Paul Roos Reloaded
There are two points I come to me here.
The first is how, unlike a professional team, SBR allows a school 1st XV to almost completely reinvent itself from one season to the next. You can lose 80% or more of your players and come back and look and play like a completely new outfit. So my Maroon Machine question for 2026 was always going to be: how are they going to cope without Gert Kemp? He was a proper attacking wizkid — the kind of player who had a knack for finding holes and creating meaningful opportunities out of very little in boring looking attack.
The truth is, Paul Roos are the furthest thing from the conservative side I thought they might become. If anything, this 2026 group is incredibly entertaining with ball in hand. They’re expressive, confident and dangerous. The playmaker at 10 has come of age. A lot of credit must go to Corne Uys and his coaching staff. I heard the noise last season — that despite the unbeaten, No.1-ranked 2024 campaign, there was pressure building behind the scenes. Right now, it feels like he’s right back to that 2024 level of trust and appreciation.
The second point is that something about the Monnas win gave me a real sense of déjà vu.
It must have been hugely frustrating for any Witbul supporter. Every time they seemed to take the ball into contact, they lost it. And then it hit me — this felt like a carbon copy of the Roos game against Drostdy. Another highly rated side, and again the wheels came off with very little continuity against the Roos defence.
So I find myself asking: are Paul Roos now so sophisticated defensively that they’re making their contacts in areas that make it extremely difficult for ball carriers to retain possession?
Krugersdorp Pressure Moves Back Up the Hill
The honeymoon period for Nories rugby feels like it’s over.
In South Africa, rugby is a game of expectations — and those expectations are usually high. Nories have made good strides in recent years to become a much bigger rugby brand in SBR, but so far this season is starting to look like one of underachievement.
What doesn’t help is that their Krugersdorp neighbours, Monument, who have been under pressure themselves over the past few seasons, are starting to produce more credible results. They might not be winning everything, but they’re competing well against the country’s top sides.
There is some clarity now, though. The head coach situation has finally been resolved, with Ian Joubert’s Department of Education transfer to Grey College approved. He will start there on 1 April, and I think that should help settle things at Nories.
U17 Surprise Package Backs
Every season there are u17 players who step up into 1st XV rugby, but two backs have really caught my eye at Noord-Suid 2026:
- Nelspruit fullback Rhandzu Mkhabela
- Menlopark outside centre Danie Botma
Both look comfortable at this level and could become important players as the season progresses.
Grey College’s Mobile Lock
The Grey vs Helpmekaar game produced an excellent first half before Grey took control in the second.
One of the standout moments for me was lock JW Coetzee’s try — a swerving run that you’d normally expect from a back-three player.
What makes his story even more interesting is that he’s actually a prop this year. He has experience at lock and was used in the second row to cover for Preston Bennett in this Helpies game. JW joined Grey from Wolmaransstad, a small Leopards-region school, last year in search of more exposure. It’s a massive step up, and to not only make it but cement a place in an A-team at a school like Grey says a lot about him.
Arrest Warrant to Be Issued
If there was a Fantasy League for SBR, I think Lamla Mgedezi would be the most valuable player in 2026. At Noord-Suid, he proved it with a sublime performance against a spirited Helpmekaar side. For me, it was a Player of the Match — even Player of the Day — performance, yet somehow he didn’t get either. That was criminal :-)
Not to take anything away from O’Ryan Kleyn – I did say he was the top-rated 12 coming into the season, and he has been consistently good. Also no disrespect to Alex, who is doing a great job in the commentary booth.
A bit of useless info that Alex probably won’t remember — I once met him when he was still an SBR player himself back in 2014. It was two evenings before a big game against Monnas at Kearsney, and I was accompanying his parents and agent. What stayed with me was how he openly spoke about the demands and pressures of being Grey captain and part of the highest profile team in the country. It’s still a good reminder of the effort these boys put in and how well they balance their workloads and handle the pressures that come with 1st XV rugby.
Still, I keep coming back to it:
Is Lamla Mgedezi the best player in SBR in 2026?
Twin Telepathy
Take a look at this video on Helpies standout twins Shaye and Ethan Lourens.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18Wbu3jJee/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Forwards Doing the Graft, Not Getting the Credit
I’ve always liked Player of the Match awards, but they do tend to favour the more obvious performances.
