You just gotta love schoolboy rugby! There are so many things to enjoy about the game being played on the field and when you can add unpredictability of the outcome to the mix, it just makes it that much more entertaining. At the start of this season and any season for that matter, in my mind at least, this Grogper Cup, a made-up tournament between several KZN and Gauteng English-medium schools should have been a foregone conclusion. I expected KES to be a thorn in the side and Pretoria Boys High to also put up major resistance but definitely did not anticipate some of the other games turning out the way they did. To me it seemed obvious that KZN should coast to victory. But perhaps that’s because I’m from KZN and I have to work extra hard at not looking down one’s nose at the contribution the Gauteng English schools make to SA school rugby as a whole. So it’s been a bit of a reality check here and it has not helped that KZN have had to play catch up most of the season either.
The Grogper Cup is now all squared at six games apiece with one deciding match left. Maritzburg College versus Pretoria Boys High to determine the winners (bragging rights) in the competition that borrows it’s name from two bloggers Grasshopper (KZN) and Roger (Gauteng) who sparked the “who is better” debate in the first place.
Gauteng’s key wins in 2013 turned out to be St Albans beating Hilton, St Davids handing it to St Charles and Parktown dishing out the pain against a disappointing DHS.
For KZN two things stood out. Firstly Northwood’s performances against both Jeppe and St Benedicts were both good results. In spite of the Durban North team losing the first one, two days later Northwood regathered themselves late on in the Bennies game and mounted a successful comeback to earn KZN their first win. Secondly, KES being defeated by both Westville and College. This is out of sync with recent encounters between these regional powerhouses. Although many KES supporters will point to this as not being a great season for the Reds, Monnas and Boys High will testify that there is a price to pay for those that don’t bring their A-game to a contest against the Jozi school. In a nutshell, beating KES are excellent achievements by both Westville and College.
Interestingly Pretoria Boys High and College have met earlier in the season. Just 2-points separated them in Pretoria with the hosts winning 25-23. Form coming into this one looks good for Boys High. Holding a national Top 5 school Grey College to just a 3-13 defeat is not a bad days work at all. College has been plagued by bad luck this season, which translates into them now sitting on a 5-game losing streak. They lost 20-51 to Affies in their last game. Perhaps they need to take heart from their ability to score 20-points on the road against one of the two best teams in SBR 2013, knowing that back on their home soil of Goldstones 20-points could easily amount to a winning score.
| DATE | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | GP | KN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16/03/13 | St Davids | 17 | 6 | St Charles | 1 | |
| 01/04/13 | St Albans | 26 | 25 | Hilton | 1 | |
| 13/04/13 | Pretoria BH | 25 | 23 | M. College | 1 | |
| 13/04/13 | Jeppe | 33 | 24 | Northwood | 1 | |
| 15/04/13 | Northwood | 15 | 11 | St Benedicts | 1 | |
| 20/04/13 | Westville | 22 | 17 | Pretoria BH | 1 | |
| 04/05/13 | KES | 16 | 22 | Westville | 1 | |
| 04/05/13 | Parktown | 33 | 5 | DHS | 1 | |
| 11/05/13 | St Charles | 16 | 37 | St Albans | 1 | |
| 18/05/13 | M. College | 30 | 8 | KES | 1 | |
| 18/05/13 | St Stithians | 0 | 62 | Kearsney | 1 | |
| 25/05/13 | St Johns | 19 | 55 | Michaelhouse | 1 | |
| 27/07/13 | M. College | Pretoria BH | ||||
| TOTAL | 6 | 6 |
@Gungets Tuft: I’m based in Cape Town.Folks still in the EC though, and love to see their only grandson so I find myself in the EC at least every 2 months.I have family in Grahamstown…in-laws to be exact…so maybe will bump into you there as well, while you visit your daughter.I’ll take you up on that cold one if we end up there at the same during your travels, and I’ll introduce you to QC86’s biltong.
I’ll call for my fanta in January next year when Im in Durbs.
@Playa: And now, are you still down in the Eastern Cape. Travel there from time to time, perhaps more in the near future, will have some work down there. Might have to compare those traditions over a cold one.
@Gungets Tuft: That is why I have a soft spot for College.I share the very same sentiments as your son’s best mate’s dad.I will easily send my son to College (if Dale was not be an option of course).The two schools’ traditions are so similar…that stuff that makes a man out of a person.
