2023 is proving to be the season of underachievement for Paarl Boys’ High School. It certainly has to rank as top achiever head coach Sean Erasmus’ worst season of his six in charge.
National powerhouse Boishaai slumped to their fifth defeat of the season on Saturday, going down to 22-26 to fellow Winelanders Boland Landbou. It was the Farmers first win since 2009 at Brugstaat, the home of the Blue Train.
Boishaai had a remarkable 11 players in the two Western Province Craven Week teams for 2023 with two further representatives at Academy Week. The next best school in the province in terms of Craven Week representatives was Paul Roos and Wynberg with six apiece. With that many top players in their team, it’s reasonable to expect Boishaai to be beating the likes of Boland Landbou by comfortable margins and close to the national number one ranking in 2023.
Instead the 2023 team has proven to be one that features prominently in the upset results of the season. It started with Durbanville (25-26) at the Porterville weekend right at the start of the season, then Oakdale (17-20) and now Boland Landbou. During May there was also a painful home defeat at the hands of Paul Roos (17-35).
Head coach Sean, an Escourt High School old boy, arrived at the Hoër Jongenskool in Paarl from Glenwood, with 2014 being his first season at the helm.
In that first season his team overachieved. They were close runners-up to Hamilton’s BHS from New Zealand in the SANIX (11-15) and also agonisingly close losers to their biggest rivals Paarl Gymnasium coached by the outstanding Christoff Lotter (15-16) in the Paarl Interskole derby and then in Die Burger final against Marlow in Cradock (10-11). A national ranking of 9th in what was anticipated to be a challenging season before it even kicked off, was a job reasonably well done in the end.
The next three seasons established Sean’s legacy as one of the all-time top schoolboy rugby coaches as Paarl Boys’ High produced character driven teams that refused to heed to anyone and built an unbeaten local streak that lasted 1344 days from the Marlow defeat in 2014 defeat until Grey College became the next local school to beat Boishaai in 2018.
2015, 2016 and 2017 were unbeaten local seasons with Boishaai topping the national rankings at the end of each year. More importantly they included three nail-biting Paarl Interskole titles as well, with the latter two becoming against iconic Bok wing Pieter Rossouw, who took over from Lotter ahead of the 2016 season and quickly set about proving that he too was one of the best rugby minds around. The Blue Train also had three highly cherished victories in a row against Grey College in those amazing seasons.
2018 didn’t come close to the highs of the preceding three years but it proved to be a decent season. The low point hurt through: a crushing 8-44 defeat to Winelands rivals Paul Roos, who would go on to challenge for the number one national ranking that year. Relations between the two schools would dip to a low during June 2018, when it was made known that Paul Roos and not Boishaai would host the second edition of the World Schools Festival. The festival had been the brainchild of Sean Erasmus with the inaugural event held at Brugstraat as part of the Paarl Boys’ High 150th celebration. A few local businesses loyal to Boishaai had bought in and invested a lot in its success.
Sean accepted a well-deserved professional rugby coaching post at the Lions and he left Paarl in the best possible way – a victory in the Paarl Interskole of 2018 – his fourth one in a row. He was replaced by Griquas smart and likeable head coach Peter Engledow, who signed a three year contract to take over at Brugstraat.
In 2022, Sean let Ellis Park and made a post-Covid return to Paarl. In the first proper season since 2019, Boishaai enjoyed a decent campaign overall. At times it felt like they could not get into the high gears and they suffered a home defeat to Rondebosch along the way, their first lost to the Southern Suburbers since 1997. After that they looked like a much better unit in terms of the brand of rugby they delivered, deserving more than the scoreboard offered them in a 12-21 defeat against Grey College in Bloemfontein as part of the upward trend.
Sean’s fifth Paarl Interskole title in succession made it 4-0 against Rossouw and meant the 2022 season got the stamp of approval from the Galpille community.
However the 2022 Paarl derby win celebrations didn’t cause a hangover or tone down the Blue Train’s quest to be the best. A weekend later, Boishaai lost by a single point to Outeniqua in George. The defeat was not taken well and seemed to sour relations between the schools, to the extent that an Outeniqua fixture was a no-go in 2023, in spite of it being the Kwaggas’ 100th birthday. Boishaai even held their own festival on the same day that Outeniqua hosted it’s 100th birthday rugby festival.
