[Final score: Michaelhouse 34 Hilton 43 (Hilton achieve a double in 2013)]
While all the other KZN school students enjoy the first day of their holiday, the two KZN Midlands private schools Michaelhouse and Hilton will meet on Saturday in the last game of their respective 2013 seasons. It seems like their second term was specially extended by one day just to accommodate this fixture.
The pressure is on the hosts Michaelhouse. In the first match at Hilton, House were no match for an on fire home team, losing 42-12, one of the biggest derby defeats in the history of their rivalry. In recent weeks House has picked up their game though and coupled with the home ground advantage of the Meadows, they will be a lot more competitive this time around. A surprising aspect of the Michaelhouse team composition is that a lot of the senior players that one expected to be the core of the 1st XV at the start of the season, now find themselves playing for the 2nd team for various reasons. The recognisable names that will take the field in the curtain-raiser include those of former captain Cian Grendon, Cameron Bird and Cameron Holenstein.
Hilton should feel fairly confident about taking this game. Apart from standout no.8 Nqobi Maseko being ruled out, they will field their strongest possible team. Hilton should be very competitive amongst the forwards in broken play but it’s their set-pieces where they really need to work extra hard. With the attack-minded Maseko missing, there is also a need to employ their backline a lot better than they have done in recent weeks.
Spectators are also bound to be treated to the best “Spell” using blazers in South Africa, as the two sets of schoolboys will no doubt be out to impress big time.
Then there is also the issue of Hilton coach Brad MacLeod-Henderson. Will this be his last game in charge? Rumours of him already having tended his resignation at Hilton and signed up to be part of the new Sharks Currie Cup coaching structure are growing by the day. There are also some who still believe that BMH will receive a R300000 bonus if his team completes the double by winning this match. As far as I know this story is false along with ones suggesting he earns a package of R1 million per annum as the school’s head coach.
Hilton v Michaelhouse statistics:
Games Played: 189
Michaelhouse won: 94
Hilton College won: 85
Drawn: 10
Michaelhouse biggest win: 51-0 (1910)
Hilton biggest win: 42-12 (2013)
Match breakdown of the first match on Gilfillan.
|
MIN |
SCORE |
DETAILS |
|
7 |
3-0 |
Hilton scrumhalf and captain Cameron Wright penalty. |
|
9 |
3-0 |
MHS fullback Glassock miss a penalty after a side entry ruling against Hilton. This after Walker had kicked ahead and placed Hilton fullback Mark Gunn under a great deal of pressure. |
|
14 |
10-0 |
MHS miss touch from a penalty. HC carry the ball up into the MHS 22m. House get the ball back but then wing Faber runs diagonally and fails at an ambitious touch-finder. The ball is fielded by left wing Jaeger Richmond who passes to Gunn. From a ruck deep inside the MHS 22m the ball is passed to outside centre Tristan Blewett who scores. Wright converts. |
|
18 |
10-0 |
Wright misses a penalty awarded for MHS not rolling away. House are again guilty of making a poor clearance in the build-up to this penalty and they also lose the ball to an intercept while trying to pass it inside their own 22m after they had turned over the ball. Errors are definitely upsetting House’s game. |
|
24 |
17-0 |
Cameron Wright scores a try and converts it. Again HC play brilliant rugby in the initial build-up. A series of good passes gets them right to the MHS try-line where they are awarded a 5m scrum. The scrum does not go so well for HC but they still manage to launch an attack off it and from the side of the next ruck, Wright backs himself on the fringe. |
|
Halftime |
17-0 |
Hilton ends the half conceding a penalty on the MHS try-line. HC showed good continuity and patient build-up at times and the star of the show is their classy captain and scrumhalf Cameron Wright who has controlled the game with his intelligent decision-making and big boot. |
|
44 |
24-0 |
HC’s lock Christian Wiessing scores a try. It starts with a blindside attack off the scrum. With the aid of a well-manufactured overlap Mark Gunn has a strong run. Once he is brought down, Hilton recycle the ball quickly and Wiessing does very well to break the line of defence to score. |
|
47 |
24-0 |