When the time came for boarding school, my dad’s options were Dale, College and Queens.Queens because he grew up in QTN, Dale because we lived in KWT, and College because during his years in PMB, he grew to admire the school, and felt that he would send me there one day – politics dependent of course.Needless to say, mom got the last word
and off to Dale I went.
@Tjoppa:
I’ll take that as a complement
@Playa: You are only as old as the woman you feel
Those were different days boet, light years from where we are now. I actually still correspond with a few of the ladies in white from then, none of the doctors. Haven’t éven driven out that way since those days. Hell, brings back some stark memories, and some superb ones as well.
You could just as easily been a College boy, some slight changes in direction. My sons best mate’s dad is from Dale, must have graduated there in about mid-80’s – he chose College because he saw it as the only KZN school that had a Dale ethos and matching traditions. Dale and College have much in common. If you are ever around College I insist on buying you a fanta and yapping about the old days.
@Playa: Then he is still a laaitie. That makes you a pipsqueek.
@Gungets Tuft: Hahahaha! I was born in Edendale Hospital.You’re old tjo!Mom was a nurse there, and dad a doctor there.You may have missed my dad by a few years, he finished at the UKZN Med School in 1980
@Tjoppa: Jaa, too true, and no need to remind the College community right now. Hence my statement “rime is everywhere – it is just much worse when it is poersonal, close up, and affects a boy that was the flag bearer for his family. And South Africa must be one of the few places in the world that we philosophise about it …..
:evil:”
I mentioned to someone today, while chatting about it, and they told me to “not worry too much about my boy and his mates” because they are resilient. It scares the living sh#t out of me. My generation, and my parents, fought a war, and we developed a certain callousness about violence. I never want my kids to develop that, but I fear they will, because of these sorts of things they face daily. And this is my son, safely (well, as safely as we can) shielded from direct harm, but not from the shadow of it, imagine the other kids like Njabulo Ngcobo. Alan Paton, indeed, Cry ……
@Gungets Tuft: It still do not take away from the fact that an innocent boy lost his life. May these bastards die a slow and humiliating death they are not fit to be called human or for that fact not even animal.
@Playa: In the early 80’s I was at UKZN in PMB and used to date the nurses from Edendale hospital (somewhat revealing my age!), sometimes arriving there on Friday and Saturday nights for a skop at the doctors quarters was like entering a war zone. If you grew up there, you know tough, respect.
@Gungets Tuft: I was born in Imbali, and did my first bit of growing up there.It was a rough area even back then in the early 80s.
You’re right…crime is an everyday and everywhere thing.
@GreenBlooded: Not so, at all. I know them (boyfriend Dave is a lifesaving legend from the same club as me) and there was nothing staged about it. No questions from those that know, but since the d##s that staged his abduction earlier this year everyone seems to lean to the conspiracy. You can tell anyone claiming staging to inform themselves, or leave it alone. Buy a donkey.
Safe – I am safe in my neighbourhood, you need to be careful and aware everywhere. Some nutter climbed over a fence in Mt Edgecombe and murdered his girlfriend not long ago.
@Gungets Tuft: remember we lived 10 years in the UK and never had to worry about a thing, we got a little pommiefied in that time. I have an 11 month old daughter and wife who I would like kept safe and not have to worry about too much when away, looking at Seaward or Palm Estates, are they any good and safe?
@Grasshopper: The Westville story: more questions than answers on that one. Some very strange circumstances. Some are suggesting that the entire thing was staged. Me – angaaaaaz. I was in the depths of Mozambique at the time without any comms.
@Grasshopper: You sound a little like the average American who thinks South Africa is a town like Dullsville
. A little like me refusing to move to Cape Town because of all the gangs that cause mayhem in Mannenburg …. gnome sane?
The boy lived in Imbali in PMB which, sadly, is still in the “township” mould. Crime is higher there. It makes no diference, we should all be able to live in safety and peace, but it is not likely that you would buy a house there. By the same token, the taxi violence in Ballito is a once off. In general, and I have several mates who live up there, and a brother, it is quiet and peaceful, until the Christmas avalanche.
The lady abducted from Waxy’s (the girlfriend of a lifesaving mate of mine), could happen everywhere. Wrong place, wrong time. Doesn’t make Pinetown/Highway any more dangerous than Claremont, Bedfordview, Centurion or Langenhovenpark.
Crime is everywhere – it is just much worse when it is poersonal, close up, and affects a boy that was the flag bearer for his family. And South Africa must be one of the few places in the world that we philosophise about it …..
