1 Boland Landbou Oesfees Rugby Day not a given
Boland Landbou incurred a somewhat unexpected 13-24 lost to Durbanville who have kept a relatively low profile coming into the 2026 season. However its not a rare occurrence for the Farmers to lose that Oesfees fixture. Previously they have lost to Garsfontein and post Covid twice to Outeniqua. The Durbies result serves as another reminder that the Oesfees clash is rarely a straightforward assignment.
2 Life after Helmut Lehmann
Paarl Gim lost very narrowly to Stellenberg (19-20). It would be interesting to find out how far back in the past Paarl Gim lost their first official game of the season. It just has not happened in recent history. For many years there has been enough talk about how good assistant coach Helmut was. Not to take anything away from Stellies, now that he is out of the picture, was this a possible contributor towards the Gim defeat. Expected a fired up Gim to pitch up against Durbies. Tempo and continuity should be evident.
3 Maroons victory was prettier than it looked
Paul Roos’ 24-7 win against Drostdy probably left the coaching team and die hard supporters with a lot of unanswered questions about how the Stellenbosch powerhouse will front up in the huge match next up match against Affies. But make no mistake, on paper they beat a good Donkies team. Drostdy would want to forget their attacking performance in a hurry. Nothing seemed to go right as they struggled big time for rhythm. It was one of those games but in part to Paul Roos’ pressure applied.
4 There’s plenty of fight left in Millies
It’s been a tough in he public eye few months for Milnerton. The final outcome was the expulsion of several 1st XV players. Their opponents SACS are also a work in progress ahead of 2027 but the 26-17 to the Southern Suburbs showed that there is plenty of spirit left in Millies rugby and optimism that they can get their flourishing rugby programme back on track after this 2026 setback.
5 Oakdale has to pick themselves up off the deck
The talented Oakdale team suffered a comprehensive defeat to rampant Grey College who laid down a marker in the process. Many expected a close game but in the end it felt like a Red Bull trying to take on Mercedes post the DRS system. Anyways Oakdale have a unique outing against Upington up next. It’s a chance to regroup and realign ahead of their next massive challenge – Affies at the Plaas in Pretoria
@Snelvuur (Comment #9)
Yes, apparently for financial reasons as he wasn’t on a scholarship but it’s all been rather hush and I think everyone feeling a bit of a sour taste. (Disclaimer that this is what I gather and am not close enough to confirm the extent of the reasons).
@Gold (Comment #8)
Did Noble leave to Monument? That’s wild. But a real setback for Wynberg to lose both their 9 and 10. They’ll still be able to put a decent team on the park though, and PRG will have to be at their best.
@yesnomaybe (Comment #5)
Do you know what happened to him and how long he’ll be out?
Are there many other injuries? Together with Noble’s move to Monument, it might be a far tougher season for the Berg than anticipated.
I had high hopes for Oakdale this year.
@yesnomaybe (Comment #5)
Oof, ja, Behardien is a massive loss. Real quality player – hopefully he will be fine in time for Craven Week?
Wynberg have a few injury concerns leading up to this match. They have lost their main playmaker Berhardien for a substantial part of the season which is going to hurt them especially on attack as they play off 10 a lot. They are also playing Drostdy on the Saturday following this match on Tuesday so there will be no recovery time. Unfortunately the Southern Suburb schools season is dependent on the amount & timing of injuries. At U18 level they go up to a 5th/6th team on a good weekend as opposed to some schools in the winelands having 9/10 teams at that age group. They just don’t have the depth so they basically need to be at full strength most of the time otherwise its a very long season.
@Snelvuur (Comment #1)
It is scary that when I was leaving on Friday evening, I heard a few of the 2024 first team boys and a few school boys share their frustration with Pheiffer.
The team looked good given the circumstances (red card) though. I was worried about the scrum ahead of the game, but happy with what I saw.
There were a few weaker points that can still be exposed, and if so, it will be a tough season ahead.
@agter_die_pale_pa (Comment #2)
Ja, but I think the WP Schools Day is starting to make less and less sense. There are quite a few mismatches on the cards for tomorrow and it’s lost a lot of its lustre since the move away from Newlands. I would not be surprised if it completely falls away in the next season or two. From a PRG perspective, however, it’s a massive ask and I’m just holding thumbs that there will be no further injuries in the lead-up to Affies.
@Snelvuur (Comment #1)
Interesting that they are happy to play Wynberg 4 days before the big Affie match. That’s 3 big games in 7 days, early in the season. Assume that is the only way they could make the Affie-derby happen, so good on them.
I must say, I was actually pleasantly surprised by PRG’s performance. Wynberg tomorrow will be a step up and Affies on Saturday will obviously be a different level, but the team looked better than I expected. The red card was a bit of a turning point – had it not been for that, PRG would have been up 26-0 after 36min and who knows where the game would have ended then. The scrum was much, much better than expected with Meyer at loosehead especially impressive in the loose too (barring the red card, of course). Barnard at hooker was exceptional again and De Bruin (tall, lanky and deceptively quick) looks a talent at 8 too. Pity about the long-term injury sustained by Powell (sounds like 6 weeks) as he had some bright moments at 9. Basson and Hamman looked excellent in the centres too. My only real concern at the moment heading into the bigger games is Pheiffer at 10 – he mixes the sublime with the soft (e.g., he was charged down, again), and I’m concerned that those one or two soft moments in a game might hurt us in a big game. The discipline will also need to improve significantly. But with other Winelands schools stumbling already, this win becomes all the more pleasing.