Wright misses a long kick at goal resulting from a penalty. |
|
48 |
24-7 |
MHS lock Christopher Schoeman tries hard all game long and his never-say-die attitude helps restore a bit of respectability when he intercepts a pass and races clear, showing good pace from far out to score a try. Fullback Glassock converts. |
|
54 |
27-7 |
Wright lands a penalty. Blewett had a good run to set up the field position. MHS were caught offsides at the ruck. |
|
56 |
32-7 |
Replacement wing Ariel Garcao scores after Wright kicks a highball and the MHS player drops it and then misses the tackle as well. Nothing is going MHS’s way. |
|
60 |
37-7 |
Hilton no.8 Nqobi Maseko scores a try. From a lineout, Wright feeds to Maseko who knocks over 2 defenders with ease as part of a 25m carry to the goal line. |
|
62 |
37-12 |
Try for MHS captain and flank Cian Grendon. It starts at a lineout near halfway. Grendon manages to break and then links up with livewire Schoeman who feeds the ball back to his captain. Both players carry and read the play very well during this move. |
|
65 |
Wright misses another long-range penalty |
|
|
68 |
42-12 |
Dickerson scores. Hilton runs the ball from a scrum after generating a blindside overlap. It goes nicely through the hands with Gunn doing very well before Dickerson finishes in the corner with defenders hanging onto him. |
|
Fulltime |
42-12 |
@ Beet: I heard he was in Pretoria at St Albans College and also coaching Tuks under 19s. Superb, well-spoken, young man with a bright future in the game. He coached my sons and taught one of them English. They would not stop talking about him. Superb cricket coach as well from what I hear. I thought he would’ve been a future 1st XV coach at our school. Maybe he will one day. St Albans have a gem on their hands. I hope they give him an opportunity to influence their rugby at the top end there. Very intriguing character.
@Tarpeys: Well I for one am so relieved that you didn’t post that comment last Friday, coz sure as hell I would have driven up to Balgowan just to watch the u14A after reading that.
Very interest. I think the late great David Rattray would have been proud of you if he’d read this. Good stuff.
What happened to coach Mofokeng?
I think the fixture that is probably the second most anticipated, on the day, is the 14 A game. Since 2007, there has only been 3 occasions where a school has won the double, Michaelhouse in 2007, 2012 and Hilton this year. There has also been 3 draws in that period. The 0-0 draw in 2008 was probably the most unbelievable match match of all time.
The Anderson/Mofokeng (coaches) rivalry 2010-2012 was probably the most intriguing years of that fixture. The young and talented Mofokeng (big loss to Michaelhouse and KZN rugby) against the experience and wily Anderson. The contrasts did not end there as their tactical approaches were poles apart and throw in their differences in size and hue into the mix, and you had a recipe for tantalizing cliffhanger encounters. The two draws of 2011 (24-24 and 19 -19 )were epic matches of legendary propositions. The ebb and flow of those two encounters left the crowd on sidelines spellbound and certainly exhausted at the final whistle.
The guts and flames of fierce but friendly rivalry are certainly lit in these initial encounters and are fanned in the ensuing years. The thing that always impresses me about that game is large contingent of 1st XV players that turn up to watch and even send on the kicking tee for the respective kickers. It is also very difficult to pick out the respective coaches because each coach is usually flanked by numerous other coaches offering moral and tactical support, (usually behind the poles) with the respective Rectors not being too far away.
Long may the tradition and honour of this particular fixture last.
@Meadows: Not true, we lost the 1st game at Hilton in 2011 at Hilton. It was game 9 of the streak when game 8 on Meadows was washed out. Gavin Ross stepped down and Michael Schwartz lost his first Michaelhouse/Hilton matches and I remember how devastated he was when I spoke to him on his way to the post match function.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. The games are always incredibly close and its down to the occasion and how intense it is, no matter what the perceived strengths of the team are. On the whole though, Hilton alway win more fixtures on the day and are often untouchable at open age group level except for 1st team.