Condolences to the young boy, a brave kid indeed. Makes me think twice about moving back to KZN, has it got that bad up that way? Also heard of a women in Westville who got abducted outside her house after being at Waxies, that is how bad it’s got. Any Durbanite bloggers let me know your thoughts, is it safe to move back up that way and stay in an estate in Ballito? Also heard of two taxi shoot out’s in the middle of Ballito…:-(
@Gungets Tuft: Oh man! The tragedy of crime in South Africa!!!
Condolensces to the family and the College community.Such an unncessary way for a youngster to lose his life.
@Gungets Tuft: Oh yeah, the other is the son of former Springbok prop…Derrick van den Berg
@Gungets Tuft: Hahahaha!Very true.I work with 2 College old boys who have become close mates over the years. (One of them is the first player of colour to play for College 1st XV back in 1997 I think-he played fullback/wing – Im sure you’ll know his name, seeing as you’re clued up with College history).Very competitive people, but humble to the core.They claim to be the epitome of College people, and I am yet to be shown otherwise.
Oh yes… and if ever anyone has the opportunity to corner MC 1st XV captain Buthelezi – have a go at that ou in Zulu, English or Afrikaans – he is fluent in all of them – Go KZN
Good luck for Saturday College!!!
About the Afrikaans thing – most English high schools in KZN nowadays boast a healthy intake of Afrikaans boys – parents want to prepare them for the real world with an English education. And before the guys behind the boereworsgordyn throttle me, the traditional Afrikaans tertiary institutions do the same for us “Souties”. My son is studying accounting at Tuks – 1/3 Afrikaans 2/3 English students. But – he’s loving Tuks and his Afrikaans has improved by 200%. Who says we can’t share and share alike.
So in defence of the English schools being accused of being too Afrikaans – not so. Even see it at primary school level now – I know a dual medium school here in PMB where the Afrikaans medium children are switching to English medium in preparation for high school already.
So in KZN we have real Afrikaners with “sout” in their veins – if the rugby flair comes along with the package – hey bonus!!!
Meant buggers not buffers, Freudian slip there…
@Woltrui: never expect a win over Affies, I was meaning at least we have a chance in those games. The other games are like open gates. The poor buffers set up camp behind the poles and watch conversions going over….it’s a joke. Affies scored over 900 points against College who has some of the best depth in KZN. College barely scored 100 and lost every game. For me a good day would be 3 wins, 200 points for and less than 800 against….fingers crossed otherwise ill have night sweats for weeks….
@Grasshopper: See it just about everwhere nowadays, the last man to pull that shitty style was the Fuhrer, ‘nough said.
@McCulleys Workshop: Chopshop Orwell, the dodgy things that you boarders from soft lofty Soutie schools dream of, never fails to boggle this Boere brain.
@GreenBlooded: GreenBlooded don’t bank all your horses on a win for Glenwood’s U/14’s, dear sir. Affies U/14’s is not going down to Durbs to be rolled over. Good backline, monster loose trio and solid tight 5. Love the Affies no 1. Small “Andre Bester” like player. Very strong. It should be a cracker of match. 8)
@Grasshopper: A good nights rest to you my friend and my the nightmares stay away untill after Affies.
@Tjoppa: yep and Xhosa ;-)
@McCulleys Workshop: Depends what you paid for them.
@Ploegskaar: yes yes, and the initiation of the pigs and sheep, they don’t talk back!
@Grasshopper: depth in Afrikaans?
@Tjoppa: Dis reg so, sal die naweek van die 3de oppie Plaas wees, so kry my besonderhede by hom. Bitter spyt dat ek die manne se game teen Gim hierdie naweek misloop, maar die kinders sing ATKV in Bloem, sal miskien die GCB/Grey PE derby gaan kyk. Die Drostdy game op die 3de is die Boere se laaste tuiswedstryd, so sal ‘n lekker opwarm wees as jy Gim/Boys daarna gaan kyk.
@Tjoppa: not many schools can claim a Grey Bloem scalp in the last 10 years, or Affies twice (home and away), Waterkloof, Paul Roos, Paarl Boys, Monnas, Framesby and Outeniqua even if its every now and again. Ten years ago we had no hope in hell, so the gap is closing quick, just need the depth now….that is what Affies, Paarl Gim, Paul Roos and Grey Bloem have….depth…
@Ploegskaar: you talking about the Doops? Pretty boy hairstyles….as my dad would say ‘hare sny’!
