KZN

How Michaelhouse will fare during the 2013 season remains a bit of an enigma. Those that have followed the progress of the team will know they have the right ingredients for a meaty pack of forwards. Their power in the forwards should be most obvious come scrum-time. Here they could prove to be very hard to contain.…

Months after the initial Glenwood/Westville rugby fallout was blogged here on Schoolboyrugby.co.za, it has made the front page of a local KZN morning paper. Although it is not a new story, for many not close to school rugby in the province it will come as a huge shock to find out that two of KZN’s biggest schools don’t have any first term fixtures against each other on the cards as well as no rugby match in 2013.…

History has been made with Donald Ngwenya, the KZN Rugby Union Development Manager since 2007 being appointed as the Northwood Rugby Head Coach. Ngwenya beat out 21 other suitably qualified candidates that had applied for the position which became available overnight. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Sports Management Diploma from the University of Johannesburg but more importantly he has 23 years of coaching experience under the belt. He started his career in the classroom as a teacher, pretty much just like outgoing coach Swys de Bruin did.…

At the start of December 2012, Steve Botha the 2012 Backline Coach left College to take up a post at the brand new Sharks Academy in the United Arab Emirates. So although it appears as if Head Coach Ryan Strudwick has only been without an assistant for a month now, the truth of the matter is that he has not had any official assistant for a number of months.…

Neighbouring Durban schools Durban High School and Glenwood have a rich sports history filled with many great traditions and highlights. However late last year the DHS Governing Body made a decision to cancel all sports events against Glenwood for 2013. It was a seemingly harsh call but one which it’s members felt was totally justified and not taken lightly either. Like a few other off the field school rugby related problems in KwaZulu-Natal in 2012, the underlying reason for the Governing Body action was recruitment. …

Northwood is expected to announce the name their new 1st XV Head Coach during the first week of 2013. A few weeks ago Swys de Bruin, the then newly appointed Northwood Head Coach caught just about everyone by surprise when he broke the news that he was off to join the Golden Lions as the Backline Coach. The Durban North school looked to be in a spot of bother with their 2013 season kicking off earlier than most. …

Grant Kretzmann, the King Edward VII School (KES) forwards coach and assistant to Carl Spilhaus signed up earlier this week to be DHS’s new Head of Rugby. Kretzmann will be joining former KES headmaster Mike Fennell (DHS CEO) as new arrivals at the Durban school when the first term of 2013 starts.…

Well it feels like it was just yesterday when Swys de Bruin was being formally introduced as the new Head Coach at Northwood School. However today his Facebook page contained the following message:

Nog n era verby! Ek het die pos aanvaar by die Leeus as backline coach. Sien baie uit na die nuwe uitdaging!Ek glo die Here sal ons paaie gelyk maak!

Chris Luman has been named as the 15^th headmaster of the school. Luman, a Wynberg old boy who taught at both his alma mater and Queens before heading over to New Zealand, will take over the reigns during College’s milestone 150^th year.…

Steve Botha, the Maritzburg College Rugby Administrator and Backline Coach during the 2012 season has been snapped up by the Sharks Academy. Botha will head to the United Arab Emirates shortly to take up a brand new coaching position at one of the high performance academies that the Sharks are in the process of setting up. …

With a very eventful off the field rugby year almost behind them now, DHS’s main up and coming rugby related news story is meant to be and possibly still is the much anticipated public announcement of their new Head of Rugby.…

Sandile Kubeka the Kearsney College, KZN Schools and SA Schools rugby player has won Daily News School Sports Zone Hero of the Year award. He was chosen from a list of 36 school sports achievers.…

If it wasn’t official before, it is now. Northwood will be coached by Sharks Academy coach Swys de Bruin. Malcolm Kennedy is the new Head of Rugby and fitness guru Simon Vickers shifts to the position of Conditioning Coach. …

There is a lot said on these pages about schools who “buy” players – how about those parents who “sell” their kids – Cyndi

Your comments:-…

Information from a reliable source indicates that a meeting took earlier today (Tuesday 06 November) between the Glenwood and DHS heads. This was at the latter’s request. The meeting was to discuss the move of a prominent Grade 11 First XV rugby player from DHS to Glenwood.…

Although it’s been a couple of months since it was made public that current DHS Head of Rugby and First XV coach Deon Gericke will be moving to St Charles in Pietermaritzburg in 2013, there are still no clear indications about who his replacement will be…

Well I’m starting to get the feeling that come Friday there is such a positive energy build-up amongst KZNers because the weekend is near, that this invariably causes a low pressure cell to develop over the region and as a result by Saturday it’s raining cats and dogs. The KZN weather at this time of year is definitely not cricket friendly. Nevertheless there are a few games planned.

Maritzburg College vs Michaelhouse
Hilton vs Westville
DHS vs Glenwood
St Charles vs Clifton

(if anyone has waterpolo fixtures, please feel free to post a comment for inclusion here)…