@Tarpeys: My recollection of the recent MHS winning streak is that it began in the first game of 2007 and ended in the second game in 2012 – so 11 actual matches. From memory, the only year that I can recall that both games were won convincingly was in 2007 – 40-0 and 44-17. Within that period of perceived dominance even the 2008 side, with 6 Craven Week and a couple of Academy Week players, scraped a last minute win at Hilton. Last year, again with far more representative players, MHS lost the return fixture.
In most years, notwithstanding perceived relative strengths, number of Craven Week players, or rankings of the teams the score line has been close in at least one of the games – the occasion tends to see to that. This clip of the 2008 game at Hilton won narrowly by MHS 21-18 with a late try exemplifies what the occasion is all about – great atmosphere and occasion with a tightly contested game played in excellent spirit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmSgBk_lK0k
@beet: I agree that schoolboys should be coached by schoolmasters – and this has nothing to do with BMH’s results this year coaching Hilton
On another note I have been told, on what I believe to be good authority, that the much talked about package being paid to Hilton’s pro coach is overstated and that the amount that tends to get mentioned most often is in fact an amount raised by some old boys to be paid annually towards rugby at the school and subsidises more than just one salary.
@beet: Just a comment from my side on swimming. If you want to make it as a swimmer you need to be performing at a very high level whilst still at school. You may not be selected for a team because of political or other issues but your individual times will tell you whether you are performing. There is an easy measure of achievement.
With most other sports a lack of success in making a representative team is not a clear indication that a good player will not make it after school. Quotas have played a big role in this.
With swimming if you are not clocking the right times at age 18 you will probably not make it. Hence the need to get professional training in at a much younger age.
One could argue that a sport like tennis is similar. Most of the professionals these days have pro training from a very young age and their academic studies are structured to suit. But this should not be done by a school in my opinion.
@beet: I am not sure what changes are happening around swimming training that is impacting on the wider school day. My son has not been impacted in any way that I am aware of but I will check with him if he knows of anything.
Can you give me any details of what you have heard. You will have my email address if you would like to email me.
@CRC: Good point. It is a difficult balancing act. That’s why I think it’s increasingly important that schools have a joined vision of what role rugby must play in school life. Not just now but for the foreseeable future.
There was a case within the last year where a promising young player from the W/Cape (who is still at his original WC school now) was fed a lie by a scout acting on behalf of a prominent KZN school. This was done to get the player all the way from the WC to KZN to help the school perform better on the rugby field. It’s just an example of where the ethical values of a school are being pushed one side in pursuit of rugby glory.
My opinion here is that this all comes about because one school is responding to what a rival school is doing, and that rival school was doing it to keep pace with a different rival and that different rival started doing it because they had given in to the notion that professionalism in school rugby is unavoidable down the line, so why try get there first.
When they started developing the sugarcane farms into what is now the La Lucia Ridge business area and late built the Gateway shopping centre, planners did not have the vision to realise that at the same time they should be widening the roads, building more freeway exits, etc etc. Nowadays commuters in peak hour morning traffic have to wait up to 45mins on the N2 offramp. It’s a silly example of a problem that came up overnight but this is why there should be a plan to address or avoid the problems. Things are happening so fast in school rugby, what looks good on the surface now, is going to be huge issues tomorrow.
@Parochial: Nice post.
Saturday was a great day out , and I actually quite liked that it finished early ( it was nice for my youngsters to be able to run around on the fields without the constant concerns from ‘the Mrs’ that they would get sick from the cold ).
I thought they day was a good advert for schoolboy rugby, with Hilton going ahead and MHS showing some fight and coming back with some sheer guts to make a game of it in the end.
Long may the rivalry continue in the right spirit as it did on Saturday.
( Aside from the rugby I must commend the Hilton boys on their manners, whilest walking from my car to the my spot on the Meadows banks all the Hilton boys I passed on the way greeted me and my wife , sadly
a number of the MHS boys walked past us without so much as a word being uttered…this is not what we have become used to over the years of attending a number of events at MHS )
@Parochial: Thanks. I love your work. Great comment to read again.
