The 2014 school rugby season has barely started but already Sentraal and Grens have already recorded two upsets that could quite easily rank amongst the biggest upsets of 2014 when the season is done.
Sentraal from Bloemfontein made last year’s list thanks to a close 20-25 losing effort to Klofies in Pretoria. This year they have produced a 35-21 upset of note against the same opposition. Interestingly Sentraal went on to lose to the Grey College 2nd XV (Cherries) in 2013 and they have a game against the Cherries lined up in 2014 as well.
Grens also made the 2013 list after they defeated Dale College 27-19 and this year they have beaten another Border powerhouse Queen’s College 22-15.
The 2013 Top 25 upsets and surprise results
| # | SCHOOL (rank) | SCHOOL (rank) | DETAILS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Campbell (>50) | 13 | 12 | Glenwood (20) | This was George Campbell 50th birthday present. Scissors is not the only thing that beats paper in Rock, Paper, Scissors. Grass does as well. On paper this just seemed like a result that just seemed impossible to achieve. To believe this result one had to be there to witness on grass. |
| 2 | Paarl Gim (1) | 17 | 17 | Oakdale (10) | The game that ultimately cost Gimmies the right to be called the undisputed No.1 schoolboy rugby team in 2013. |
| 3 | Rondebosch (30) | 27 | 31 | Muir (>50) | No one quiet knows what happened during the Rondebosch 2013 season. They started so brightly and then fell apart. This was their lowest point. Defeat to the Uitenhage school during the Cape Schools Week |
| 4 | Wynberg (15) | 36 | 39 | Tygerberg (39) | Tygerberg have had some nightmarish results in 2013. This one against well ranked Wynberg was stunning to say the least. |
| 5 | Maritzburg College (34) | 10 | 50 | Westville (9) | In the past Westville had found wins against College hard to come by. Just winning on Goldstones would have been enough but the scoring 50 points was incredible |
| 6 | Kempton Park (38) | 22 | 21 | Waterkloof (16) | Beeld 2012 winners Kempies proved that they had Cup BMT during this Beeld 2013 semifinal. |
| 7 | SACS (27) | 0 | 15 | Bellville (37) | Here’s one of the reasons why SACS are right up there alongside Centurion as the most unpredictable team of 2013 |
| 8 | Waterkloof (16) | 25 | 20 | Sentraal (FS) (>50) | Incredibly Sentraal went to Pretoria, ran highly rated Waterkloof close, then lost to the Grey College Cherries a week later. |
| 9 | Oakdale (10) | 9 | 13 | Daniel Pienaar (>50) | This one was right at the start of the season. DP seemed to catch Oakdale unawares. |
| 10 | HJS Paarl BH (8) | 21 | 19 | Union (>50) | HJS won the game and the match itself was perhaps not as close as the final score suggests. Nevertheless a huge surprise to see the little EPCD team come within 2 points of beating a “Powerhouse” |
| 11 | KES (>50) | 31 | 31 | Monument (11) | Monnas proved to be one of those teams that could scare an SA Top 10 team the one day and get the fright of their lives the next. |
| 12 | Centurion (28) | 16 | 12 | Monument (11) | Proving the theory of Centurion being the most unpredictable side in SA in 2013 was this shock result. |
| 13 | Selborne (22) | 13 | 13 | Hudson Park (>50) | Selborne were well ranked in 2013 but their little co-ed neighbours from East London really surprised them in this game. |
| 14 | HTS Middelburg (18) | 5 | 51 | Waterkloof (16) | HTS Middelburg, the NuPower-Tuks champions and one of the most competitive teams during 2013, hammered by Klofies who had their share of disappointments along the way. |
| 15 | Glenwood (20) | 17 | 15 | HJS Paarl BH (8) | The game during which Glenwood went from being labelled as “overrated” to “good team” in the eyes of the W/Cape SBR community. |
| 16 | Pretoria BH (17) | 3 | 13 | Grey College (3) | Grey College finished 2013 in red hot form. The one team they could not put away after the July holidays was Boys High |
| 17 | Garsfontein (6) | 61 | 21 | Centurion (28) | On there day Centurion were capable of giving top teams a go. Against Garsies it quite obviously was not their day. The margin was huge. |
| 18 | Waterkloof (16) | 71 | 5 | Eldoraigne (>50) | Eldoraigne had a few decent results in 2013 but got completely annihilated during this one |