@Ploegskaar: Al wat die donners kan “cultivated” is aaptwak. Dink no aan varsity dae. Wie het daai liedjie gesing van “I wanna be high high high wanna be high.
Het vir Beet gevra vir jou epos sal jou graag wil onmoet as die ouetehuis daar onder kom toer.
@Grasshopper: We are talking Afrikaners and not half breeds. And once in 10 years is not good enough for us. How many games did you put in your request for Saturday. like I said not even honest and sincere prayers is going to help. Go Affies.
@Grasshopper: Hops, you guys are more than 50% on your way from changing from a technical school to a fully fledged agricultural school. Do continue, I may even start supporting you guys, always had a soft spot for the Augsburgs, Marlows and Oakdales. None of that language cross-pollenation, praat Afrikaans of hou jou bek. Great discipline as well, and none of those poof hairstyles either, some boys look as if they have been smacked across the pip with a cow’s afterbirth.
I think Gimmies is the only ‘big’ scalp missing….also Bishops but we don’t play Bishops….
@Tjoppa: true true, but quite a few are mommies boys so want to be within a 2hr drive from ouma’s koeksusters. Luckily Glenwood have beaten all of those schools in the past 10 years ;-)
@Grasshopper: Oh I can think of quite a few schools maybe Affies, Grey Bloem, Boland Landbou, Boishaai, Waterkloof. And before you shoot me, if I am Afrikaans I like winning and what is the chance of being in a winning team against the best schools in the country while being at Glenwood?
@Tjoppa: well if you were Afrikaans in KZN, good at rugby and keen to play against some of the best schools in the country, where would you go? Certainly not Gelofte, Werda, Voortrekker, Kuswag or Suid Natal. It would be Glenwood considering half the team is Afrikaans and both coaches are fluent in Afrikaans.
@Gungets- Tjoppa has said what needs to be said. Unfortunately it is everywhere. I took the lightie to school yesterday and on the way back got out to pick up the paper. All the while the house next door had 2 gunmen threatening the family( including the 2 year old grand daughter). One of your famous alma mater wrote the book ” Cry the Beloved Country”. How pertinent are those words today?
@Grasshopper: And Glenwood is the rainbow nation’s first choice with a lot of Afrikaans boys finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
@McCulleys Workshop: He he…a bit desperate there mate!
Most schools send gr10 and gr11 players to the ISRF…and, of course, there are no Craven Week or Academy Week players there. Very, very few schools (if any) send their regular 1st teams – maybe MH did? These results are certainly not part of the regular season. Last year, St Alban’s beat Kearsney by about 30 points, which I’m sure we all agree does not reflect reality.
Glenwood have Koos Tredoux, Kerron Van Vuuren, Joseph Potgieter, Seth Van der Heever, Jaco Coetzee, Jaques Dumas, Corne Vermaak, Morne Joubert, Kevin Van Niekerk, Ruben Fouche, Dewaldt Van Tonder and others in the squad. The other half are English, Zulu and Xhosa first language. All Glenwood boys in the end….
@McCulleys Workshop: With pap and sheba for the braai.
@Grasshopper: Louis Snyman – soutie. Went to Kloof SP. Not sure about the others.
@Grasshopper: that should give you a case of black label quarts courtesy of Roger.
@Grasshopper: One of a few I believe that started their high school careers at Gelofte. I know my man Juan Anderson did. Pretty sure De la Rey was one of them too. There are others. A few of my Afrikaans club players also went there from Gelofte and Werda. Just saying……
Ah remember his name now, Andre de la Rey! Also Alex Vorster, Wiehan Prinsloo, Louis Snyman, James Erasmus, Kyle Lubbe…..granted some maybe English speaking. Really these days the boys are just Glenwood, Westville, College etc boys….language shouldn’t matter…
@Grasshopper: Forget the ANC the Boere will fix everything worth fixing. And the only thing worth fixing is the rugby.
@Tjoppa: yep, remember watching Westville in the late 90’s when they had a number 8 called Boer who they had recruited from Empangeni. The majority of the parents were Afrikaans. All KZN schools have been recruiting from all corners of KZN where our Afrikaans farmers boys reside….the Westville Captain this year had a seriously Afrikaans name…
@Gungets Tuft: What sad news Mr Tuft. Shocking. Condolences to family and friends.
