The preseason has finally ended for two of the highly rated 1st XV’s heading into 2024. EG Jansen of Boksburg and Oakdale from Riversdale, Western Cape will get their respective 2024 regular seasons underway on Saturday, 09 March in two very different parts of the country.
Instead of having a crammed first term preseason with trials in a sped up process to try tick all the boxes and select starting XV’s ahead of the big date, a shared adventure of a different kind had put both schools in a prime position to hit the ground running.
The two schools toured Thailand during December 2023 where their Stayers for 2024 (u17 age-limit) took part in a tournament that included leading schools from England, Ireland, New Zealand and Wales.
There were obvious benefits for the players and coaches alike.
First prize was that the tour was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved.
Although neither Saffa team got to contest the final, the report back was that they were extremely proud of the form, the character displayed and growth seen in their u17 squads who had to play against what were essentially u19 age-limit opponents.
An obvious plus was being able to test their boys in this very competitive environment long before the South African season started. The three tour matches apiece proved to be a good platform to build on, video material the coaching staff often has to wait until after the first internal trials or external chukka matches to get their hands on and analyse before implementing improvement programmes.
South Africa is blessed with having top-rated schoolboy rugby coaches, many of whom have or would easily slot in and do a first class job in pro level. EG Jansen and Oakdale’s respective seasoned rugby gurus Rudi Dames, Regardt Botha and Malan du Plessis have already accumulated a wealth of coaching knowledge along their journeys. Nevertheless it was refreshing to hear the humility and willingness to still acquire valued intel. The interactions the coaches enjoyed with their counterparts from other parts of the world is rated amongst the big advantages of the December tour.
Exposure to the playing styles adopted by the Irish school St Michael’s and the New Zealanders Westlake was invaluable.
Both sets of SA coaches had a lot of praise for St Michael’s, feeling that the successful Irish systems and structured play was alive and well in this school team’s execution on attack and defence. There was sophistication about their backline play.
The Westlake boys relied on X-factor backs wearing jumper numbers 13 and 15. Using these assets to the maximum of their potentials was relevant as they went on to beat St Michael’s in the final. The New Zealand way of counter-attacking with tempo, timing the run onto the pass, looking for the offload in the tackle and having a natural yet coached up feel for space all shone through.
As expected on tour the Saffa teams had plenty of heart, were hard as nails on defence and comfortable up front but their backline play although attractive in plays, was where there was so much room to grow and learn. December rugby was ideal as its given both schools adequate time to work on this aspect of their play.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Grey College enjoyed a similar worthy experience and the head-start helped them find their early season form quickly.
EG Jansen kicks off at an improving Kempton Park, while Oakdale are in action against Ligbron (Ermelo) at the Outeniqua 101 Festival in George.
| TEAM | EG JANSEN | |
| 1 | Zian Marais | |
| 2 | Danre Pike | |
| 3 | Duwan Potgieter | |
| 4 | Gerhard Van Aswegen | |
| 5 | Zandre Naude | |
| 6 | Zaide-Lee Rippenaar | |
| 7 | Divan Francis | |
| 8 | Storm Labuschagne | |
| 9 | Riekus Van Der Merwe | |
| 10 | Matt Bergman | |
| 11 | Keanu Van Loggenrenberg | |
| 12 | Steven Williams | |
| 13 | Juandre Jacobs | |
| 14 | Jean-Dre Claassen | |
| 15 | R-Jay Petersen | |
| Coach | REGARDT BOTHA | |
| TEAM | OAKDALE | |
| 1 | Kai Pratt | u17 |
| 2 | Gustav Van Der Merwe | u18 |
| 3 | Tiaan Turck | u18 |
| 4 | Ruan Swart | u17 |
| 5 | Roy Viljoen | u18 |
| 6 | Zack Wessels | u18 |
| 7 | Bernard Erasmus | u17 |
| 8 | Lohan Gerber | u17 |
| 9 | Dewalt Jonck | u18 |
| 10 | Warren Labuschagne | u17 |
| 11 | Lee-Winn Pretorius | u17 |
| 12 | Christian Vorster | u17 |
| 13 | Kurt Coetzee | u18 |
| 14 | Duraan Janse Van Rensburg | u18 |
| 15 | Waylon Kortjie | u17 |
| 16 | Sine Mdlankomo | u17 |
| 17 | Malan Van Der Merwe | u17 |
| 18 | Sieg Stander | u18 |
| 19 | Liam Lightley | u17 |
| 20 | Anrich Scheffer | u17 |
| 21 | Jannes Snyman | u17 |
| 22 | Jandrian Goosen | u17 |
| 23 | Ct Vosloo | u17 |
| Coach | MALAN DU PLESSIS |
GCB had a similar advantage last year.
@jakes (Comment #5)
Wow…a professional performance. They have an exceptional program going at Jansen.
@Kantman (Comment #4)
They look good so early in the season but the season is long. Lets hope injuries stay away as they do not have so much debt as some of the much bigger schools.
@jakes (Comment #3)
EG Jansen kan baie goed doen hierdie jaar en ek verwag ‘n paar verrassings deur hulle.
This pre season international competition in 2023 really had a huge impact on the 2024 season. EGJansen gave a helpless Kempton Park a hiding today in the 1st game of the season. 85-3. Yet at all the other games between EGJ and Kempies were very tight today. Kempies under 14A and under 16A teams had good wins and their future looks good. Although EGJansen 1st team coaching is world class and makes a big difference
@beet (Comment #1)
Thanks for very insightful article Beet!
Just an update on Oakdale yster no.8 Erick Steyn. He is out injured but will be back for Noord-Suid