The undefeated KwaZulu-Natal under-18 Academy Week team will play in the final game of the 2014 Academy Week against Western Province. KZN earned this reward via two very good victories against South Western Districts (32-18) and Eastern Province (61-12). KZN are not a team associated with playing in Youth Week unofficial finals so this is quite an achievement for the boys in black and white. Western Province on the other hand are aiming at a clean sweep of the school youth rugby honours. They have already wrapped up the under-13 Craven Week title for 2014 and face possibly their toughest of all the age group challenges at the under-16 Grant Khomo Week final against the Bulls today. It is not unforeseeable that Province claims the under-19 and under-21 Currie Cup titles as well in 2014.
KZN Academy Week squad with available details
| KWAZULU-NATAL | HIGH SCHOOL | PRIMARY SCHOOL | PS REG | BORN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tijde Visser | Kearsney | DPHS, Durban | KZN | Durban |
| 2 | Masikani Mazwi | Maritzburg College | DPHS, Durban | KZN | Kokstad |
| 3 | Kabelo Motloung | Northwood | Arcon Park, Vereeniging | Valke | Vereeniging |
| 4 | Sibabalo Qoma | Westville | Crewe, East London | Border | East London |
| 5 | Jayson Gouws | Hilton | Penzance, Durban | KZN | |
| 6 | Hayden Tharratt | Maritzburg College | Stirling, East London | Border | East London |
| 7 | Teigan Erasmus | Westville | Thomas More, Kloof | KZN | PMB |
| 8 | Marco Palvie | Glenwood | Penzance, Durban | KZN | Cape Town |
| 9 | Thomas Walker | Michaelhouse | DPHS, Durban | KZN | |
| 10 | Bader Pretorius | Michaelhouse | Lochnerhof, Strand | WP | Johannesburg |
| 11 | Sam Matiwane | Glenwood | |||
| 12 | Donovan Du Randt | Glenwood | Truida Kestell, Bethlehem | Griffons | Pongola |
| 13 | Kudzai Munangi | Maritzburg College | Selborne, East London | Border | Harare |
| 14 | Lindo Buthelezi | Westville | Grantham Park, Empangeni | KZN | |
| 15 | Jaydon Morgan | Glenwood | Goedehoop, Secunda | Pumas | Standerton |
| 16 | Renier Pieterse | Westville | Kloof, Durban | KZN | |
| 17 | Greg Jackson | Michaelhouse | Merchiston, Pietermaritzburg | KZN | PMB |
| 18 | Disi Dlamini | Maritzburg College | Pelham, Pietermaritzburg | KZN | PMB |
| 19 | Nama Xaba | Glenwood | Nuwe Republiek, Vryheid | KZN | Durban |
| 20 | Kuziva Kazembe | Northwood | Prince Edward, Harare | Zimbabwe | Harare |
| 21 | Brandon Tattam | Michaelhouse | Clifton, Durban | KZN | Johannesburg |
| 22 | Mbhutana Peter | DHS |
Western Province Academy Week squad
| # | ACADEMY WEEK | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muammir Salie | Paul Roos |
| 2 | Colwyn Manchest | Kasselsvlei |
| 3 | Carlu Sadie | Bellville |
| 4 | Sybrand Du Toit | Boland Landbou |
| 5 | Waldo Van Rensburg | Stellenberg |
| 6 | Johan Visser | Paarl Gim |
| 7 | Mitchell Carstens | Paul Roos |
| 8 | Michael Meyer | Paul Roos |
| 9 | Calvin Nell | Paul Roos |
| 10 | Danrich Visagie | Boland Landbou |
| 11 | Andre Manual | Bishops |
| 12 | Carlton Fortune | Boland Landbou |
| 13 | Taigh Schoor | Paarl Gim |
| 14 | Joshua Vermeulen | Paul Roos |
| 15 | Cornel Smit | Bishops |
| 16 | Hugo Vlok | Boland Landbou |
| 17 | Bertus Smith | Boland Landbou |
| 18 | Derrick Marais | HJS Paarl BH |
| 19 | Dean van Tonder | Paul Roos |
| 20 | Graham Hendricks | Hottentots Holland |
| 21 | Mujaahid vd Hoven | Rylands |
| 22 | Rayhaan Lombaardt | HJS Paarl BH |
@BoishaaiPa: I thought you had your own province?
@phat55: They didn’t mention if it was going to be moved but mentioned the previous time when Grey had to play against PR without 6 SA Schools’ players (2009).
@BuffelsCM:
not necessarily a bad thing.did they mention if its definitely going to be moved?
I saw in this morning newspaper that the Grey / Paul Roos match of 23 August may be affected because of a match between SA Schools and England’s under 18 side on the same day. I believe the Beeld final is on the same day as well.
