The Gauteng English Medium Schools (GEMS) got the defence of their Grogper Cup title off to a perfect start via Boys High but then had to sweat as KES needed a late winner after they threw away a 17-0 lead against DHS. Jeppe gave debutants Glenwood a run for their money before it was Kearsney’s turn to hang on for a win after Boys High launched a late fight back from 0-21 down.Next up sees College at home to Pretoria Boys High for a game they must win if they want to register themselves as one of the top schools in SA this season. Boys High will be no pushovers though. They have a decent pack and will be looking for a bigger effort from their backs.
| # | VENUE | DAY | DATE | GEMS | KZN | FESTIVAL | GEMS | KZN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neu | Sat | 29/03/2014 | Pretoria BH | 39 | 8 | DHS | Grey PE Fest | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Neu | Mon | 31/03/2014 | KES | 20 | 17 | DHS | Grey PE Fest | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Neu | Mon | 31/03/2014 | Jeppe | 14 | 20 | Glenwood* | Grey PE Fest | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Neu | Mon | 31/03/2014 | Pretoria BH | 17 | 21 | Kearsney | Grey PE Fest | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | KZN | Sat | 12/04/2014 | Pretoria BH | Maritzburg College | |||||
| 6 | Gau | Sat | 19/04/2014 | St Stithians | Hilton | St Stithians | ||||
| 7 | Gau | Mon | 21/04/2014 | KES | Northwood | KES Festival | ||||
| 8 | Gau | Mon | 21/04/2014 | St John’s | St Charles | St John’s | ||||
| 9 | KZN | Sat | 26/04/2014 | Jeppe | Northwood | |||||
| 10 | KZN | Sat | 26/04/2014 | Parktown | DHS | |||||
| 11 | KZN | Mon | 28/04/2014 | Parktown | Northwood | |||||
| 12 | Gau | Sat | 10/05/2014 | KES | Maritzburg College | |||||
| 13 | Gau | Sat | 10/05/2014 | Pretoria BH | Westville | |||||
| 14 | KZN | Sat | 24/05/2014 | KES | Westville | |||||
| 15 | KZN | Sat | 24/05/2014 | St David’s | St Charles | |||||
| 16 | KZN | Sat | 31/05/2014 | St John’s | Michaelhouse | |||||
| 17 | KZN | Sat | 31/05/2014 | St Stithians | Kearsney | |||||
| 18 | Gau | Sat | 02/08/2014 | Pretoria BH | Maritzburg College | |||||
| TOTAL | 90 | 66 | 2 | 2 |
* still classified as an English medium school as a result of the relaxation of the “At Least One Player Must Be An English First Language Speaker Rule” and the introduction of the more meaningful School Bus Lettering Rule.
Note that in spite of offering English medium classes and having first language English players in their 1st XV, Monnas do not qualify for Grogper Cup status as they did not meet the strict School Bus Lettering requirement.
School Bus Lettering Rule:
Even if a school has just one school bus in it’s fleet that contains any of the following words or combination of words, it is disqualified from Grogper Cup membership:
- Skool
- Tegniese
- Hoer
- Volk
- Landbou
- Gimnasium spelt with an “I” after the “G”
With College and Hilton winning and KES pumping a hapless Northwood it’s now 4-3 to KZN! Go boys! GEMS will likely win the next 4 to make it 4-7, but then College and Westville kick in. Glenwood should really be playing another GEMS to make this fair…
@Vleis,
Agree fully – well done Kearsney.
I think PBHS are going to have one of those Jekly and Hyde seasons. When they play well, they will be very good but when they play badly, they will be shocking.
I know they lost their fly half early on against KES to a concussion, I am not sure if he travelled to the Grey PE festival. One player can have such a huge impact at school boy level.
PBHS had a very good pack last year and a good backline when the first choice fly half was available.
One fixture in the Grogper cup that really stands out for me is PBHS VS Westville in Pretoria. I expected PBHS to win at Westville last year but I think conditions (rained non stop on the Friday before the fixture) and the uncertainty of whether the fixture would go ahead caught PBHS off guard. If the results against Kearsney are any thing to go by, then the PBHS VS Westville fixture should be a huge one for both teams. In fact, the outcome of the Grogper cup could hinge on the winner of this fixture.
The English boys don’t ride bus, they get picked up in German sedans or SUV’s
Yes, KZN have not done as well as they should at CW recently, the last decent performance was a win over WP 2 years ago and running Greystaat very close another year. Yes, Glenwood probably have had too many reps and a few really good players ending up in the Academy side. That said the coaches probably picked combinations due to lack of preparation. Other provinces are better prepared playing warm up games etc. To be honest Glenwood have not dominated opponents like they did 3 or 4 years ago so the CW team should not have more than 4 or 5 from each of the 4 strongest sides. This year has a new set up so hopefully a fresh approach. This year Glenwood have 5 standout players who will likely make CW, Kenny Van Niekerk, Koos Tredoux, Jaco Coetzee (if fit), Curtis Jonas and Morne Joubert…
@Grasshopper: Grassy, I don’t follow Craven Week too closely, so I can honestly say that I do not have the stats re the past three or four years. That said, I’d bet my house on both Lions and Bulls doing much better than Natal during said period.