| 19 | Grens (>50) | 27 | 19 | Dale (>50) | Even though Dale has had a disappointing season by their standards, no one saw a result like this one coming |
| 20 | St Andrews (24) | 14 | 39 | Grey HS (13) | At the time this was meant to be the Eastern Cape No.1 decider. Grey PE were favourites to topple SAC but the final margin in this one was a jaw-dropper at the time |
| 21 | Jeppe | 88 | 0 | St Albans | St Albans beat Hilton College and were relatively competitive during the season but were simply blown away in this game |
| 22 | Noord-Kaap (14) | 10 | 12 | Marlow (26) | An outstanding win for the EPCD team considering the fortunes of both teams during the 2013 season |
| 23 | HTS Middelburg (18) | 30 | 30 | Centurion (28) | Centurion pushed then unbeaten NuPower Champs elect HTS all the way in the semi-final |
| 24 | KES (>50) | 24 | 35 | Trinityhouse (>50) | It wasn’t KES’s season. They finished outside the Top 50. This one still went down as a shock though. |
| 25 | Hugenote (>50) | 22 | 14 | Boland Landbou (44) | It turned out to be a lousy season for Boland Landbou nevertheless this was an unexpected outcome |
| OTHER | RESULTS | THAT DREW ATTENTION DURING THE 2013 SEASON | |||
| Kempton Park (38) | 12 | 20 | Tygerberg (39) | Tygerberg struggled for the most part of the season but seemingly had huge upset causing potential. Kempies themselves where quite the rollercoaster ride and somehow ended below the Tiere on the final rankings for 2013 | |
| Kempton Park (38) | 20 | 30 | Jim Fouche (40) | Kempies ended the season as Beeldtrofee runnersup but here they they ran into problems at sea level in Durban. Once again at the time it looked like an upset but by the end of the season, the final rankings saw Jim Fouche breathing down Kempies’ necks | |
| Glenwood (20) | 31 | 34 | Drostdy (19) | Drostdy battled back to achieve an unbelieveable come from behind win at the death at the Pukke Skouspel. It was upset at the time but the Donkeys eventually ended the season ranked above the Green Machine. | |
| Maritzburg College (34) | 23 | 34 | Queens (21) | After useful results against Grey High & Noord-Kaap, College were heavy favourites to beat Queens on home soil at the MC150 festival but came unstuck by some excellent lines run by the Queens back 3. The final ranks for 2013 suggested that it would have been more of an upset had College won that game. | |
| Menlopark (25) | 25 | 14 | Centurion (28) | Menlopark has a decent team but one would have expected Centurion to win this one. As the season progressed, Centurion’s inconsistency cost them while Menlopark finished in a pleasing 25th place | |
| Noord-Kaap (14) | 34 | 30 | Waterkloof (16) | Noord-Kaap had a player who was later banned for 80-weeks sent off inside the 1st 10 minutes and still managed a home win | |
| Boland Landbou (44) | 25 | 28 | Stellenberg (41) | Stellenberg have been pitting their talents against some of the best that the WP Premier League has to offer. This result at Boland Landbou was however totally unexpected. | |
| Hilton (>50) | 38 | 22 | Maritzburg College (34) | In College’s defence they were whacked by a crazy flu bug which saw players literally going down and withdrawing on the day of the match. The should have pulled the plug on this fixture but chose to honour it and unfortunately for them the history books won’t remember that important detail. |
@Queenian: u16A looked very good on Saturday, looking forward to a good season for them, some big boys in that pack. 15As were poor on the day, rucking was appalling in the 1st half, forwards all in the backline. We could’ve won but the boys missed 2 conversions in front of the posts. Mr Loest is hands on with athletics, so it’s understandable that he hasn’t a lot of time with the boys and we were missing a few boys again.
@Queens: Still though Queens traditionally should have enough depth to put away us as co – eds. It is not a good start to the season. Queens also lost to George Randell in the past
. Cambridge has always punched above their weight. in 1969 the 1st rugby team went unbeaten beat Dale, Selborne and a Queens’ side that beat Grey Kollege. The team was captained by Kevin Barnard (The current 14a rugby coach and PRO at the school). Though we not in the same league as the likes of Queens, Dale and Selborne but we definetly way above the likes like George Randall.