@BuffelsCM: cost can not be the reason. I do not see 1 extra person being that much more.
Game time could be a problem, as mentioned, but I agree with you, positions will be better covered.
I have seen where centres had to play as a loose forward at these tournaments. Cant be very save.
Backline glory boys should not be allowed where the real players play. They might get hurt.
@MikeSt: I agree but I was just thinking about all positions being covered sufficiently.
@BuffelsCM: Good idea even though I think that bringing in a extra team would be better.
The bigger squad you have the less playing time for the boys as the rules are that they must all start and finish a game so 7 players will already either only play 1 or max of 2 games.
The costs i cannot see to be such a massive issue. The kids pay enormous amounts themselves in anycase so where is the cost implications then.
@valke: @MikeSt:Onto another matter: I have asked some of the people involved in rugby management why the number of players at these school weeks are not increased to 23 and they replied that the costs will be too high. As it stands at the moment and a team has to pick 4 props, it means that positions 4 to 8 are covered by 6 players only.
There were 26 teams at the Academy week and an extra player per team will mean 26 additional players. Surely the costs can’t be that high if you take into consideration the advantage of having an extra lock as well as an extra loosie in your squad.
@valke: Agree Valke most of the bigger Unions can field an additional team giving exposure to more boys in the end as you will know selectors are not always correct in their decisions.
@BuffelsCM: Should be a very easy case to make.
I think everyone would agree that WP has enough depth at this age group to have another team.
Boland had 2 teams this year, being the host province. Looking at the results, where the A team lost 2 close games against strong teams and the B team won all their games, it would be fair to say that WP could have 2 very competitive teams at the Academy week.
Not sure why the Lions has another team this year.
@BoishaaiPa: Or at least another team from Western Province !
I have noticed that the Lions have 2 teams. I asked the coach if it was a different region but according to him the Lions XV is a B team.
Surely there is a case to be made for WP to field 2 sides in the Academy Week as well.
@RBugger: Thank You !! I have to admit I expected more from KZN. They played much better in the 2nd half but at that stage they were never going to come back into the match.
Something that was a pity is the fact that the KZN boys did not wear any numbers. If I remember correctly somebody mentioned that the numbers started “falling off” on the first day already.
I wanted to have a look at Marco Palvie, the no 8, but he either didn’t start or it was him that picked up a wrist injury early in the match. I think it is the latter: It happened on the try line of KZN and I couldn’t see which player got injured but it could have been Palvie. I saw him at the end of the match and he was holding his tracksuit top’s one sleeve and was obviously trying to support his wrist.
Mitchell Carstens was a deserved man of the match. His fellow loosies received the awards on day 1 and 2 (although he played lock with Dean van Tonder at flank.
Well done to Western Province !!
BTW I heard on the public address system that the Wessels lock of Free State was man of the match in their match today.
Very very impressive! Well done to WP for again leading from the front in SA School Boy Rugby.
Now for the Final and Most Important test, CW
Well done to the WP boys for remaining unbeaten over the 3 games!
Well Done WP..3 out of 3 on the youth weeks so far!…17 out of 22 in the Khomo Side and 15/22 in Academy side is from Paarl/Stellenbosch…Time for our own Province I think!…
WP 38 – KZN 7
@RBugger: WP basically controlling the game with Calvin Nell at 9 doing well. Backs are doing very well – especially (but not only) in broken play.
Derrick Marais just scored after a lineout drive as well.
Score 31 – 0 !!
@BuffelsCM: Wow, a bit of a klap then. What is making the differebce between the 2 sides?
Tries Andre Manuel (I think), Michael Meyer, Sybrand du Toit and Calvin Nell. 2 conversions by Visagie.
KZN only threatened try line of WP just before half-time
HT 24 – 0 WP !!!
WP lead 19 – 0
WP lead KZN 12-0
Final score: Lions 29 Boland 23. Lions played a more structured game in the 2nd half with fewer 50 / 50 passes.
HT Boland 20 Lions 10: 4 tries against 1. Wind not helping the kicker of Boland – he missed 3 from the corner and 1 from the 15m area.
Boland’s backs excellent with counter attacks
Lions did not use wind efficiently – 1 try of Boland when Lions opted to run the ball from their own 22m after a lineout and playing with wind.
Wind might be a bigger factor in last game.
Beet, Renier Pieterse attended Kloof Senior Primary School
Fantastic, go KZN.
Really wish I had the chance to watch this Badar Pretorius play, seems to be highly rated
EP 7 Blue Bulls 7. I only saw the last 15 / 20 minutes. EP unlucky not to be the winners. BB scored equalizer in last 2 minutes.
Man of the match no 20 Yomelela Keswa of EP
will be an awesome game for sure & they will need to keep a verrrry verrrry close eye on Bader