Now as Paarl Interskole for 2023 approaches, on the back of a season that promised more and with so many talented players at his disposal, the pressure on Sean to deliver a win must be greater than ever before during his time at the school.
On the other side of the Paarl fence, opposing coach Pieter who has enjoyed another outstanding season and could well have had three number one ranking national finishes leading into this one, had it not been for Covid, the pressure to break his duck against Sean and win his second Interskole title is massive. It is believed a defeat will cost him his job. This is what schoolboy rugby has come to.
@yesnomaybe: The issue is not around the players who received SA colours or their form. They actually performed very well throughout the season, hence why they were picked for higher honours. It is about the cohesion of certain plays during the games.Some basic errors at crucial times cost them matches. It is not something a coach can fix by just dropping players.
Baie,die meeste skole sal wat wil gee om hom as afrigter te hê.Sy geskiedenis by BH spreek vanself.Sy vorige stint was seker een,indien nie die suksesvolste in BH se geskiedenis asook SBR in general.
Een van n handjie vol wat 1000 dae onoorwonne is.Ek weet van die NZ span ek praat van local.Dink soos Djou se vat die hele prentjie in konteks.Hoe meet jy verder wat se invloed die besering aan Chris uitslae beinvloed het?
At this level you need to fire on all cylinders every Saturday playing top schools. If you have a kink in the armour it will get exploited and a team is only as strong as its weakest link. This year Boishaai might have some brilliant individuals, but there is one or two aspects of their play that is not going well and in my opinion the main cause for some of their losses. You can be the best coach in the world, focus on these weak points and try and improve every game, but if certain plays and basics are not executed correctly on game day by players, there is not much a coach can do about that.
@yesnomaybe: again, very good reasoning.
No one said anything about not being good. But I stand by my opinion he is VERY overrated. I know a few coaches.(personally)
Yes also dont forget that such high profile school coaches also have much more security at school level than provincial level, and also 4 paid holidays a year.
@Kaya 85:
As mentioned before no one is saying they not good coaches so dont know what the fuss is about, all Im saying is they might not be as good as some people make out. The demise at Glenwood wasn’t really to do with Sean leaving to go to HJS, it was (as rumour has it) that theie was a change in leadership ( a story for another day) & with it the new leadership decided to slash the rugby budget.
Why would these coaches go off to Provincial unions when they getting paid (I’ve heard from very reliable sources) loads of money which is more tha likely a lot more than majority of the provincial coaches. Also add in the fact that they can pick their best side week in & week out & not have to stress about the quota numbers, etc. Its a no brainer.
Just my opinion.
@kantako: Ja, ek kan self ander punte aanvoer, maar die punt wat ek probeer oorbring is vir ‘n coach om heeltyd goed te presteer moet iets anders ook gebeur afgesien van coaching.
Glo nie Menlo gaan vanjaar top 4 maak nie. Maar die laaste paar wedstryde gaan interessant wees met paar spanne wat baie beserings het en ander wat beseerdes terugkry.
@kantako: DIE Menlopark het geen kans,6 gespeel,6 verloor. 2 home games oor,beste kans vir ‘n wen is teen Marais,tensy hulle vir Monnas kan wen
Impressive coaching credentials…both Sean and Pieter…I think Dawie Theron and the principal are very happy with PR, except for the big derby…
Provincial unions, if they had any brains , would scoop up these coaches.
@Djou: ek kan n paar verskillende redenasies gee en n lekker debat met jou voer, maar ek sal liewer kies om te se dit is goeie leeststof en jy het ook geldige punte.
Wat is Die Menlo se kanse om n home semi aan te bied ? Ek sien hulle kap die veld al op.
@kantako: Wanneer jy enige coach oordeel moet jy sy hele loopbaan van die begin tot nou oordeel en alles wat daarmee saamgaan.
Bv., waarom behaal Dobson skielik sukses met die Stormers na ‘n groot gesukkel? Wat het verander?
Selfde met Sean, wat het by Glenwood verander vir hom om sukses te behaal? En wat het by Boishaai gebeur om van ‘n goeie span na topspan te verander? En wat het hy reggekry by die Leeus?