@Playa: Yep, one of our weakest years in history…1991 to 1996, not great for us…
@Playa: Ye they did they were half decent in those days.
@Queenian: If it makes you feel better, Dale were pumped properly by George Randall in 1979. I hear they had some handy teams in the late ’70s to early ’80s. Cambridge were also quite potent in the 70s as well.
@Ludz: This must rate close to the 1981 loss to George Randell.
@BOG: Ye will have to ask GCB if we can take the JJS talent this year we will take anybody also helps if they have a murder docket that will scare the crap out of the Grey PE boys they always believed we were criminals
@Ludz: Well I hope it a 1979 all over were they lost there 1st game against Piet Retief and then only lost one more the whole season to GCB 11-12. So we live in hope.
@CHS08: Ye 2nd’s lost as well but I can now confirm they were 9 players short.
Under 15A also lost but as could tell also about 5 players involved in other activities.
But on the whole very poor, Under 16A will be good this year.
@Playa: hahahahahahaha you crack me up bra!!! Sodibana mos ta yam Friday? Just got of the phone with Knight CHS 07 planning the trip to Graeme! @Ludz: Queens 2nds also lost??? yho that is not good.
@Grasshopper: Got it thanks!
Glad to see we klapped Glenwood (and College…and Hilton) that year
We need some of that magic to rub onto the boys at KERF 2014!
@Playa: Sent now :-)
@Playa:
lol
@Playa: GOLO
@CHS08: Also routing for the Border teams. In my day we used to refer to EP as the Northern Hemisphere, and Border as the Southern Hemisphere…no guesses who the “All Blacks” were
@Andre T:
Told you I’d get Xhosa speakers in this mix. The Dalians are still busy with typing lessons. We’re going make this a Rainbow Blog 
@Queenian: Maybe you should send some talent scouts to the outkirts of QT- towards Jamestown
@Queenian: there were about 3 okes out I believe. 1 lock and flanker injured, fullback with athletics
@Queenian: 2nds were basically the 3rd team, lots of okes out
@Playa: Kingswood now seems like quite a mountain to climb now.
Lets just hope this was just a wake up call.
@Ludz: As far as I hear Queens 2nd’s also lost.
@Ludz: @Playa: Wow did not see this coming must have been a shocker. Was this a full strength Queens team if it was we in for a long hard season.
As far as I know the last time Grens beat Queens was in 1976, so one for the books.
@CHS08: not sure yet, ndisezozama i-lift, but ndizobona
@tjoppa: i am not sure what you on about really but the opinion about the fact that Grey Bloem is the top rugby school is based on the recent results. Paarly Gym and Affies definetly were better last year but they lack consistency that Grey Bloem has. i am old enough to know how good Grey has been since 2007. @LudZ @Playa: Hopefully sodibana pha madoda. i hope the Border schools show the Eastern Cape who is boss so i am hoping for Cambridge, Hudson, Dale, Selborne and Queens wins. Luds how are you getting there ndoda?
@Playa: Afrikaans asseblief
You are only as good as your last game.
@CHS08: Then learn this – do not believe everything that old people, myself included, tell you. Go out there and make up your own mind. The stories from old people is mostly robbed of most of the facts and all that is left is an exaggeration of what they want to remember. Therefore take the past year or three’s results and determine with those facts in mind your own opinion. And some old fart will remind you about historical facts then remember the facts of history as reflected in our own country before and after 1994. The same period but from different perspectives. Ingabe nawe uqonde?
@Tjoppa: Yes I’m still relatively young why?
@CHS08: @Playa: hahahahaha kuyanyanzeleka ndibekhona boButhi bam ke ndiyobukele ezintwana zam. Ayikho le bebeyidlala against iGrens, ndifuna uzibona kuleKingswood kuthwa nayo iyazama kulonyaka.
@CHS08: You are still young I presume?
@Tjoppa: Nothing at all just saying Grey Bloem is the top rugby school in SA no matter how much people might try fighting it.
@CHS08: Hahahaha! Akaphoswa lowo, surely uzoba khona.
@CHS08: Wat se jy?
I don’t know what this fuss about Grey Bloem is about. To me they are the top school when it comes to rugby in SA not only SA in the world. @Playa: Hopefully sodibana bra wam elikrwala uLudz liyaya lona?
@Tjoppa: @Andre T:
@Andre T: Maybe the Greytest Surprise.