@Griffonfly: I can’t say I know much about swimming but I fully understand what you are saying. The needs of a swimmer are specific from coach to training schedule.
But what I’m leaning towards is do you change a school timetable that impacts on many students to suit a few elite sportsmen?
The Sharks Academy has some cons to go with the pros but counted amongst it’s strengths is that unlike any other rugby institute in SA, academics are structured to fit around training. There are no timetable clashes so Sharks Academy players don’t have to sacrifice study in pursuit of their dreams to become pro players. The difference being that everyone at the Academy is there for rugby first, academics second. This is definitely not the priority order at a high school.
The importance of rugby results on the psychie of a school cannot be underestimated. A 1st XV match is one of the few occasions a whole school gets together with its supporters and cheers for their school. A win means smiles all around and a loss; well a Michaelhouse parent on Saturday told me how after the first fixture (where they had lost the 1st, 2nd, U16A, U15A and U14A games)the school had gone into depression.
Rugby does however need to be balanced against the everything else that a school does and stands for. A very difficult balancing act.
@Beet Swimming is an individual sport, and swimmers most likely do most of their training with outside coaches and not with the school coaches (teachers) .
In the US Olympic swimmers are given leeway with their academic timetables to fit swimming in. Their aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in so the school “accommodates” the swimmers. With swimming you will need to spend 6 hours a day training (pool and land training).
I cannot lie, I really enjoy this blogsite. It combines a spectrum mix of “kenners”, emotion and the occasional whackjob. Beet, WELL DONE!!!!
This weekend I found myself on the side of a lower age group game with an aspiring schoolboy ref who technically was the worst I had ever seen. Having read Greenblooded’s excellent piece made it that much easier to STFU and appreciate the game for what it was. (I do hope the lad gets a lot of guidance though!)
The day itself, as tends to be the case twice a year every year, was more of a festival than just a set of fixtures and it is always a privilege to be there (and catch up with all my Hilton and House friends).
At 33-6, the game looked pretty much settled, but House refused to lie down and die, and at 36-27 with momentum having shifted it was real “squeaky bums” time. Whilst it was awesome to get the double, House showed real mettle. That said, the complex soup of chemicals that are released when “your side” wins (or loses) makes it very much more pleasant to win. (An amusing aside; it has been my observation through the years that a large number of schoolgirls attend these fixtures, and they are given to paying far more attention to the winners. Quite literally a case of to the winners go the spoils!)
The issue of professional coaches is an interesting one. The choice of BMH was certainly made more palatable by the fact that he was an Old Boy and so the ethos of the school was not foreign to him. I did not witness the “inappropriate” behavior at Kearsney, but certainly at Glenwood I was impressed that the consistent message conveyed to the kids in H2 was to maintain discipline when too many penalties were being conceded. (And I have seen that HC sanctions poor player discipline on and off the field in a way that “old school types” find most appropriate). I also thought that as the season progressed I witnessed an increasing mental toughness accompanied by composure at the start of the game, starting “hot” and a willingness to vary play. Similarly, I have seen dramatic improvements in skill levels at lower age groups. All this I would attribute to the direct and indirect impact of a good coach.
In general the decision to opt for a pro coach is typically preceded by an extended period of poor results at the First Team level. In the drought we experienced v House no-one was talking about the overall results favouring Hilton, or whether the hockey sides performed well (or not). First Team rugby does appear to be a “winner take all” affair in terms of the South African psyche and this counts in terms of marketing. Does a rugby victory make a difference in terms of whether I would want to pay an “excruciating” sum to send my sons there or not. Well, in general terms, the feeder schools tend to be the same and when one or the other is able to headline winning the marquee match for several years, it might well. Or to choose another example, I care about Academic results more than anything else, yet as a Jozi-based parent I could not in conscience consider St Johns which has an unmatched academic record because I am of the impression that they box to far below their weight on the rugby field. (Look, and I know a lot of work is being done to remediate this, so please don’t let anyone get their kickers in a knot ) And again, I am of the school that looks at the game as a builder and reflection of character.
