From EP Rugby
Grahamstown schools St Andrew’s and Kingswood will be itching to get back into action this weekend when they open their schools rugby programmes after the first-term holidays.
Both teams saw action in the Easter weekend festivals, but have had a break since then and will be fresh for the challenges which lie ahead.
While Kingswood travel to East London to play Hudson Park, St Andrew’s have a home game against rising PE school Pearson. The Summerstrand outfit are keen to show they can compete with the region’s top rugby-playing sides and this is an ideal opportunity for them to demonstrate their credentials.
St Andrew’s started the year with a young side, having lost almost all of last year’s team, and although they have lost four of their six matches so far, the experience should stand them in good stead.
Their renowned running game will test the visitors and with Pearson certain to embrace the challenge, it should be a thrilling encounter on the Lower field.
Because of the long weekend, Grey High get back into action when they host Daniel Pienaar at the Philip field on Friday. The Uitenhage outfit scraped to a narrow win over Framesby last weekend and will need to be at their best to handle a Grey team still smarting from a big loss to Paul Roos Gym.
Grey have another tough clash when they travel to Cape Town to face Wynberg on May 9 and they would like nothing better than to kick start their season with a solid win over Daniel Pienaar on Friday.
There is a huge derby shaping up in Humansdorp when Nico Malan clash with their Humansdorp rivals on Thursday. Although Nico Malan should start the game as favourites, it promises to be an interesting encounter, and nothing can be taken for granted in these sorts of clashes.
Meanwhile, Framesby, who have struggled somewhat this season, will be looking to pick up the pieces when they host East London side Grens, also on Friday. The PE team have lost five matches in a row and they will be fired up against a Grens team, who have also had a lean start to the season.
Because of the public holiday, four teams will be in action on Thursday.
The fixtures, subject to change, are (home teams first, 11.30am start unless stated):
Thursday:
Nico Malan v Humansdorp (4pm),
Kirkwood v Westering (3.45pm),
Andrew Rabie v Cillie (4pm), VP v Volkskool (3.15pm)
Friday:
Framesby v Grens (1.30pm),
Grey High v Daniel Pienaar (3.30pm)
Saturday: Otto du Plessis v Bertram,
Ndzondelelo v McCarthy, St Andrew’s v Pearson (2.30pm),
Hudson Park v Kingswood (1.45pm)
True. Queens got the ability to surprise any of the big guns, as we saw against Grey High last year.
I doubt whether DP will win any game against Grey. Their age group sides are not bad, but again not the quality we saw in recent years. Add to this that it is an away game for DP.
@Frik: Agree Selborne should win but they have historically battled against QC
Framesby are going through a re-building phase should be a lot better next year.
Grey PE should be far to good for DP I think the game there will be the Under 16A game both got very good teams.
Some interesting dynamics in EP rugby this year. I agree that the game of the weekend should be Selborne/Queens. Selborne should be easy winners though.
Just a correction to the article above, Framesby lost most of their games this year yes, but not five matches in a row. Beat Despatch a week or two back. Framesby has a very young side this year but will undoubtedly improve as the season progresses.
Grey High should be easy winners over DP, with DP not showing the same talent as in recent years. They lost some good players to other schools which had an impact on their performances.
Grey in turn is also not performing to expectations? Not sure of the reasons but the big loss to Paul Roos came as a surprise, as well as the loss to Maritzburg College earlier in the year.
My 5 cents worth.
Eastern Cape game of the weekend must be Selborne vs Queens.
On paper Selborne should win this with ease but this QC team which struggled during the age group phases not beating any team of substance in under14/15/16 seems to have matured and could be a close game. At a Under 16 level Selborne won the games 62-7 and 48-5 but I don’t think they will repeat that.
Selborne by 10