April 2024 Grey College will be in action for the first time since their shock defeat to Jeppe at the NMI Noord-Suid. While the error filled 22-19 loss is set to be immortalised, long forgotten is how well they played to defeat KES 51-16 three days earlier. Bloem’s Les Bleus will be hoping for more of the KES same when they host Outeniqua this Saturday.
Grey are difficult opponents on a good day and are rarely ever fuelled by a hunger for redemption simply because they don’t lose very often. 18 defeats in total dating back to the amazing 2007 team, which current head coach Jannie Geldenhuys was part of. So one can be sure that Grey will be eagerly chomping at the bit to return to the field in full backlash mode!
This is the third edition of the interschools between the two school which has become so vital to their respective programmes. These days both schools are finding it hard going to fill their rugby fixture lists. Grey experienced it again earlier this year when the Graeme festival organisers could not find them opponents. In the past Outeniqua had regular annual fixtures against Paarl Boys’ and Paarl Gim but no more. To further illustrate the challenges faced, just last weekend a scheduled trip to Bellville was cancelled.
Last year’s match in George was epic. It was a key event in the Kwaggas 100th birthday celebration year. The home team almost pulled off a famous win as well, losing 17-19.
That Kwaggas 2023 1st XV was a far better one than this year’s team though. Back in 2021 they fielded a pretty decent team as well but quickly realised what sort of physical and mental adjustments were required to play on the hard dry A-field in Bloem, falling 21-3 behind before the match was abandoned due to the weather.
Grey tactics will be under the microscope. This season they don’t appear to have an abundance of meaty secondrow and backrow forwards like JF van Heerden, Lukas Meyer, JJ Theron, Marno Stopforth and Keegan Scholtz to help dominate up front. It’s really just the highly rated lock Heinrich Theron left to fit into this category. They do however have a different type of potency with plenty of power and potentially explosive ability in midfield in the form of outstanding Pieter van der Merwe and Ethan Adams (if they choose to play him at 13).
The Kwaggas by contrast are still looking for extra out of their backs and might see their pack as an area of play where they can achieve success.
| TEAM | GREY COLLEGE | |
| 1 | Dian Venter | u18 |
| 2 | Liam van Wyk | u18 |
| 3 | Danie Kruger | u18 |
| 4 | Heinrich Theron | u18 |
| 5 | AJ Meyer | u17 |
| 6 | Xander Smit | u17 |
| 7 | Juliun Cosmo | u18 |
| 8 | Liam Santos | u18 |
| 9 | Philip McLaren | u18 |
| 10 | Alzeadon Felix | u18 |
| 11 | Ruben Cilliers | u18 |
| 12 | Pieter vd Merwe | u18 |
| 13 | Ethan Adams | u17 |
| 14 | Siyabonga Kenny | u17 |
| 15 | Heinz Stockenstrom | u18 |
| Coach | JANNIE GELDENHUYS |
Glenwood’s worst 5 loses to Grey Bloem, all in Bloem;
1986 – 4-74
2007 – 0-81
2009 – 3-62
2013 – 7-68
2017 – 10-83
This is huge, not even Glenwood or MARITZBURG COLLEGE has taken 90 in Bloom, I think 80 at worst. I do feel for the Kwaggas, a very strong and proud rugby school. For me this was the shock of the weekend, not the Wynberg win over Boishaai.
EINA
@tzavosky (Comment #49)
Stem saam…Felix is n onglooflike bal verspreider
@Smallies (Comment #44)
Stem, Felix se balverspreiding is uitstaande, maar Grey het mos in die 2de helfte die oplossing gekry vir sy swak skopwerk pale toe – die heelagter s’n was meer as skaflik!
@OUD ANKER (Comment #47)
Hoogs de bliksem in …..
@Smallies (Comment #46)
Eenvoudige verduideliking, Grey was de moer in!
@Kaya 85 (Comment #45)
Mate I was expecting a score of about 45 -28 or something like that ,did not see this coming at all ,definitely not 90
@Smallies (Comment #44)
Utter destruction!!
What. A. Back. Lash.
The Jedis are back.