All that said, I fully appreciate that SBR is becoming an “Arms Race” and that Beet’s nervousness about the game is well founded. No idea what the solutions are.
Looking to next year, I would share in the sentiments that maybe next year looks better for House v HC. I saw a few proper quality backline movements in the House second team. Most unfortunate!!!
I was chuckling last night watching the English implosion at the cricket, reflecting on the English media and their shoddy treatment of the SA team ahead of their game v England and all the “choker” labels.
He who laughs last…
Good luck to the KZN team… hope that all the injuries from too much hard rugby does not cripple them!
And I think I will find myself being a Green supporter in Term 3. But don’t tell anyone!
I also don’t expect pro coaches to just get fired. They can be phased out just like the rugby post-matrics were phased out over a few years round about 2007/08.
When a contract ends or a resignation is tended, make the change.
@Westers: At College they use a rugby consultant. He answers to the coach and is an assistant coach. In my view this arrangement is acceptable and should be allowed to stand because it is like you say there is need to improve and getting fresh ideas from outside is a way of achieving this.
@Westers: I guess a tough one would be to ask you about swimming.
I know it’s not mainstream like rugby but certainly it’s earned Westville huge credit via the Olympics. I’ve been told there have been developments at Westville which seem geared towards accommodating talented individual swimmers. As I understand it some of these changes were made to offer the boys the same opportunities that exist at Glenwood where SA National coach Graham Hill helps out.
I hope I’m not speaking out of turn here I don’t know the specifics but the impression I get is that academics is being restructured around swimming and not vice versa. This means that a educational routines of a lot of kids are being affected in order to assist a few swimmers.
Obviously swimming is a lot different to rugby in the sense that at a young age the stopwatch identifies talent and one is able to determine future potential from there and for those talented few, success in the sport will open doors to things like US College scholarships. This future worth is definitely not as obvious in rugby. The 2 school sports are however not so different in the sense that success translates to a excellent marketing tool.
Anyway the point is that the swimming example gives an idea of the challenges or threats that uncontrolled movements towards rugby professionalism in schools poses. It has the ability to cause schools to restructure academics to suit sportsmen’s needs and in so doing cause the majority to make adjusts to benefit a few.
This comment are not designed to hurt Westville just highlight an issue brought on by sport in school so if it is inaccurate I might have to delete it or rephase it.
@Tarpeys: As far as I know
DHS: Christo Wilkinson = teacher
George Campbell: Antonie Prinsloo = teacher
Kearsney: Barend Steyn = teacher
Michaelhouse: Michael Schwartz = teacher
Northwood: Donald Ngwenya = not a teacher
Glenwood: Sean_Erasmus = not a teacher
Maritzburg College: Ryan Strudwick = not a teacher
Hilton: Brad McLeod-Henderson = not a teacher
I’m not sure about St Charles and Clifton but at Port Natal Jan van Straaten is a teacher but he was planning to step down at the end of this season.
@Tarpeys: agreed, two of the provinces best coaches Skonk Nicholson and Toppy Hortop were/are teachers. I know times have changed but those guys taught the boys values and life lessons, I was one of them. Have you seen the Garsfontein team, looks like a side plucked out of the winelands….
@Beet. I totally agree with schoolmasters being coaches at school level and Grant Bell has done fantastically well despite all his other commitments and he is an example of what can be done. I just don’t think that Schwartz has handled the task to that standard.
Do you know any other Tier one schools that are still schoolmaster coached in kzn? Besides the 2 mentioned I can only think of Barend Steyn and Kearsney are top of the pile this year.
With the recruitment of players, the Bulls are doing what you are fearing already. They are recruiting from the cape and eastern province and placing these boys at various schools.
@beet: Agree with you 100% on keeping SBR fully amateur with no interference or influence on individuals or particular schools. There contributions should be limited to helping improve the game in areas such as coaching and reffing. By that I mean coach the coaches and refs.