At Noord-Suid, 20 matches produced 1,151 points — an average of 58 points per 70-minute game. Only two matches had fewer than 40 points. There’s a lot of free-flowing rugby, and naturally the flashy moments come from the backs, who end up collecting most of the awards.
Even when I’m reporting on games, I find it easier to highlight those moments.
But the more I watch, the more I feel the forwards aren’t getting the recognition they deserve. They’re doing the hard work, creating the platforms, and laying the foundation for everything that follows.
Maybe it’s time for the Noord-Suid commentator slash adjudicators to come up with a new criteria to assess those forward contributions differently, so the guys up front get their share of the spotlight.
Charles Whitehead’s theoretical weight is 110kg
Someone mentioned to me that Paarl Gim’s hooker Charles Whitehead doesn’t look that big.
And it’s true — he looks more like Uli Schmidt than Malcolm Marx. He’s mobile, active, and heavily involved in open play.
At the next level, he might need to add some size because of the increased emphasis on scrummaging. But at school level, I don’t think anything is more valuable in a hooker than lineout accuracy.
The best thing a coach can do is pick a reliable thrower, and Whitehead is exactly that. That’s why, in my mind, he’s the equivalent of a 110kg player.
Throughout 2026, lineout work is going to be a major talking point. Whether it’s winning your own ball, disrupting opposition throws, or seeing a set-piece malfunction — it can be costly, even game-defining.
Oakdale vs Affies is a perfect example.
Lock Crisis for SA Schools?
As a u17, Juvan Burden was sensational in 2025. I actually thought he was the best u17 SBR player in the country. He’s got a serious engine and it felt like he was putting in 140min shifts in games due to his high workrate.
But that shoulder injury is clearly holding him back now. When he left the field against Garsies, it felt like a big moment — not just for Stellenberg, but potentially for SA Schools as well.
He’s not the only one. Oakdale’s big lock Diaan Augustyn is also out.
And suddenly, it feels like the depth in that position isn’t what we thought it was. It could open the door for Monnas’ u17 lock Henco van Geelen to really stake his claim come September.
Oakdale Turn the Tables on Affies’ scrum
In recent years, its felt like its been death, taxes and the Affie Witbul scrum dominance as the only certainties in life.
So while we knew Oakdale had a huge tight five coming into 2026, I don’t think many people expected them to dominate that set-piece against AHS — especially without the 120kg presence of Diaan Augustyn.
But that’s exactly what happened.
At the Plaas, the Riversdale farmers didn’t just compete — they outmuscled one of the traditionally most feared scrums in schoolboy rugby.
@Westville_Boy (Comment #11) Sorry, but Ethan is the better 10. The fact that he could play many positions should not take away from his allround abilities at 10. Stormers made an excellent signing.
I cant understand how you say they must hide him… we talking about playing for the number one country in the world… we not like England and hide Marco Smith!!! Its simple for me lamla needs to sharpen up on his defense and kicking if he wants to play South Africa rugby!! I can see the Sa selectors picking Travis from Paul Roos as the ten and Van Biljoen from Stellenberg as their 15… I believe he has played at 15 and for me they cant leave him out… whats happens to lamla?? He moves to wing that’s his best chance to make Sa he has too many holes to play for the country at 15…. and even at wing his spot is not a guarantee as there are some really strong wings out there!!
@Snelvuur (Comment #9)
Finally someone who values defence just as much as attack. I keep on reading about “hiding” players here and there, just because they are great attacking players. Mgedezi and Alzeadon Felix spring immediately to mind. Whilst a great attacking player is always an asset, especially at schoolboy level – if he can’t tackle… that doesn’t necessarily translates well to pro rugby. I wouldn’t want to have to hide a player in my provincial/national team. Hence I would 10 times pick a Henri Honniball over Carlos Spencer, Quade Cooper or Marcus Smith.
@beet (Comment #8)
I completely agree about Lamla at SBR level – absolute gamechanger there. My concern is how those weaknesses will translate to pro rugby – of course he’ll still make a difference on attack, but it’s unlikely to be worth 5-10 points a game as it is at this level, and then those weaknesses become more meaningful.
@Snelvuur (Comment #2)
but the point was a different player could have panicked or had his feet planted incorrectly to buy the maximum time and then made a rash or regrettable decision.