Nee kyk die het ekke nou nie verwag nie …..Felix klein maargat wat mis skop maar helllllll kan hy offload ,hy gaan eenvoudig nie dood met die bal nie …..beslis my man of the match ….Adams n baie naby tweede
Dankie Kwaggas dat julle kom kuier het julle is n klomp ysters ,vandag was Grey ma net in n verwoestende bui gewees
@Kaya 85 (Comment #41)
Freestate also wears white 😂😂😂
@OUD ANKER (Comment #27)
Ek glo nie Grey het vir Jeppe onderskat nie.
Jeppe het eers teen Garsfontein gewys hulle het ‘n great span, en toe ook vir die 1ste helfte teen HJS – baie hanteerfoute gemaak en nie balbesit gekry in 2e helfte nie.
Grey het dit geweet!
Enoge goeie span kan ‘n afdag of twee kry en as jou afdag kom teen ‘n ander goeie span, dan gaan jy verloor. Wat ek wel gesien het is dat Jeppe se verdediging heeltyd in Grey se gesig was en daai druk het tot talle foute bygedra. Ek dink Jeppe het vir baie spanne gewys hoe Grey geklop kan word – en indien Grey nie ‘n aanpassing of 2 maak nie, lê ‘n lang seisoen voor.
Ons sal sien vandag!
@OUD ANKER (Comment #38)
Lol, Smallies’ se jersey is tog wit.
@OUD ANKER (Comment #38)
I’ve got 3 other options for u…
Outeniqua does not have a strong team this year, they lost at home to Boland Landbou, I expect Grey to win by 50… I find it strange that a big school like Outeniqua don’t have more teams, they seem to only concentrate on A teams…
@Kaya 85 (Comment #37)
Wit pas nie Smallies se hair style nie and I don’t know if I like the look of my glasses, makes me look like one of those nerdy players from the Paarl or Stellenbosch.
@Smallies (Comment #31)
@OUD ANKER (Comment #32)
Hope you guys like your jerseys
@Kaya 85 (Comment #35)
@Smallies (Comment #34)
@OUD ANKER (Comment #32)
@Smallies (Comment #34)
ask Mr Beet
@Kaya 85 (Comment #33)
Roger roger….
@OUD ANKER (Comment #32)
@Smallies (Comment #31)
hold yer horses … watch this space
@Kaya 85 (Comment #30)
???
@Kaya 85 (Comment #30)
???
@OUD ANKER (Comment #27)
@Smallies (Comment #28)
Check out the avatars for u, ask Beet.
Grey met ten minste 30
@OUD ANKER (Comment #27)
Ek dink dis Gary Player of Jack Nicklaus wat gese het the more I practice the luckier I get…..
@Rainier (Comment #26)
I agree with you 100%! In my opinion it is plain derogative to say that Jeppe had the best game and Grey the poorest game of their life, because just maybe Jeppe forced Grey to play a poor game and credit must go to that fact! I do however share Smallies sentiment that Grey might have underestimated Jeppe, but don’t come with the BS that Jeppe was lucky etc etc.
@Kaya 85 (Comment #25)
People forget that all teams experience difficult seasons.
In 2015 Grey was only the 6th ranked team in SA and the sun still came up in the mornings. There were no excuses offered here or on social media for the Jeppe loss and I believe it is in bad taste when people say a team is X points better than another team if they had lost to that team.
Checks the scoreboard – no comment section there.
@Maroon (Comment #20)
They are only 40 points better if they actually win by 40…since they lost to Jeppe, by definition they were 3 points weaker. Still, no one denies it was a massive upset. One of the reasons I love this game…BTW I’m a huge admirer of Grey.
@Snelvuur (Comment #17)
Fair enough, but it’s early days. Time will tell.
Grey sal geoordeel word aan die hand van vorige Grey-spanne en die gehalte van opponente vanjaar.
Verlede jaar het Grey teen topspanne gewen selfs as Grey op die dag nie op sy beste was nie en die mededingers goed gespeel het.
Teen Jeppe, wat vanjaar goed is, was Grey baie swak en Jeppe goed.
Indien die patroon hom per geleentheid sou herhaal, eers dan sal ons kan sê dat vanjaar se Greyspan ondergemiddeld is.
Maar daar is beslis een posisie in die agterlyn waar Grey tot dusver gesukkel het.
Anyone who writes off Grey College do so at their own peril. There is plenty of depth to sort out small issues.