@beet: I agree with all your sentiments in all your posts, from pro coaches, the squad system, hiring firing renting and HP’s of players, to Union’s selective intervention of certain schools and CW. My simple question is, where does this end, and to what end? There was vigorous debate at Hilton by staff and parents, at the time of the employment of BMH, that culturally the move was bad for the school and that the precedent of professional rugby would be bad for the school and more particularly not conducive to the equilibrium of the pupils. Many staff believed that the coaching position should be facilitated by teachers who have the boys interest at heart, not simply the concept of winning. I disagree with Tarpeys, the fact that boys in matrix at Hilton had never experienced a victory against MHS, big deal, gets grip, many boys have never experienced a victory against college or glenwod.
@Tarpeys: I don’t think anyone can disagree with you on the point about BMH making a difference in the MHS-HC fixture. And because of the importance of this match to both schools, perhaps whatever he is/was being paid is/was justified.
There are coaches with similar teaching/coaching challenges to Schwartz’s in KZN, The one that immediately comes to mind is Grant Bell of Westville, who has at the very least matched MS’s 2012 achievements. In his second year in charge at WBHS with just 2 (maybe 3) CW players, his team has performed remarkably well in domestic inter-schools.
Ahhh the value of the director of rugby in shaping a school’s rugby starting at u14 and going all the way up to open. Very important position. But equally important to success, the attitude of the Headmaster towards rugby and the quality of A-team players in the age-groups.
@Grasshopper: You are obviously not an actuary, to use a percentage versus the number of boys who do or don’t play rugby is invalid. It is basically how many boys that play that determines depth, nothing else.
@Far Meadows: Definitely the debate about pro coaches is a matter of choice. Personally I’d like to see an agreement reached to take that choice away.
I believe schools need to form task committees and determine what rugby’s place should be now and for the next 10 years or so. Right now the free market is driving decision-making and it needs to be regulated to avoid things spiraling out of control.
I’m sure there are many who will disagree with me on this but I believe that in a few years time we might be faced with a situation where the Sharks actively recruit players from other regions at u16 to u17 level, relocate them to Durban, play them money, place them in a particular school that is closely aligned to the Sharks Academy, maybe even schedules classes in sync with training times at the Academy. And obviously worst fear of all, guarantees these newly acquired pro players places in the Craven Week and Grant Khomo teams, ignoring what non-contracted schoolboys at KZN schools outside the loop have to offer. Who knows maybe this kind of thing has already started to happen.
I say nip it in the bud. Bring on some rules that keeps SBR focused on the role it’s suppose to play as part of a complete school education package.
I think BMH has made a massive difference in this particular fixture. Hilton have definitely had the edge in the last 4 games even when Michaelhouse had 6 Craven week players last year. The way he exploited the weak kicking game of our 15 last year and a weak defensive system in all 4 games. The high bombs from Wright were spot on. – a clear strategy to exploit a weakness. Keep in mind that before be took over, Michaelhouse had won 7 in a row with one abandoned. There are some outstanding players coming through and Schwartz will need to plan more accurately for this fixture next year ( If he keeps his job as coach. )
As far as paying BMH a truck load of money, they needed to.That streak was getting ridiculous and starting to have a life of its own. There were boys in Matric who had never seen a first team win against MHS and now they have 3 in a row in comfortable wins.
As for Schwartz, it’s hard to be a housemaster, science teacher, academy week manager, parent and first team coach.
This year will hurt but House will bounce back next year in a massive way. They do have the best directed of Rugby in the country.
@Far Meadows: OK, so 46% playing rugby, so better than Gov schools and they are all boarders so can play touch and train everyday if they wish. They also probably don’t have to share a field with 4 other teams at training like the likes of DHS and Glenwood….
@Grasshopper: There were 17 rugby and 11 hockey teams in action yesterday.
So there were 255 rugby players yesterday.
