Post Mortem of Term 2, 2023
By Kaya 85
The Best
Grey College: Leading the way, again, in South African schoolboy rugby in 2023 is Grey College, Bloemfontein. Widely acclaimed and universally respected, the pride of Free State just keeps on producing exceptional, best-in-class rugby sides, year after year, after year. They travel widely, everyone wants to play them, every tournament wishes to host them, and every champion school team must measure themselves against Grey College, Bloemfontein. To date, they are unbeaten after 12 matches against the best our school system can deliver, and again they rise like cream to the top. They are quite literally the best of the best. Sensing two very stern, high intensity confrontations against the outstanding Outeniqua and a ruthlessly ambitious Garsfontein, Grey resorted to old fashioned ‘test match footy’ to seal two closely contested victories. They have dispatched everyone else with efficiency and professionalism, posting 60 on Affies and 30+ on just about everybody else.
The Best of the Rest
Paarl Gimnasium: A single loss out of their 12 played so far this year, Paarl Gim are together with Garsfontein the ‘best of the rest’ this year. After last year’s breathtaking side rocked the country, they were not expecting a blistering season, especially after a 1-point thriller against Stellenberg early on. But they have produced a very impressive run of matches. They responded to their loss against Grey at Noord/Suid with a clinical performance against KES, efficiently blowing them out of the water. They comfortably dealt with the threats of Helpmekaar, Monument and Affies, and a number of their regular Cape rivals. They had a narrow and very tense win over Paul Roos, and are odds on favorites to take down Paarl rivals, Boys High on derby day in August. The only regret is that they did not have a match against Garsfontein. That would have been nuclear.
Garsfontein: On par with what Gim have produced so far this year, is the fast-rising Garsfontein, the Bere of Pretoria East. After a nervy 28-24 win over Jeppe, they have proved to be the dominant school team north of the Vaal River playing with a high-paced attacking intensity and professionalism. They destroyed local rivals Waterkloof and Menlopark, blew away Alberton’s Marais Viljoen and defeated Affies again, after last year’s first ever victory. They were comfortable in taming Monument last week, but let them back in the game in the second half. A potential weakness is their defense in high scoring games. But they dismantled Oakdale at Wildeklawer and are probably favorites to reach the final of the Noordvaal Cup. And unless SA Schools selections take players out, they are favorites to win it.
The Hungry Chasing Pack
Outeniqua: Again a powerful, explosive side, Outeniqua came closest this year to beating Grey College. The reaction from Grey’s players at the final whistle told you everything you need to know about the physical and mental intensity of that encounter, and the utmost respect with which Grey approached the game. They had another ‘test match’ type of game against Garsfontein, narrowly losing out, but then wrested a tight match against southern Cape rivals, Oakdale. Their best this year could be ahead of them when they threaten to turn the tables on Paarl Gim towards the end of July.
Paul Roos Gimnasium: The powerful, classy Paul Roos Gimnasium are perennial patricians of the schools game in South Africa. One of the pillars upholding the edifice of the game, they can, and most often do beat anyone on their day, including Grey, home or away. Their fixture against the latter on 12 August will be eagerly watched by everyone who cares about the schoolboy game.
HJS Paarl Boys High: After an impossibly exacting fixture list in March and April, and the hospitalization of their influential Eighth-man due to a head injury, Boishaai showed their grit and character by staying in the fight, sticking to their game, in every game. They were down, but not out against Grey and launched a rousing fight-back to put 30 on them. It wasn’t enough, but it tells you everything you need to know about what they are capable of.
Hilton College: Not the most ambitious fixture list, but Hilton are again the front-runners in the competitive KZN scene where they have dealt with Maritzburg College, Glenwood, and a resurgent DHS. Their big game against Midlands rivals Michaelhouse will be a fantastic occasion.
Afrikaanse Hoёr Seunskool Pretoria: Admittedly, Affies have lost a few this year, more than usual, but they are still a pillar upholding the edifice of schoolboy rugby in South Africa. An institution of rugby, can anyone match their depth? A stronger team than their ranking suggests.
EG Jansen: Playing a high tempo, attacking game, Jansen have again become the focal point of East Rand rugby. They have the undoubted potential to win the Noordvaal Cup, if they can find a way past Garsfontein. Innovative coaching, astute planning, and sensible recruiting has seen them rebuild their already impressive rugby program into a blueprint for success in the co-ed Noordvaal setup.
Graeme College: Pound for pound, Graeme are even better than their results and performances indicate. Going toe to toe with schools four or more times their size, they are leaders in extracting the best out of limited playing resources. Their win over Grey High School captured the imagination. 150 years and still going strong.
Queens College: Overturned the local dominance of arch-rivals Selborne, Queens College, like Dale, captures the imagination of a whole district, in fact the whole Eastern Cape. A quintessentially South African rugby institution and potentially limitless talent pipeline, expect even better things from Queens next year.
King Edward VII School: Fantastic to see them play at Wildeklawer, KES were initially rocked by the tempo and physicality of genuine heavyweights Paarl Gim, but came back strongly in a narrow defeat at home to Paarl Boys. If KES wants to back their supporters’ belief that they are number 1 in the Lions Union they should play Helpmekaar and Monument more regularly, despite the supposed tension between supporters.
