coach at his previous school. The u16a coach was a 1st team coach at PRG before. They all work very hard. The lower teams as well. Corne spends a lot of time with u19 b, c and d teams as well.
@beet: not sure that Andre vS is the big difference maker. He has been there since 2017 and oversaw a number of pretty poor years until Corné Uys came along.
I have a lot of admiration for Jannie vdW – he was a truly exceptional rector. I loved his policy of not shopping for players, and I know that he tried to do a lot to combat the practice in general. I wish other schools were more keen to buy into the idea.
@Snelvuur: How much rugby credit do you offer to headmaster Andre vS here? He sets the overall policy.
Former rector Jannie was a man of principle. Old school and took a lot of pride that PRG were a top rugby school and were not in the business of sponsoring rugby bursaries just financial assistance. Many translated this as one in the same but there was a fundamental difference.
His influence on the whole rugby programme should also not be understated. Winning 19 and drawing 1 out of 27 games against Paarl Boys in Paarl is outstanding. I would be surprised if anyone has had a better return at Brug Street in recent years.