The Biggest Surprise of All Time must surely be the 1948 Vrede/Grey Bloem Fichardt Shield Final played in the then unknown town called Vrede.
The Grey boytjies arrived there in Mercs and Chevvies with their beautiful tracksuits and their 1st team jerseys.
The Vrede boys warmed up in their school flannels and had to wait for the seccies game to finish in order to pull on their sweaty jerseys and boots. Some of the forwards’ boot sizes not available so a few of the forwards with size 12 feet had to play in size 9’s.
Needless to say who won. That day is still called ‘ Grey Slashers Day’
@Tjoppa: Nie eintlik nie- wou net weet hoe die rugby by Affies verloop het? Maar jy het reeds elders in detail vertel.@beet: Beet, would you mind explaining to Tjoppies here, in good Oxford English, what “frequently” means. An appropriate example would be +- 30 times out of 36 matches. Or would that be VERY frequently?
@CHS08: Just checked their results. Paarl Boys High must have a dog team that year, Dale beat them 33-5
.they won only 5 out of 20 games that year (Marais Viljoen, SACS, Buchule Tech and Port Rex the other victims). Truly a year to forget. I remember catching the Stirling-Cambridge game that year. You’re right the Tennis Boys had a solid team in ’07.
Yeah I’m hoping to make the drive up on Thursday night. Hopefully my co-drivers wont pull out in the last minute.
@Grasshopper: I want that pic! Beet, please e-mail it to me? Or you can send it Hopper (mt.ubumbo@gmail.com)
Beet a few results missing. Any loss of GCB must surely be an upset. Or are these events becoming to frequent to be an upset?
Secondly Paarl Gim becoming no 1 AFTER it was said Affies could not be overtaken. Can BHP please provide us all his formula as a transparent rating is preferred. Oh in the beginning of the season please?
@BOG: Soek jy my?
@Playa: I have a pic of the 1991 Dale side that I sent to Beet, now that would perk you up for sure…
@Playa: You don’t know how he got la tender
hayi your punchlines crack me up!!!I hope you going to Graeme this Friday I want to meet you bra! @Ludz: Ludz Cambridge impressed me aswell the kids were poor at age group level so I’d say they are very well coached aswell and as for Queens I’m sure they will be better they can’t possibly play worse than they did Saturday.
@Gungets Tuft: No question, it makes sense. But two years ago, when the match to be played in Bloem, was cancelled, a book full of comments were made here. Words like fear, afraid, bangat and several others were used. But the guilty party, is conspicious (?) in his absence.
@Playa: @CHS08: Port Rex was the only side that lost against Dale that year(2007). Stirling was lethal that year, they were top co-ed in the Border region
@CHS08: Bad coaching. The guy that coached that year was my classmate in 2000.How he got that ‘tender’ is still beyond me
but these things happen.The school had lost its way after Siplhaus left…Darryl Mauer (old Queenian) and Griffy saved the day.
@Ludz: Really??? I stopped watching the Bulldogs a few years back (at the same time that I stopped watching the Proteas in crunch games)…not good for my heart and blood pressure.I played with Skud at UCT between 2005-2008. He was equally amazing at flyhalf for us.He has a rugby brain and half.
@CHS08: yoh bra, it was really shocking. Cambridge side looks like it’s gonna be very dangerous. All the Colleges need to watch out. That is a very well coached and well drilled side
@Playa: Ta Skud is actually playing for Border Bulldogs now
:), he’s still got that x-factor, watched him against the Sharks XV the week before last.
@Playa: My bestfriend Knight CHS 07 are going to watch the Graeme Rugby Day I hope all the Border Schools win and I hope Queens up their game aswell. I remember the 2007 team we beat them aswell I don’t understand why the Dale team was so poor it had quality players eg.Sinovuyo Nyoka, Scarra Ntubeni, Terror Mthembu and Andile Jho all went on to represent SA schools.
@BOG: Depends on how wet. College vs PBHS (I think) 2 years ago came close because the water in some pools was deep enough to drown someone pinned at the bottom of a ruck. To preserve the field there were just 3 matches played on Goldstones.
The same weekend club matches in Durban were cancelled for the same reason.