Jeppe School for Boys: Jeppe put Hilton and Monument away with power and panache, and buried Queens six feet under, but need more consistency to match their big match temperament and ‘stubborn’ Joburg spirit. Always resilient, their rivalry with KES animates the schoolboy scene beyond the borders of Joburg.
Durban High School: DHS is back. A robust, street-smart band of brothers, DHS has benefitted from a hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to their recruiting and managing, that is matched by their thoroughly efficient style of play. All await the renewal of their traditional rivalry with Glenwood.
@Kaya 85:
@Vleis: yeah, that 2017 refereeing debacle left very bad vibes…but earlier that same day between games I saw an unsavory incident followed by pure leadership in action: …a stylishly dressed woman in a red shirt, part of a loud group of parents (or possibly old boys) slapped a Monnas dad on his forehead after some back and forth banter got out of hand….the man did v well to restrain himself…I couldn’t hear what was said between them but her boyfriend was very quiet…then a short while later as the crowd settled again, an imposing man, well dressed and in a wide brimmed hat walked up from the lower touchline and staring into the crowd he demanded that spectators behave themselves at once…the place went stone quiet, except for one idiot who asked ‘who the f#@ are you?’….I, the man replied, am the principal of this school…and glared him and the whole stand into silence.
@Jakkals: A while back, there was a lot of enmity between Helpies and Monnas…certainly between the supporters on this blog. Also, Helpies were in the Big Schools league, rather than the Macro schools league, so there were very few games between them until the Noordvaal Cup was restructured in 2018. Funnily enough, things seem to be a lot calmer now that they are playing each other regularly again. I must stress that the above is just how it appeared to me.
KES have regularly played against Monnas in the past, but stopped playing after 2017. I might have something to do with scheduling issues as KES don’t play in the Cup, but these schools might have needed a cooling off period after the refereeing debacle in 2017, which ruined an unbeaten season for KES. Again, this is just my perception. I hear that they will be playing each other again in the near future.
@Beet….is there tension between Monnas, Helpies and KES supporters? Boere vs Soutie tension? There was always a bit of that in Joburg…
@Ploegskaar: Julle moet ophou om die tackle sakke te sidestep….Vra vir Jonty hoekom is sy een oor doof
@Ploegskaar: HJS, SACS, PRG, and Oakdale … every one of these games a potential classic
@Kaya 85: Pre-season I penciled them down for a T5 season with 2 losses. It’s probably the most talented group we have had in a decade, so my expectations were not unreasonable. Due to a couple of key factors, which I would rather not discuss on a public forum, the group has not delivered one 70min performance that satisfies that potential, 12 games into the season…. The results of the remaining 4 games will define the season and anything less than 4 wins will mark another underachieving season in my opinion
@Kaya 85: Yep, but if there is one defence I would put my life on, it’s Hilton’s. Grey Bloem usually go into 6th gear in the last 15 mins and score 30 points then, won’t happen vs Hilton. Also, at Hilton, very different to at Grey Bloem. I do think it’s probably 20 points difference between top 5 and 15th
@Grasshopper: I agree 10-15th…and yes that means they are big dogs!!….but the really BIG BIG dogs…? I.e. top 5…They might stay in the game for 30 – 40 minutes, but then 9 times out of 10 they are going to get blown away…and the other 1 time they might lose narrowly or heroically,…but still lose for sure.
@Ploegskaar: Boland Landbou is a fantastic representative of what’s best in our school heritage…maybe I underestimate BL, but it doesn’t help that they have 3 of the most powerful school rugby teams on their doorstep… I’m not saying the two Paarl heavyweights overshadowed you guys, in fact it’s 3 Paarl heavyweights a Stellenbosch heavyweight…
I haven’t done them justice, sorry Ploegie…
How would you describe their season to date?
@Kaya 85: Nice post Kaya, but where does Landbou fit in on this list of yours? Maybe not hungry enough to fit in the chasing pack? I am not sure where to place this year’s team either to be honest. Suppose how they fare in the remaining 4 games will provide a better picture, so I will reserve judgment until after the Oakdale inter-schools game. I am sure knocking over both or at least one of the big trees is a priority though
@Kaya 85: KES wouldn’t roll them & Jeppe were lucky. Watch out for KZN, they are going to mix it with the big dogs. I would say they are comfortably around 10 to 15.
@OUD ANKER: They played Paarl Boys High last year at the St Johns festival and lost 14:5 in a rainy game. They can certainly mix it up with the big teams. Not sure how strong they will be over the next 5 years though compared to the previous 5/6.
@OUD ANKER: I think they are probably around 10h-15th more or less…I’d think a Wynberg or Rondebosch match would be very very close…I think KES would roll them (Jeppe already did). They are strongest in KZN but did not have ambitions to play big guns nationwide. They’ve been smart,…didn’t bite off more than they can chew…
Beet/Kaya85, does anybody know why Hilton does not play the so called big guns? To me Hilton is this big unknown mystery. Can they compete with a Grey/Gim etc? or are they actually a 10-20 ranking position team?
Great article and summary of the season so far!
Few observations from my perspective:
Grey vs Garsfontein – On the day one or two plays and it could have gone Garsfontein’s way.
The Monnas win over Paul Roos was spectacular. Don’t wright them off for the NoordVaal Cup.
Then there is EG my favorite 2023 team … going from strength to strength and my favorite team for the Cup.
Looking forward to the rest of the season.