One of the moments on Friday that stuck with me was seeing the EG fullback dealing well with a pressure moment at the back. The ingredients were his composure and his technique to relieve the threat. He was calm, he got to the ball and his balance afforded him the extra time to deal with the rush coming his way. Of course he had a major asset in wicked lateral movement that his opponents obviously didn’t factor in
So many things on the field to appreciate about a player with a talent.
To me Lamla is very bit as good as JC Mars. Fullback is where you hide a 10 who isnt a good tackler so its not a prerequisite for the jersey. Things like positional play, aerial skills, kick out of hand and pace are the better definers.
Lamla is gifted. He seems to know what the oncoming tackler is expected to do and what his best move is to overcome that. Then after the vision, he has the lateral movement, the trickery, and the straightline speed. He is a nightmare at SBR level.
No matter what his weaknesses are, his strengths far outweigh these. He would start ahead of any other fullback in any other team in SA and that team would be better for having him.
Possibly as much as 5-10 points per game better on average.
@Djou (Comment #1)
Thanks
There are lots of good SBR commentators around the country.
I must say as far as teams go, I cannot think of a better team than Andreas Strauss and James Winstanley. They are tops.
Andreas has to be one of best around. He’s modest, flowing, knowledgeable, to the point, and just comes across as an honest lover of SBR.
James reminds me of an NFL commentator I really like – Grey Olsen. Down to earth but technically gifted to be able to rely exactly what teams are doing strategy wise. He provides a great education while being informative.
I honestly think both these guys would be so good at doing pro level games.
Oakdale scrum scary good. And that’s without Kai Pratt which then makes me ask…Who is the scrum coaching expert at Oakdale because now it’s a production line like Oom Daan.
@Djou (Comment #4)
Stem, solid maar nie oorheersend soos vorige jare.
@Grizzly (Comment #3)
Die jaar is nie die afgelope paar jaar nie. Solid die jaar, maar nie oorheersend nie. Paar skole met baie goeie skrums DIE jaar, insluitend Oakdale. Affies se skrum is goed, wat wys hoe goed Oakdale is.
The best scrum in SBR the last couple of seasons by a country mile belongs to Garsies. Remember ’23 Grey test match? Never seen anything like that before. The only scrum to contain the Bere for 25min in the first half last year was Oakdale. Afther that it was business as usual.
Few thoughts in response:
1. I agree on PRG: big shift in the way we’re playing compared to 2024 and, especially, 2025. Think we’ll keep seeing this high tempo play over the next few seasons – while the forwards in the u17 group are pretty big, the forwards in the u16 and u15 groups are pretty small (but very mobile), so this high tempo style will suit them much better. The u16 side plays at an even higher tempo and has piled up some big scores against decent sides so far – a year group to watch.
2. I have such mixed feelings about Lamla Mgedezi: he’s unbelievable on attack – speed, feet, all of it – but I have big concerns about him on defence. Missed tackles for both of Monnas’ tries last week and, while I could not watch the full game against Helpmekaar, when I stopped watching after +-20 minutes he had already missed 4 tackles again, one directly in the lead-up to Helpmekaar’s second try. His distribution and defence are his two big work-ons, and I think he needs to fix at least one of them: if he can fix his distribution, you can hide his defence at 15, and if he can fix his defence you can hide his distribution at 11. But I think with both of those flaws, it’ll be difficult to make the step up to pro rugby. That being said: wow, that pace and those feet – so much natural ability that it would really be a shame if it does not translate to pro rugby.
3. The battle for WP and SA Schools at hooker is going to be immense. In the WP there’s already Whitehead and Lehan Barnard putting in some strong performances, and Charl Els of Affies was also in the EPD group. I’m sure more contenders will emerge as well. Really exciting to see so much competition.
4. Affies’ scrum might be a cause for concern? I thought PRG did really well against them in the scrums, but the fact that Oakdale tore Affies to shreds there means that it might be a real concern going forward as well. Pretty surprising for me.
Nice stories Beet!
The twin telepathy is weird – like splits of quantum particles.
Another one on the commentary!
IMO Spoed is the best, good research beforehand, knows something about the schools and players, as well as the game itself, brings excitement, and understands it is TV (not radio), unlike other commentators.
Pretorius is a wordsmith, for those who understand Afrikaans.
Interesting – when Grey played Helpmekaar, both commentators were old-Greys.