Kyk na Rassie – sy sukses by die Cheetahs! Hy kon nooit by die Stormers ‘n titel wen nie, maar hulle was deurentyd sterk en het die finaal gemaak. Hy was ook goed by Munster met min hulpbronne. En hy het die Bokke weer ‘n wenspan gemaak te midde van sterker mededinging.
Rugbyman sal vies wees vir my, maar kyk wat hy vermag het toe hy Centurion afgerig het – hulle was ‘n topspan in Noordvaal. Kyk wat van Centurion geword het toe hy weg is Garsies toe! Ek dink Centurion speel nou in die derde of vierde liga.
@Rugbyman: Ek stem saam jou, die kritiek is ongevraagd
@Rugbyman: ek verstaan jou redenasie ,maar stem nie saam nie…..skole rugby vandag is net so openbaar en groot soos Currie beker rugby ,met spelers en afrigters wat in die openbare sfeer beweeg ,hulle doen en late rondom rugby is inderdaad dan ook openbaar ….as dit by sy privaat huis besigheid kom Yes very private ,maar sy denke en optrede as afrigter …..not so much
@Rugbyman: is dit nie die opskrif van hierde blog nie ?
Moes ons net lees ?
Ok, ekt gelees. Dankie @beet , nice berig
My two cents worth…
I think you guys are out of line discussing a coach on the blog in terms of is he invested in a school or not, basically saying he is using it as a stepping stone. How do you know at all what his personal circumstances are and or his future plans or even what he agreed with the school? This is really none of your or my business. How would you feel if you were discussed like that surrounding your own job on a public forum. Really guys, I think it is hugely uncalled for. It is only schoolboy rugby, really this is uncalled for.
@Djou: overrated.
The elephant is still in the room.
Everyone seems scared to address it?
Yesnomaybe came close!
@yesnomaybe: I think all the coaches are heroes. There is no need to speculate on who got talent handed to them – all the top schools hunt talent. I would rather focus on coaches who work with talent handed to them from grade 8. That shows if they are invested in developing what they got at Grade8 intake. You would be surprised at how many of these boys are playing way above their ability due to 5 years of investment in coaching and playing.
@yesnomaybe: here’s where we disagree ,not one of the schools Boishaai, or any other top 10 school faces do not have almost the exact same recourses at their disposal….so they need a coach FULLY invested in the school…and I don’t think Sean is right now, he must be careful or he will get a trekvoel tag around his neck …
@yesnomaybe: 100% agree
Look at what happened at the Lions
Personally the heroes here are not the ones coaching Gimmies, HJS or Roos. The coaches/ DOR are getting paid a fortune with an abundance of talent at their disposal.The Old boys ensure that the admission turnstile keeps churning out young stars every single year. How difficult can it be when you have everything at your beck & call, all the assistants & consultants you can only dream about. The real heroes here are the coaches at the schools that have to play against them every single week with a smidgen of their budgets (rugby related) at their disposal, Those coaches are the real heroes. They the ones who have to fight to survive to stay competitive against these so called powerhouses of the game. They the ones that we need to promote & congratulate for the work they putting in. Sure the big boys have pressure but when you have that amount of talent at your disposal, I actually think they underachieve in general. Yes, they win the majority of their matches, but lets get real, no rocket science is required to win with all that talent at hand. Lets put Sean, Pieter & Corne at these so called other schools and see if they can turn them into world beaters. I can tell you now, that would never happen.
Wen interskole en als is weer fine. HJS onder presteer nog heel jaar.
@Smallies: jys 100% reg, hy is net gelukkig dat mr Ahlers hom oral inkry, hy kon maklik na die Circus by die Lions sonder n werk gesit het, net soos baie goeie skole en professionele afrigters daar buite.
@Smallies: hy is dalk terug by Boishaai maar ek dink diep diep in sy hart sien hy homself nie meer as n skole afrigter nie ….sodra die regte geleentheid homself voordoen is hy weg….die is n halwegstasie vir hom,en diep in sy binneste weet hy dit ook
So hier is my R 1,75 ….as jy aan beweeg het ,het jy aan beweeg …..