That said, there is a strong argument that the Natal sides were significantly weakened by having too many Glenwood players in the squad, so maybe choosing CW as a barometer of provincial strength is not a fair benchmark – what sayest thou?
Funny how the GEMS supporters always think KZN sides are ranked to high, I thought the same for them….
@Tang: @Vleis. Interesting points of view – Kearsney most certainly have been through their best period in the past few years and also have only 2 starters from 2013’s 1st XV.
I can’t speak for other Kearsney supporters, but I personally wasn’t very confident of a win over PBHS – the boys had to dig really deep to hold off a massive fightback. This year’s team has surprised us with their heart – the Westville win wasn’t totally expected either!
@Tang: 1. The rankings are often nowhere close to reality, apart from the top few spots. In my opinion (and many others), the Natal schools are sometimes ranked a bit too high. The latter is just a subjective opinion, but is backed up by Natal’s poor performances in the recent past at Craven Week.
2. Kearsney, as many would acknowledge, have had their best period in history in the past three years.
As such, I assumed that Pretoria Boys would win, but I was wrong. Well done Kearsney.
@Vleis
According to the rankings from 2009 to 2013, Kearsney are ranked 21 whereas Pretoria Boys High School are ranked 39. Based on rankings, one would assume Kearsney should have had an easy win.
In addition to the above, PBHS have one or two startes back from last years team which would put Kearsney even further ahead as favourites. I don’t think many PBHS supportes/ parents expected PBHS to win the fixture against Kearsney.
@Woltrui: Jeppe / Northwood is at Northwood this year (as is Parktown / Northwood).
@Woltrui:
you will see Northwood for yourself since you think they’re a walk in the park
@Grasshopper: Jeppe/Northwood in Joburg. I’ll go Jeppe by 12 any time of the day. I’ll even go with Jeppe by 1 in the hockey.
@Woltrui: Not sure about that, Northwood are no push overs…
@beet: 20-14 according to Glenwood;
31-03-2014
Glenwood 20 Jeppe 14
Try: C Jonas, J Venter, M Joubert
Conversion: Joubert (1)
Penalty: Joubert (1)
Today’s action saw Glenwood match up against the highly regarded Jeppe Side from Gauteng.
Physicality was always going to be the order of the day with the Jeppe side having to focus on stopping the formidable Glenwood pack if they were to harbour any type of success.
The hype around the game definitely lived up to the expectation as both sides threw everything that they had at each other. With uncompromising defence and hugely physical ball carries it was a tight affair for most of the first half. Jeppe were the first to score after a line break through the middle, which was slightly against the run of play, and forced the Glenwood side to click into another gear.
Glenwood responded almost immediately through a driving maul which resulted in James Venter the Glenwood flanker crossing over the try line levelling the game at 7-7.
Jeppe scored again after a period of sustained pressure and took the lead to a 14-7 advantage. Joubert then slotted a penalty for the Glenwood side as the teams went into the half with Jeppe leading 14-10.
The second half saw Glenwood gain the ascendancy and exert their control on the game. Their efforts were rewarded when Curtis Jonas, the flyhalf, crossed over the line after his pack had won a tight head. The try not converted but Glenwood were back in the game at 13-14.
With the pressure building and time running out, Glenwood produced another pacey counter attack from deep within their half which saw Morne Joubert cross over to extend the Glenwood lead to 20-14.
It was a tense final few minutes as Glenwood had to front up against a Jeppe attack that never gave up. Resolute as they were, Glenwood kept them out and forced them to play rugby deep inside their own half resulting in Jeppe making mistakes and conceding turnovers.
At the final whistle Glenwood led 20-14 and can be very proud of the attitude and determination they showed against a very physical and motivated Jeppe side
Mr R Dames/Mr M Vowles
@Greenwood: “Kollege” should also be on the banned branding list!! Not sure if this effects any of the games. Grey Kollege is in the Vrystaat.
Beet —— Ha ha !
Me too ! I like the school bus part – I find that really funny
Most of the Grogper results are fairly surprising. I expected Boys High to beat DHS by 10 to 15 points, not 31. Then, I didn’t expect KES to squeak home v the same opponents via a last minute kick. I thought that Boys High would beat Kearsney. The only result that I expected was the narrow win by Glenwood over Jeppe. Good thing I didn’t enter the superbru competition.
@Roger: Okay we will settle on the 20-14 version altho I must say that from where I was sitting the first Jeppe try came about at a result of the strangest “rip” I have ever seen. The Jeppe player did not appear to have control of the ball, which went forward off his fingers.
@Redblack White: Thanks
@beet – small correction beet – PBHS play at Goldstones this time round – Pretoria leg only in August
Hahahahahaha!!! Flippin Monnas must get their busses in order!!
I foresee game 5 to be a thriller but games 6 to 10 to go to the Vaalies.
what was the final Jeppe-Glenwood score – I have seen about ten versions
Sorry KXAEMS for Andre T…
Good start for the KZEMS! Like it!