Schools rugby returned with a bang on the weekend! There were the usual thrills and spills, with a few upsets and some very compelling viewing, made possible by the ubiquitous streams on the SuperSport Schools app and their YouTube channel, it really has been the best innovation in 2022.
In the Western Cape, the two Paarl schools welcomed back key players ahead of the massive Interschools this coming weekend and had straight forward wins against Southern Suburbs opposition. Wynberg surprised Paul Roos by taking the lead in the first half but ran out of steam to go down to a disappointing loss when they could have caused a big upset in Stellenbosch. My match report is on my blog. Rondebosch coped better with the windy conditions at Boland Landbou and secured an impressive 29 – 13 win, in preparation for the Triple Crown fixtures against the other Southern Suburbs later this season. Stellenberg were at home to heavily favoured Outeniqua and caused an upset by beating the side from George by 10 points. This result adds further fuel to the incredulity as to the number of national reps Outeniqua have this year.
Moving to the Eastern Cape, there were 3 big regional fixtures. In the Battle of Gqeberha, Grey lost to Framesby for the first time in 11 years and dished up one of the worst performances your humble correspondent has ever seen. Moving along the coast, Selborne edged local rivals Hudson Park by a point to be crowned the best side in East London for 2022. In an EP Country Districts fixture, St Andrew’s drew to Marlow on Lower, missing a kick to win the game at the death.
In KZN, Maritzburg College lost to Affies in the Premier Interschools fixture on SuperSport. After 15 minutes it was looking like a cricket score was on the cards but credit to the home side who stemmed the tide and the final score probably flatters the visitors who were under real pressure until two late tries made victory safe.
Finally, in Gauteng KES beat a game Boys’ High side in a close tussle that went down to the last minute in front of a large crowd for the KES Reunion weekend. Garsfontein were comfortable victors over Helpmekaar in a heavyweight clash in Pretoria to the tune of 34 – 10.
Paarl Gim 57 – 26 Bishops
Paarl Gim welcomed back a few of their star players in the backline in the form of Shaun Ray, PA van Niekerk and Liam Koen, whilst Bishops talisman Bruce Sherwood made a much awaited return too. As a side note, Koen’s return is bound to be a boost for Boishaai going into Interschools next week. Kyle Smith is a much better all-round player, with Koen slow and limited compared to his replacement, someone who sits deep in the pocket just like his Dad.
Bishops were overpowered by the strong Gim team who now probably go into the Interschools fixture next week as favourites. Gim scored some lovely tries as always, but Bishops will be pleased with Sherwood’s performance on his return, scoring two tries. How they have missed him over the past couple of months! The score was 29 – 21 at one stage but twice Gim scored two quick fire tries in response to a Bishops try and this made for a thoroughly enjoyable game for the neutral.
Prediction: Paarl Gim √
Paul Roos 32 – 17 Wynberg
Wynberg would have gone to Stellenbosch quietly confident that they could score a shock win against Paul Roos. Despite taking the lead in the first half, it was not to be for the men form the Southern Suburbs.
The battle up front was intense, with both sides boasting very abrasive packs who are strong in the carry and collisions, this is evidenced by both sides having a forward scoring a brace. A highlight for the Paul Roosers was the return from injury of Jurenzo Julius off the bench, who scored with his first touch, but would then also get a yellow card minutes later.
Paul Roos scored at the death to bloat the score somewhat and it was a much tighter game than the scoreline suggests. This was my #clashoftheweek and the match report can be found on my blog.
Prediction: Paul Roos √
Boland Landbou 13 – 29 Rondebosch
Boland Landbou and Rondebosch had to contend with a strong wind on the farm in Agter-Paarl, with Rondebosch probably mastering the conditions better, in taking more of their chances when in the red zone.
Boland Landbou scored a brilliant first phase try from a scrum on the 22m and with the boot of the dangerous Jandre Genis, they took a 13 – 12 lead into the break.
With the wind at their back in the second half, Rondebosch did well to shut out Landbou and score two more tries of their own, one from a charge down on full time. Rondebosch’s replacement flyhalf Jordan Neill had a nervy first start in place of the injured Jacques Jooste, twice kicking direct from a kickoff and also dropping an up and under cold, under no pressure.
Landbou had their chances but some handling errors cost them on the day and they will be very disappointed with their performance and will need to go again with some tough fixtures still to come.
Prediction: Boland Landbou ×
SACS 11 – 33 Paarl Boys’ High
SACS have had a woeful season to date and I had a good chuckle at their Twitter account updating the score on 10 mins as 0 – 0. Paarl Boys’ welcomed back their inspirational leader and hooker Juan Smal just in time to get some match fitness in preparation for Interschools this coming weekend. Boishaai outgunned a gutsy SACS side who would have taken this scoreline before kick-off, taking into account the firepower Boishaai have out wide.
The massive Paarl Interschools is perfectly set up and it is bound to be a classic from 16:00 on Saturday.
Prediction: Paarl Boys’ High √
Stellenberg 27 – 17 Outeniqua
Stellenberg pulled off the shock of the weekend by beating much fancied Outeniqua in Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs. This result is an indictment on the Outeniqua side who have a number of very overrated players in my opinion, evidenced in them having three forwards in the national sides, but being unable to beat Stellenberg.