@CHS08:
they couldn’t have been worse than the 2003 Queens side.What was worse is that side was littered with talented players (captained by Skhangele “Skud” Mateza – one of the best schoolboy scrumhalves I have ever seen). The only college side worse than that QC team was the 2007 Dale side…man were those boys pathetic.
If I had to pick the worst Selborne side I have seen, it would have to be their 1999 side.This on the back of the untouchable ’98 side which had the likes of Brent Russell, Peter Gibson, Josh Fowles, Raymando Williams, Kenny O’Connor, Bradley Sparks…and and and…what a side that was.
@Playa:
@Ludz: Let’s hope they’ll be a much improved outfit with a full strength side this weekend.The snobs will be hungry for blood…I wouldn’t want to see them get one over our fellow peasants.
@Ludz: That was really a shocking performance ntwana! I have never ever seen Queens play so poorly in my entire life. If they don’t improve I don’t see them beating Selborne, Dale, Hudson and Cambridge this season.
@Playa: it was an extremely tough match to watch. Diabolical performance best describes it. Poor options on attack and poor defence, few crucial tackles missed. No composure. The boys will be disappointed, but they have a captain and a half in Uhuru and he’ll get the team back in the right direction along with Mr Basset and Mr Bolze. Big 1 against a strong Kingswood side this week.
@beet: No, why should a little bit of rain affect them? I know that it was not Klofie supporters, who , two years ago, had so much to say when the match GCB/Affies was cancelled, but I understood then, that a wet pitch is no reason to cancel a match. I was told then that the boys beyond the Vaal, played under ANY conditions. And by the way, it rained in Bloem as well. So, both teams were affected by it. Perhaps its Sentraal returning to its former “glory” days. As I pointed out, taking into account numbers, there is no reason why this should not be the case.
Eish beet! I had blocked ou the memory of Dale losing to Grens last year
Hard luck QC…I know how you guys feel
@BOG: Do you think heavy rain in Gauteng over the past few weeks which prevented them from training and 1st game of the season had anything to do with Klofies losing?
The Klofies track record suggests they have been one of the best teams in the country.
@Pinotage: Ek het al verlede jaar Immelman se potensiaal gesien, teen PRG, op vleuel, die dag. Ek was geweldig beindruk met sy spel. Andersins hoor ek, lyk dinge belowend- nie net vir GCB nie, maar ook vir VS. Het GCB n nuwe borg? Canterbury? Of is Mr Price nog steeds betrokke?”Die Stelsel” is natuurlik altyd n faktor en verseker gewoonlik dat LB, die gebruiklike 9 bydra tot die CW span. Is daar enige spelers van “kleur” in JF en Sentraal? (wat bruikbaar is, bedoel ek) Dan n baie sensitiewe saak. Met Superbru, gebruik ek die Cheetahs en Sharks as “bankers” , eg om te wen en lg om te verloor. Dit vertel n storie, maar eerskomende naweek, maak ek weer so. Wat se hulle van n donkie en sy kop stamp? Ek weet ook nie van die term “troepe” nie. As hulle troepe was. was hulle nou al uitgewis. Op hulle FB, het een ondersteuner voorgestel dat hulle moet terug swem SA toe. Duidelik, is daar ernstige onderliggende probleme, want op papier, behoort hulle beter te vaar.
@BOG: Ek het Saterdag se Grey vs Henties wedstryd bygewoon en die tekens is daar dat dit n goeie seisoen vir Grey kan wees. Immelman op 15 is uitstaande. Hentie Cilliers is nie n swak span nie en het self n baie goeie drie gaan druk.
Sentraal en Jim Fouche lyk na die twee ander spanne wat goed behoort te vaar in 2014.Louis Botha en Fichardtpark ook nie swak nie.
Vrystaat sal waarskynlik n baie sterk CW span in die veld kan stoot behalwe as die K-stelsel ondeurdag bestuur word.
Wat gaan aan met Naka se troepe?
Die
The Sentraal/Waterkloof result is not such a big surprize for those who know that rugby is played by several schools in Bloem. In terms of numbers, Sentraal is about the same size as Waterkloof (if I understand it correctly). In fact, they probably have more boys than some of the so-called “powerhouse” boys schools around SA. Years ago, the matches between GCB and Sentraal, were close- in fact, Sentraal won several. So hopefully, they are returning to their rightful level or standard. Mooi Tralies. And Beet, loosing to the Cherries last year, was no shame at all, because they would have beaten most first teams.