May 2024
Spoiler alert: Huge match on the horizon in the Southern Suburbs!
The two best teams in Cape Town’s South go head-to-head on Hawthornden Field on Saturday, 04 May 2024. Wynberg versus Rondebosch. The winner should go on to clinch the first Triple Crown of the season and make an unthinkable step towards a grand slam (double Triple).
Literally since the season began the question has been who is better? Wynberg or Rondebosch? Starting with a player-for-player match up, then moving on to the coaching setups and ending with the form on the field since March, it seems like there are is so little to separate these two u19A teams. So while its been a bit of a different experience in this season’s quadrangular derby series that includes Bishops and SACS, due to one-sided results, this particular game coming up has the makings of a grind-it-out match. A hard-fought, closely contested battle where neither side gives ground or points on the scoreboard easily.
In the other match SACS hosts Bishops on the Memorial A Field in the residential area of Newlands. The match represents a big opportunity for both. However in a season in which Bishops are struggling, there is a much higher expectation placed on the young Ikeys to produce a win.
| SOUTHERN SUBURBS 2024 | BISH | BOSCH | SACS | BERG | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat.20Apr | Rondebosch | 55-22 | SACS | – | 6 | 0 | – |
| Sat.27Apr | Bishops | 08-35 | Wynberg | 0 | – | – | 6 |
| Sat.04May | Wynberg | vs | Rondebosch | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.04May | SACS | vs | Bishops | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.01Jun | Bishops | vs | Rondebosch | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.01Jun | Wynberg | vs | SACS | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.03Aug | SACS | vs | Rondebosch | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.03Aug | Wynberg | vs | Bishops | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.10Aug | Rondebosch | vs | Wynberg | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.10Aug | Bishops | vs | SACS | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.17Aug | Rondebosch | vs | Bishops | – | – | – | – |
| Sat.17Aug | SACS | vs | Wynberg | – | – | – | – |
| ” “ | POINTS | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | ||
| ” “ | WINS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| ” “ | Position | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| ” “ | BISH | BOSCH | SACS | BERG | |||
Scoring
MOST VICTORIES WINS THE SS4 CHAMPIONSHIP
4pts for a win, 3pts for a draw
Margin of victory points:
Greater than 14 = 2pts to the winning team
Between 8 & 14 = 1pt to the winning team, 1pt to the losing team
Less than 8 = 2pts to the losing team
@beet (Comment #10)
Nothing to do with Bishops,that I promise as their numbers are not great either. I was told that the current matrics this year at Wynberg when they they were U13 in junior school, their B side had to play Bosch 7 a side as they didnt have enough players which then goes to show why Bosch only have 1 player in their midsts & Tom ended up at Bosch. DOR basically had to buy a whole team to make them conpetitive.
@yesnomaybe (Comment #9)
No I’m talking about Vlam for sure. He has a distinct voice. Hard to miss.
Any chance Bosch suffering due to being so close to Bishops?
Always interesting to find out what happened to the u13A from the respective junior schools.
Wynberg use 2 commentators, the other being the Afrikaans teacher at the school who I think you getting confused with, whose the most lively of the 2. Sure they biased, but they do apologise for it, its whats called home ground advantage. Wynberg have a number of Plumstead Old boy parents in the system mainly due to the demise of their old school on the sporting front. Interestingly Toms brother matriculated at Wynberg 2-3 years back. Lastly on a different note, the lack of players who went to the respective junior schools, Bosch had 1 in the starting 1st team & Wynberg had 4 players. The question that needs answering is why are the numbers so low? Guaranteed that wasn’t the percentage in years gone by so something has changed. Bosch cant even get an U16D side together so maybe this is why there is so little representation from the junior school & then having to arrange/offer boys from other parts of the Cape to join the high school.
I was surprised to learn that Vlam van Vuuren is NOT a Wynberg old boy. He is so enthusiastic when commentating I thought he might have been born on the school grounds and grown up there.
So he is from Plumstead High same as Bosch captain Tom Barnard’s father.
Bosch have a very good team this year, and was only a matter of time before it all clicked. They did really well to exploit the cards and numerical advantage, and were clinical when they had the opportunity. I thought the game was a 50-50 going into it but I was surprised by the scoreline tbh. Berg have a fantastic team this year too and just had a bad day at the office – silly mistakes, errors, ill-discpline etc. I expect they’ll bounce back from this, they’re too good not to.
@Gold (Comment #5)
Definitely. But I must there are probably plenty of coaches who wish their teams could exploit the advantage as well as Rondebosch did vs Berg. I think clever designs and a good rugby IQ helped plenty.
I watched a match at Kings Park the other evening and it was 15 vs 13 at one stage with the 15-man team in the red zone, yet still struggling to score partly due to not having the formations and the individual clicks between players to suss out where best to strike. So full credit to Bosch for this.
@beet (Comment #4)
It’s amazing how cards have become such an important part of the schoolboy game. 20 Years ago they were rare, and if a schoolboy received one he was likely going to spend the following Saturday in detention rather than on the field.
I’m as surprised as most by this result, but full credit to Bosch and some excellent coaching to prepare for and take full advantage of cards and the subsequent numerical advantage. Very smart!
I watched what I could of the game. Unfortunately the SSS video was a let down again. At some point in the second half the tape jumps back to the first half and starts over again. It then does not run to the end of the match.
Simons and Miller were instrumental for Bosch. Both players have a good eye for the game and the ability to make things happen when the spot opportunities.
Also Bosch used the two sinbins of Wynberg backs to maximum effect. Read the overlaps on the left and came up with the designs to turn them into tries.
Also got a nice try from an indecisive exit. That also seemed to haunt Wynberg. They made wrong choices and unforced errors in the wrong places.
In the end another one of those totally unexpected SBR games.
Massive statement by Rondebosch
I don’t think there’s much to separate these two teams, both have really good teams this year. Made a comment to my Berg friend at beginning of season that when these two teams play each other this year, I’m going with one win each, to the away team (no logic to this at all just a wild guess!).
So, gonna stick to this and say Bosch to scrape a close affair this weekend (with Berg to get revenge next term away from home).
Slightest of margins for the home team I think.