@Far Meadows: I feel so sorry for Arnott, KZN player last year and would have been a shoe in this year. Also unlucky to Hollenstein, he would have been the first on my list if I was the coach…
@Far Meadows: Just a question, do you know what % of House boys play rugby? The reason I ask is people assume if a school has bigger numbers it has more depth. Glenwood has 250 boarders when House and Hilton have circa 550 each. I would say 80% of the boarders play rugby (so 200), but in terms of the whole of Glenwood only 450 boys play rugby in total out of 1250 boys, so only 36%. If big Gov schools had bigger Boarding establishments and convinced a few more day dogs to play, they would have serious depth and be too strong for the privates…Grey Bloem is so good because they have so many boarders and a very high % of boys playing rugby.
@beet:
The MHS season was also derailed by injuries to some key players ( I know all schools have to deal with injuries, but the effects it has on the smaller schools like Hilton and MHS seem to have a greater effect, particularly if you don’t have a really strong side in a particular year) to name a few : Arnott, Faber& Grendon.
The pro coach is a debate that could rage on for years if you want. I suppose schools all have different philosophies on what their priorities are, and I don’t imagine that many parents out there are going to shell out close to R200k a year just because one particular school won more rugby matches than the other.
Maybe one more fixture against a touring side to end off the season…friendly followed with a braai for the boys to make friends with the tourists…..
@beet: Totally agree! School rugga has gone one step too far. What I noticed in all the premier schools interviews with the schools Boks is each said that school rugby was too professional and that the joy had been taken out of the game a bit…..too much pressure. I would love the schools to go back to teachers as coaches and sticking with traditional fixtures and maybe one Easter festival. For Glenwood eg;
1) Port Natal
2) George Campbell
3) Easter Festival (3 games eg Paarl Gim, Grey Bloem etc)
4) Northwood
5) Westville
6) Hilton
7) College
8) Michaelhouse
9) Kearsney
10) DHS
11) Westville
12) College
13) KES or PBHS or Jeppe
So a reasonable 16 fixtures for the 1st’s and 13 for for the rest, playing College and Westville twice on a home and away basis. Perfect, tested hard in the festival and then traditional fixtures with one JHB tour. Grey Bloem, Affies and Monnas fixtures should be removed……
@beet: Please do tell!!
@TheGoose: It’s point taken but at the same time not limited to just the school you mentioned. There are numerous incidents in KZN and around SA like this on a weekly basis now. IMHO it does however tend to go hand in hand with professional coaches at schools. You seldom see school teachers carrying on in this manner.
The solution: a strictly enforced set of rules for coaches and support staff to abide by on match-day and better method of reporting grievances with reffing decisions, with the underlying intention of helping improve the quality of reffing and not venting frustrations.
It looks like I’ll be updating this list of KZN school coaches fairly shortly and it won’t be just one change either.
http://schoolboyrugby.co.za/blog/?p=2082
@Far Meadows: Looking ahead 2014 does look a lot brighter for MHS than Hilton at this very early stage.
Cameron Wright indeed a wonderful player with a bright future but he is surrounded by decent players. Michaelhouse has definitely improved in the second half of the season. A problem they had was definitely the imbalance of the season’s fixtures. Away games vs Wvl, KC and MC with just Gwd at home was always gonna make this year tougher. Obviously next year becomes a lot easier in terms of home advantage.
Good to hear that Egberinck is coming along nicely. One to keep a close eye on in 2014 I’m sure. Bader Pretorius will definitely be another.
Also agree with the comment, the HC coach didn’t make a significant difference IMHO. I thought he had a good team in 2012 and only managed 5th in KZN if I’m not mistaken. His predecessor Scheepers had a weak team to work with in 2011 and I think could have matched BMH’s results if given the same opportunity. Off course his career took him in a totally new direction as well, so perhaps a silly statement for me to make.
@McCulleys Workshop: BMH’s contract was for 3 years. Honestly I think that 3 years is sufficient time for a school to assess whether they have made progress under a coach’s leadership. Obviously the opportunity exists to extend before that time if they are happy.
