Over the past seven years fortunate school rugby followers have had the pleasure of witnessing these uber talented rugby players setting the schoolboy fields throughout the country alight. 2012 has been no exception as Maritzburg College’s Kriel twins Jesse and Daniel have both laid down markers. The two are backline players and though not a traditional rugby combination, as Jesse dons the no.15 jersey and Daniel runs out in the no.13 jersey, they’re about as good as a combo gets with Jesse very proficient at running off the outside shoulder of Daniel. I had the privilege of catching up with both boys in the midst of their last schoolboy season at Maritzburg College.
The twins first told me a bit about their background, Jesse, the older of the two by three minutes, a well-spoken young man says ”We were born in Cape Town on the 15th of February 1994 and moved to Underberg in KZN, where we began Grade 4 at Underberg Primary. I went on to ask a bit about their rugby and where it all began. Jesse once again promptly answers, ”We began playing rugby at Underberg Primary in grade 4, I play flyhalf and Dan was a prop and when we moved to Merchiston Primary in Grade 6, we both played centre in Grade 6 and 7.” In 2008 the boys having just moved to Pietermaritzburg enrolled at Maritzburg College for Grade 8 where Jesse played flyhalf and Dan at outside centre. Jesse moved to fullback in Grade 10 and hasn’t looked back ever since while Dan has continued his steady rise in the no.13 jersey. The boys then tell me a bit more about their relationship. Jesse says “We are very close, we do virtually everything together.” He also goes on to say that Dan is a bit more reckless and he’s the more responsible twin, which is to be expected considering he’s slightly older.
The brothers have both represented KZN along the way. However surprisingly the only time they’ve both run onto the field together wearing the famous Black and White outfit was after they made the KZN under-12 team in Grade 6. A year later Jesse made the KZN u13B side. In high school, injuries have hampered their progress in terms of selection to KZN representative teams. Jesse having just returned from a pelvis injury in 2010 did not make the under-16 Grant Khomo team, while Daniel was selected in an unfamiliar role of no.12. Daniel then broke his ankle in the first game at that Grant Khomo Week while playing against the Bulls. In 2011 both made their debut for the College 1st XV. Here they earned a nickname well-known to Maritzburg College boys both past and present: the “Bash Brothers” (College Old Boy and current Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant is also reported to be a part of this club). Once again the injury bug hit Jesse though. He was ruled out for the best part of the 2011 season with a shoulder injury. Meanwhile Dan having fully recovered from the broken ankle, made the KZN Academy team at no.13. The 2012 season began as a promising one for the twins, with Daniel gaining recognition for his outstanding effort at Wildeklawer. However for the third consecutive season one of them picked up an injury. Early in May against KES, Dan sustained a shoulder injury which was initially hoped would only keep him out of action for just 6-8 weeks but he subsequently brought an end to his College rugby career, as he was forced to sit out the rest of the season and unfortunately missed out on a chance to go to Craven Week as well. Jesse on the other hand was selected as fullback and vice-captain of a strong KZN Craven Week side. The older brother went on to produce some of the best rugby of his young career and was amongst the best players of the entire Craven Week. His standout performances at fullback earned him the ultimate schoolboy rugby reward, an SA Schools cap.
After hearing their story it becomes glaringly obvious that the boys have a strong will to succeed and a great desire to play together provincially, having not done so since their Under-12 days. Daniel who boasts a gigantic frame for a schoolboy centre (1.94m and 102kg) goes on to say “Look it’s a big goal of ours to play together provincially, part of the reason we’ve decided to stay together after school.” Jesse (slightly shorter and lighter at 1.85m and 94kg) adds onto what Dan says: ”the thing is Dan creates so much space for me, so I enjoy playing with him.”
I asked the boys about their rugby heroes, aspirations and how they think the 2012 Maritzburg College 1st XV season went. The recently capped SA Schools fullback, Jesse lists Christian Cullen as his all-time hero, but has more recently taken a liking to Andre Taylor’s game, while Daniel is an admirer of long time Bok no.13 Jacques Fourie and also likes All Black sensation Sonny Bill Williams. The boys who will move up to Pretoria to join up with the Bulls next year have set themselves some big goals, one being that they would like to play for the Baby Boks as early as next year. The excitement of the Baby Boks recently being crowned Junior World Champions seems to still be spreading among the school-goers with a number of them playing their hearts out to attract the attentions of the national selectors. This goal of getting to the top has certainly been evident in the way the twins have played this season. In reflection of the season the boys are reasonably happy with College’s year. Daniel who has watched the team a lot while sidelined said, “it’s been a good season, it could’ve been better, but we were unlucky with a lot of injuries and this affected the continuity in the team, J-Killa (Jesse) did well though.”
We can all be sure that 2012 won’t be the last we hear or see of these two young men, whether it is the light blue of the Pretoria based union or the green and gold of South Africa, one thing’s for sure: the sky is the limit for the “Bash Brothers.”
I’d like to thank both Jesse and Daniel for their time and wish them both the best of luck for their careers.
I doubt that the drawn game at College would have had the same result had these 2 played
@Grasshopper: thanks Grassy,it’ll never be easy for any player at any union,they are humble boys and they know they are far from being the finished products. It’ll probably be nice to have familiar faces at the Bulls for them.
@Ludz, excellent article, well done! Very talented boys who to be honest I had never heard of before 2012. Obviously all their injuries have hindered their progress, but hopefully they can stay injury free now. Good luck to them at the Bulls, it’s going to be very tough to standout there with all the talent they have acquired. I think in the Under19 side they have 4 SA Schools centres! They willalso have a few fellow Natalians up there they will know, Carel Swart, Dean Moolman, Shaun Adendorff, Jacques Taylor, Ferdi Horn and obviously Reegan Smith. Just imagine if Daniel had stayed fit and made KZN too, KZN would have had 2 sets of twins playing. That would probably have been a first and I reckon both sets would have made SA schools……..well done Jesse and Daniel!