@McCulleys Workshop: those results should definitely count so it’s in the bag for KZN :-)
@GreenBlooded: So what you are confirming is that the last outpost has eventually fallen. Go Boertjie jou lekka ding.
Grasshopper/Roger – http://www.schoolsportsnews.co.za/rugby/rugby-results/kzn/michaelhouse-rugby-results-2013/
@Tjoppa: Not quite dude – still mostly English and the medium of teaching is English.
In fact you will hear a lot of Afrikaans being spoken in all the “English” schools in KZN. Westville, College, Kearsney and (skande) even Michaelhouse!!
@Gungets Tuft: Our condolences to the parents and community. Nothing could prepare the parents for what is lying ahead.
@Grasshopper: I was at the game in Pretoria – only 2 points in it and College could quite easily have taken it but for a bit of poor discipline and some 50/50 calls that didn’t go their way. Home ground advantage and assuming College bring more of the Glenwood game than the Westville game and I say College by 10.
Yup – Glenwood / Affies will be a bloodbath as usual. U14A, 2nds should win and I don’t write off the 1st at all. If they produce a College, Boishaai or Paul Roos performance they could be in with an outside chance. They lost narrowly on Dixons 2 years ago.
@star: Hahaha, have to chuckle. This is just like Superbru, you find yourself supporting teams you hate because you have a stake in a result. Not that I think anyone could hate College (I mean …. how could they
), but we are not used to okes from the leafy suburbs wishing us well with this much fervour. Whatever, we will take it.
On a sadder note, there will be a note of sadness. One of our Grade 10 boys was shot and killed in a botched house robbery this weekend, intervened to protect his mother and sister and shot. It is a subdued College right now. Will be a moment of silence before each match on Saturday, memorial service at the school on Friday.
@Grasshopper: Glenwood not an Engish school more dual medium like Grey
Is Michaelhouse’s 40 – 7 win over St David’s and 50 – 0 win over St Benedict’s excluded?
@Grassy- I think KES won 3 or 4 at Affies and so GW better out do them at home
A bit of an extension of the theme.
)
@ GT- do not drop the ball now and take us home. We will do all the bragging for you( as hard as that might be
Yep, thinking Under14A, 2nd’s and 3rd’s……but the rest 30 points plus…..haibo!
@Grasshopper: Your 2nds might have a shout, College ran them close, but the rest…. eeisch. Good luck.
oh yes and there is a little matter of Glenwood taking on the might of Affies in Durban on Sat. I hope the lack of game time does not backfire on the Glenwood teams down the line….Glenwood to win 3 games on the day….
Heart is with College but those PBHS forwards are monsters. Goldstones aura in itself has brought down many a better team on paper, so it really does depend if College can get the same gees they had against Glenwood on their 150th celebrations. If they can they will win. As for Glenwood being an Afrikaans school, I have said this many times that it’s not. Yes, there are baout 10% Afrikaans home language kids with the majority in the boarding house, but exams and lessons are taught in English. It just so happens to be that the Afrikaans kids are best at rugby so when people on the sidelines here the team talk they make assumptions the whole school is Afrikaans. You know what they say about assumptions (assume), they make an ass out of u and me…Glenwood should be in the mix to make this fair. Maybe Glenwood should play Parktown to complete the group of big English schools in both provinces…….RED, BLACK, WHITE, COLLEGE!!!!
@GreenBlooded – Ahh.. Thank you Sir….
@Playa: It might be Natalians bragging, just not the College okes. Not our style. We would like it, but realise that it would just even it up for 2013, and give us a chance to host our favourite tourists.
@Redblack White: Glenwood do not play any Gauteng English schools. The cynical will also claim that Glenwood is itself no longer an English school. Grogper cup games are between English schools from Gauteng and KZN.
My heart is with a College win here…just not sure if I’ll be able to stomach the Natalians’ bragging though
GO COLLEGE!!!
@Redblack White: Gelukkig geen dogters nie. Maar as hulle durf naby my seun kom skiet ek die bliksems.
@ Tjoppa – hey Tjoppa – jy moet mooi werk met ons Souties – hulle word groot en gaan dan Tuks toe en kuier by julle dogters!!!
@beet – Sorry for the ignorance, but are these select teams – No Glenwood in the mix?
@Amalekite: For PBHS Gaan groot. Julle is Souties maar ten minste ons souties.
The form book favours PBHS. However, College at home are never easy. The game against Affies would have done them a world of good in terms of fitness and physicality. It should be a cracker! Go College!