In the last year or so I have had a change of heart about school’s hiring pro coaches. Now I believe that all SBR teams should be coached by fulltime teachers. The movement towards professionalism at school level is an interesting one but if I had any say in the running of SBR in KZN or nationally I would do my utmost best to protect the school values and control the process of change. I feel that external coaches don’t share these values. I worry that schools are going with the flow in terms of professionalism, often allowing unions to have too big a say in matters. Schools need to control their own destiny. The world including SBR is a changing place but it doesn’t mean that all changes are for the better and the long term harmful effects of some changes need to analysed up front and rejected.
I’d like the following SBR rules to come into play:
* No A-team pro coaches, only qualified teachers to coaches
* All SBR players to be amateurs (like College Football in the USA). The set of strict guidelines of what a student is allowed to receive in terms of a bursary / scholarship
* No player allowed to represent provincial SBR team until he has been at a school in that province for at least 24 months when the provincial tournament begins.
* No player allowed to sign a contract with any union including union overseeing rugby in the region he lives in until after CW. All approaches with intention to sign made by Unions to players prior to CW to be made public (regulated)
The last one is because I have already heard of 1 player who was reported to have been picked for CW simply because he has a contract with the union in his school region. This spells the beginning of trouble when preference is given to players on this basis. In KZN, using the Sharks Academy as bait is already a popular method used for recruitment by local schools, soon a guarantee of a CW place is going to become part of a package deal. This has got to be stopped. If anything schools need to reduce the influence of unions rather than play along with.
The last one is because
I’d like to
@Far Meadows: Add to that Bader at Flyhalf.
Thank you iPhone for retarded typing in the post above.
Should read ‘ they showed spirit and had moments’
Watched the game yesterday. I didn’t notice the difference that a R1m a year coach made…. the real difference between the sides was the colossus that is Cameron Wright.
MHS showed a lot of spirmaker enter moments where they played some nice running rugby.They gave away some soft tries which gave them too much of a mountain to climb in the end.
With a number of the backline back next year and quite a few from the 2nds and their very good 3rds back next year they will have a decent enough side. Egberinck (8th man) looks like a star in the making, he had a cracking game.
Well done to Hilton on ‘the double’.
So Venter will travel between London, Somerset West and Durban, with the experienced Brad on the ground with Sean Everitt, makes sense, well done Smit and Saad. You have excelled yourselves in you short (not) time in office. Keep it up. It is amazing how these appointments create a messianic complex time and again, they often end up like the untouchable Mourinhio.
http://thewitness.newspaper-direct.com/epaper/iphone/homepage.aspx#_article42e89619-1c3e-48a9-86e2-1e7f270627ef
@TheGoose: Help me please, I think I am suffering from temporary insanity, I am led to believe that Venter has a practice in Somerset West and will commute a few days a week, and that McLeod and Everitt will be on the ground, is this correct?
I wouldn’t mind a bar to coach a school side, need to do the next level coaching course methinks! Imagine that, a 4 half day week and a Saturday, amazing!
@McCulleys Workshop: Its well know in the Hilton circles who the old boy is that funds BMH’s package. Supposedly someone in the mining industry.
BHM and Sean Everitt are the Currie Cup coaching staff with Brendan Venter. I must say that I thought that the Hilton coaching staff’s behaviour at the Kearsney game was incredibly unprofessional – gesticulating and shouting at the ref right in front of the grandstand.
Beet, I’m not sure you are right about the R1mill package. I am led to believe that it is accurate, whether funded by the school or externally – happy to be corrected. I think it matters not the amount he is paid, it doesn’t make them a better or worse side. What is of concern is the day of professional coaching, where the tenure of a coach is limited in time. Why would you want a coach for two years, what do you achieve when you are looking to build your rugby program?
@star: They all go home because it is the end of term for both schools. Unusual to end term on a Saturday rugby day.
Strange that the kick off for the 1st team is at 13.30. Takes the buzz out of the day a bit. What happens when it is all over before 15.00?