@Kaya 85 (Comment #15)
nope-
@Smallies (Comment #19)
stem 100% saam
Grey is ‘n 40 punte beter span as daardie Jeppe span, as die regte span opdaag. As die span gespeel het soos teen KES sou hulle Jeppe baie gemaklik geklop het.
Teen Jeppe het Grey twee probleem areas gehad
1 Dissipline
2 Hulle het Jeppe HEELTEMAL onderskat
Ek dink nie hulle sal weer die jaar n span onderskat nie
Ek glo coach Jannie het die dissiline aspek ook deeglik gehanteer
Grey met 20
En aan die manne wat nou reken die is n gemiddelde Grey span ….time will tell
@Kaya 85 (Comment #15)
Agreed 100%. I will be very unpopular among many here but the Grey / PRG game is moot and irrelevant anyway since Grey can always only field like half their “real” team that time of the year.
@Kaya 85 (Comment #15)
I was quite unconvinced by this Grey side. Don’t get me wrong, they may very well beat PRG in August, but I really don’t think this is a stellar Grey side. Pieter van der Merwe is absolutely outstanding, and my choice for SA Schools, but him apart, this side is not as great as previous Grey sides. They also don’t have a reliable kicker, which is often a deciding issue in games. I think they’ll prevail against HJS because it is in Bloem, but I can see them having very difficult games against a few of the big boys this year. And I say this even if one sees the Jeppe game as only a glitch.
@Rainier (Comment #4)
I feel Grey have plenty of dynamic ball carriers, even the 2nd team lock at Noord Suid could do a good job there wrecking defensive lines. Some observers think Jeppe were fortunate in their game, but that grizzly, blonde blindside flank and No.8 especially were defensively superb against Grey.
@boerboel (Comment #14)
Grey should take PRG comfortably, but Gim look potent.
average grey side- can easily lose 3/4 more games- gim and prg shouldbeeat them-where are they playing affies?
Grey by 20-30 points. I realize this might seem strange after the Jeppe game, but there will be no shortage of application come this weekend.
@Jakkals (Comment #7)
I agree the center pair is fantastic. The positions around them worry me a bit.
@beet (Comment #8)
That’s good news for Grey. Santos featured last year in a few cameos for the 1st xv and I was impressed when he came on as a replacement at Noord Suid. He will add a bit of dog to the loos trio. Was he injured early season?
@Deon (Comment #6)
Agree
If Michael Cronje starts for the Kwaggas on Saturday their pack is 795kg vs Grey’s 780kg. Not much difference considering the Kwaggas have some very beefy props who also happen to have the least fitting surnames in KLEINgeld and KLEINhans
@Jakkals (Comment #7)
Liam Santos is coming in at 8 this weekend so between him and the very young Xander Smit, two small loosies who can get around the park very quickly and mongrels at the breakdowns.
@Rainier (Comment #4)
I think they have the most dynamic centre pairing in SA this year….two powerful strike runners. The one area I agree with youbis loose forwards….they seem a bit lig in die broek compared to last year…They were really awful vs Jeppe and I don’t think that will happen again.
Grey gaan ver wen en net Gim gaan hul hierdie jaar weer wen.
Maybe Outeniqua will rub the salt in the wounds of Grey College even further and set of a start of events for Grey Kollege not having such a great season as expected in 2024. We will have to wait and see
I understand that this opinion might look incredibly stupid at the end of the season, and the whole GCB team played poorly against Jeppe, but there were a few issues present which worries me if they are not addressed. As Beet mentioned a lack of dynamic ball carriers is an issue as that is an integral part of the pattern Grey plays. And a few other concerns about certain positions leave me slightly uneasy. I will watch the match Saturday with interest.
@OUD ANKER (Comment #2)
Hahaha….old boys would also not have stopped to give them a lift
@Jakkals (Comment #1)
The Kwaggas have a chance, remember the Grey players only got back to Bloem from Pta earlier this week, they will be exhausted, since they had to walk back after that loss against Jeppe….
This Grey team is good. I can see them going unbeaten for the rest of the season….Jeppe game was a black swan. Especially hoping for a good win over Paul Roos just for the sake of keeping Jong tamatie humble.
Biggest threat to GCB I think will be Paarl Gim…..they look very very organized.