You might have struggled to get excited about the Nellies Rhinos’ form before the start of the second term, but I bet right now you are sitting up and taking notice of the Pumas region school’s amazing feats of late.
In recent weekends, the Nelspruit 1st XV has beaten Noordvaal giants Garsfontein and Monument in home games, transforming their fortunes from being one of the schools making up the numbers in the premier league of 10 schools to legitimate outside contenders for a semifinal berth.
Remember, this is the same Nellies team that lost to Menlopark and Rustenburg in what were considered winnable matches.
So what’s the secret to this massive turnaround in form? No one is really willing to share details.
Head coach Hennie Skorbinski simply says: “BELIEVE!”
A more detailed theory was offered by a passionate local supporter, who attributed the turnaround to confidence gained at Craven Week, where 10 Nellies boys were part of the successful unbeaten Pumas U18 team that defeated the Western Province XV among their achievements.
| NELSPRUIT | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat.02Mar | PUM | Secunda | H | Won | 42 | 05 | |
| 2 | Sat.09Mar | PUM | Middelburg | A | Won | 32 | 26 | NWU Skolesportreeks G1 |
| 3 | Sat.16Mar | BUL | Oos-Moot | A | Lost | 29 | 37 | NWU Skolesportreeks G1 |
| 4 | Fri.22Mar | BOL | Drostdy | F | Lost | 27 | 34 | NMI Toyota Noord Suid |
| 5 | Mon.25Mar | GRF | Welkom Gim | F | Lost | 20 | 24 | NMI Toyota Noord Suid |
| 6 | Thu.28Mar | GRF | Voortrekker (Beth) | F | Won | 31 | 21 | St John’s Easter R/F |
| 7 | Sat.30Mar | LIO | St John’s | F | Won | 38 | 13 | St John’s Easter R/F |
| 8 | Mon.01Apr | KZN | Hilton | F | Lost | 17 | 32 | St John’s Easter R/F |
| 9 | Sat.06Apr | BUL | Eldoraigne | H | Won | 53 | 10 | NWU Skolesportreeks G1 |
| 10 | Sat.13Apr | BUL | Menlopark | H | Lost | 14 | 31 | NWU Skolesportreeks G1 |
| 11 | Sat.20Apr | PUM | HTS Middelburg | F | Won | 36 | 34 | NWU Sportsreeks 5-6 |
| 12 | Sat.27Apr | BUL | Waterkloof | A | Lost | 17 | 61 | NV Cup |
| 13 | Sat.11May | LIO | Helpmekaar | A | Lost | 19 | 72 | NV Cup |
| 14 | Sat.18May | LEO | Rustenburg | H | Lost | 19 | 22 | NV Cup |
| 15 | Sat.25May | LIO | Marais Viljoen | H | Won | 33 | 15 | NV Cup |
| 16 | Sat.13Jul | BUL | Garsfontein | H | Won | 30 | 29 | NV Cup |
| 17 | Sat.20Jul | LIO | Monument | H | Won | 21 | 12 | NV Cup |
| 18 | Sat.27Jul | BUL | Menlopark | H | – | – | – | NV Cup |
| 19 | Sat.03Aug | VAL | EG Jansen | A | – | – | – | NV Cup |
| 20 | Sat.10Aug | LIO | Noordheuwel | A | – | – | – | NV Cup |
EGJansen playing Nelspruit, in Nelspruit following weekend. Going to be another tough encounter now that Nelspruit is in a high and peaking. It never gets easier in the Noordvaal Cup.
Nellies het tuis teen Rustenburg en Menlo verloor. Ons het paar beserings gehad en dan verloor ons ook wedstryde waar ons in laaste 10 min nog voorgeloop het teen HTS Drostdy, Welkom Gim, Oos Moot en Rustenburg. Indien ons daardie 4 wedstryde kon wen was hierdie ‘n uitstekende seisoen sover.
Ek persoonlik dink die Cravenweek was die keerpunt. Met Nelspruit wat 9 spelers in die Pumas se Cravenweekspan gehad het en ‘n ongelooflike Cravenweek gehad het met oorwinnings, onder andere teen WP XV wat 3 SA Skole spelers gehad het. Dit het die seuns se selfvertroue “geboost” en hulle het besef, “luister as ons Pumas wat uit 70% NHS spelers bestaan die WP XV kan troef, dan het ons mos geen verskoning om beter in die Noordvaal te doen nie” Ook natuurlik ander afrigting en verdedigingsstrukture is tydens Cravenweek geeimplimenteer waar Nellies moontlik kon by baat. ‘n Paar seuns wat beseer was, is ook nou weer terug.
In die begin van die jaar het ons geen skop pale toe geneem nie, alles wat direk lyn toe, ons hakers kon nie ingooi nie, en stadig maar seker is dit slow poison wat ‘n span negatief maak en stelselmatig verloor jy die wedstryd. Nelspruit se verdediging is 200% beter, ons skop pale wanneer nodig en vat ons 3 punte. Ons dissipline is beter en ons lynstane wat beroerd was, is nou een van ons sterkpunte!
Wat almal moet onthou, Nellies en Rustenburg is die enigste spanne buite Gauteng, al die ander spanne se weg wedstryde is maksimum 50km weg, arme Nst moet teen 5 van die spanne 400km reis en by “Altitude”/ 2000m bo seevlak gaan speel! Streng gesproke is Rustenburg ook maar in Gauteng by die res.
Nellies het die slegste en moeilikste pad in die liga! Die res het almal net 1 wedstryd waar hul 400km na Nelspruit moet reis! Welgedaan Nelspruit!
Losing to Boland’s Drostdy, but going on to beat giants like Garsfontein and Monument, both capable of beating Drostdy by 50, in one season, is not transformation but magical metamorphosis in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Nelspruit. Getafix in action.