Outeniqua hosts Boland Landbou at the Tommie Smook Stadium in George on Saturday 16 March 2024.
Ploegskaar and a number of other die-hard Boland Landbou supporters will be getting up extra early on Saturday morning and making the 400km and back day trip from Paarl to George to support their boys. Since most BL supporters will probably stay over in booked accommodation nearer the venue for a day or two, one really has to admire the passion that drives Ploegie and others like him who compact everything into one heck of a loooong day.
This game has been termed the battle of the bulk as there will be 16 very well fed boys contesting the setpieces and broken play up front. It promises to be a massive contest in the packs. The farmers have a young frontrow which might be telling in the Kwaggas favour in this department. In the second row duel between hardworking Kwagga Michael Cronje and tall hot prospect, scout’s wishlist topper Ruan Viviers should be epic. In a losing cause to Noordheuwel last weekend, Kwaggas no.8 Garth Maree was phenomenal. Meanwhile Aldo Bindemann is a key change made to the visitors pack and he should be a pleasure to watch.
If the big forwards cancel each other out, perhaps it will come down to the ability of the backs ultimately decide the match. Here is looks like Outeniqua are still trying to find their best combos while BL are settled. The home team’s muscular inside centre Luca Potgieter is a gainline bully who can set up frontfoot ball phase play but in the Farmer’s little magician at flyhalf, Retagan van Rooi, the creative abilities may see the Winelands team holding a slight advantage when it comes to diverse attacking ability.
In the head coaching department, the two could not be more polarised in terms of time in the position. Abrie Minnie is a veteran coach who has been there and done that with the Kwaggas, while S&C specialist, Johan van Rooyen is brand new to the BL role.
The last time these two teams met was in Agter Paarl in March 2022 where the Kwaggas won 18-15.
| TEAM | OUTENIQUA | TEAM | BOLAND LANDBOU | |||
| 1 | Deven Kleingeld | u18 | 1 | Henry Rudder | u17 | |
| 2 | Ruan van Rensburg | u18 | 2 | Heinrich Bezuidenhout | u17 | |
| 3 | Juan Kleinhans | u18 | 3 | Derico Mesina | u17 | |
| 4 | Ruben Rossouw | u18 | 4 | Kody Nel | u17 | |
| 5 | Michael Cronje | u19 | 5 | Ruan Viviers | u18 | |
| 6 | Nicolas Duvenage | u18 | 6 | Hans Verster | u18 | |
| 7 | Ruart Curlewis | u18 | 7 | Karst Smuts | u19 | |
| 8 | Gareth Maree | u18 | 8 | Alco Bindemann | u18 | |
| 9 | Ellie Meyer | u18 | 9 | Jayden Brits | u17 | |
| 10 | Andrew Stopforth | u18 | 10 | Retagan van Rooy | u18 | |
| 11 | Xavier Salmons | u19 | 11 | Enslin Claasen | u19 | |
| 12 | Luca Potgieter | u18 | 12 | Juan Swart | u18 | |
| 13 | Curwinn Scott | u18 | 13 | Xavier Vorster | u18 | |
| 14 | Reshaan Damans | u17 | 14 | Wehan Lume | u18 | |
| 15 | Keenan Jantjies | u18 | 15 | Lyle Lewis | u18 | |
| 16 | 16 | Derik du Preez | ||||
| 17 | 17 | Tihaan van Zyl | ||||
| 18 | 18 | Divan Grobbelaar | ||||
| 19 | 19 | Chad Meintjies | ||||
| 20 | 20 | Blake de Kock | ||||
| 21 | 21 | Pieter Bergh | ||||
| 22 | 22 | Sydney Blaauw | ||||
| Coach | ABRIE MINNIE | Coach | JOHAN VAN ROOYEN |
Baie geluk BL. Julle was die beter span. Daar lê ‘n lang seisoen vir die Kwaggas voor. Dan nie eers te praat van die volgende twee jaar na die een. Tyd sal leer.
Weather conditions were difficult at times but it seemed like BL had more to work with when the backs got the ball. The two BL wings need more ball. Lume looks like a good player and Enslin helped set up the opening try and possibly could have been have been used better when BL were close to the Kwaggas line.
Van Rooi proved to be the Jekyll and Hyde player on the day. Showed he could take control of the game and do good things but also showed that he needs to maintain concentration and realise the amount of time he has to get a punt away without being charged down
@Kantman (Comment #3)
Altyd dankbaar vir ‘n wen, altyd moeilik in George soos jy sê, maar glo ‘n video sessie die week sal uitwys dat Landbou kon wegtrek vroeg in die 2de helfte en die een met 2+ scores kon wen. Pak was goed vandag in los en vaste los, set-piece beter en glo die gr11’s sou baie selfvertroue uit die vertoning kry. Agter lol besluitneming steeds, maar ek glo met die regte posisionele skuiwe kan dit reggestel word, mits daar ‘n wil is….spelskeppers is selde generale. Nietemin ‘n aangename rit huistoe en ‘n heerlike dag wat voorlê van die groot kanonne bestudeer wat gister vuis gewys het
Geluk BL en @Ploegskaar – om weg te wen in George is moeilik
Commentator had it spot on here. Rugby the winner. This was a great battle to watch unfold. BL seemed in charge for most of the match with good option rugby being played and the Kwaggas only found true self belief in the last 20 minutes while BL tried to protect the lead for much of the time, becoming too dependent on kicking with the wind behind them. Kwaggas narrowed the lead from 6-15 to 13-15 with a well taken try and ended the match with a held up call over the BL tryline in a super exciting finish. BL winning 15-13.
Thanks for including age with teams @beet, really appreciate the effort!