Outeniqua would be desperately disappointed with this result and will need to use the week off to get back to basics before they face Boishaai in George in two weeks time.
Stellenberg face Boland Landbou next week and this could be well worth a watch.
Prediction: Outeniqua ×
Framesby 14 – 10 Grey High
In a match desperately short of quality, Framesby overcame Grey for the first time in 11 years to secure a famous win, down to their flyhalf Logan Muller’s boot in trying conditions.
Grey scored first from a trademark rolling maul within the first five minutes but they then produced the most embarrassing 60 minutes of rugby I have seen from them in years. When the game was effectively over after Muller slotted a drop goal to take the score to 14 – 5, Grey finally showed some passion and direction and scored a try under the poles. A perfect summation of their performance was flyhalf Forward then missing the conversion, hastily taking a drop kick.
It will be a long year in Gqeberha for the Grey boys, despite not losing another game on the day. Grey now have the most testing assignment in SA schoolboy rugby, a trip to Grey College this weekend. This could be a bloodbath and records could fall in Bloemfontein!
Prediction: Grey High ×
Selborne 27 – 26 Hudson Park
Selborne overcame local rivals Hudson Park by a point on Saturday on their home ground, the 1 point difference perhaps masked by Hudson scoring a converted try right at the death when they were always up against it being behind by more than seven points in the last few minutes.
Hudson came into the game boosted by the fact that their captain and No. 8 Siba Mahashe had been included in the SA Schools side, whereas Tiaan Jacobs from Selborne was perhaps controversially omitted, despite having committed to French club Biarritz from 2023.
Selborne were made to work hard and right to the end. The exuberant celebrations at the final whistle amongst their boys was perhaps evidence of how tight and nervy this game was for local bragging rights.
Prediction: Selborne √
St Andrew’s 20 – 20 Marlow
St Andrew’s and Marlow played out a 20 – 20 draw on Lower in terrible conditions. This was a good result for St Andrew’s, who have had a very disappointing season, whereas Marlow have had some significant wins.
The sides swapped penalties at the start of the game before Marlow scored the first try to go into half time with a 10 – 3 lead.
St Andrew’s scored first in the second half to bring the scores level at 10 – 10. With St Andrew’s leading 15 – 13, their flyhalf Hickey made a terrible mistake by dropping a missed penalty kick behind his goalline to give Marlow a 5m scrum. The farmers scored from the second phase after this scrum and led 20 – 15 going into injury time. The drama wasn’t finished as St Andrew’s scored a good counter attack try from a poor Marlow clearance, in the right hand corner. Hickey wasn’t able to convert and the match ended in a stalemate.
Prediction: Marlow ×
Maritzburg College 12 – 29 Affies
In the Premier Interschools clash for the weekend, Maritzburg College hosted Affies. As was perhaps expected, Affies won all the junior games until the College under 16A side produced an epic come-from-behind win to shock the men from Pretoria, and quite possibly giving the First XV of College a bit of confidence.
The Affies 1st XV juggernaut soon snuffed out any hope that existed amongst College players or supporters. The first 20 minutes was one way traffic, with Affies scoring three tries through their massive pack, dominating at the lineout and in the collisions. The only time College got into the Affies half in this period was when they kicked off.
Then it was the turn of College to finally get some ball and field position and with excellent work at the breakdown they managed to get a foothold in the game, scoring a good try by SA Schools centre Lili Bester, hitting an excellent line from a scrum in the Affies 22m. At half time the score was 19 – 7, when it could have been anything after the initial stages.
College were struggling terribly in the lineout, with the tall Affies locks picking their ball off at will, but with Affies conceding so many penalties for holding on and with College’s stardust in the backline, the score was soon 19 – 12 unbelievably, after a great individual try by fullback Spah Ngcobo.
Affies were fraying at the edges and conceding penalties for chirping the referee, losing their composure completely. The College scrumhalf AJ Knoetze missed a number of kicks at goal. I still do not see how anyone rates him, nevermind how he got into the Sharks Craven Week side.
Affies were making error after error in a very nervy period but with six minutes to go they kicked a close range penalty to put the result beyond doubt and take a 22 – 12 lead. This penalty kick confirming how much the momentum had shifted when they would have gone to touch to use their maul in the first half. Affies had the final say when tighthead Maritz went over the line to put some gloss on what was a tighter game than many would have expected and winning 29 – 12.
Prediction: Affies √
KES 17 – 14 Pretoria Boys’ High
KES hosted Boys’ High on their Reunion in Johannesburg and in front of a massive and partisan crowd they looked to be untroubled in leading 17 – 0 into the second half.
Almost out of nowhere, Boys’ High came storming back to score two late converted tries but it was just not enough to cause a big upset in Houghton. The match went right down to the wire with Boys’ High running everything back at KES, only a knock on preventing a grandstand finish with the visitors having numbers out wide after a good break in the dying moments.
KES will be relieved with the victory and are now able to concentrate on the big one, the home date with arch enemies Jeppe this coming weekend.
Prediction: KES √
Garsfontein 34 – 10 Helpmekaar
Garsfontein have been one of the surprise packages of the 2022 rugby season, and are already Pretoria champions, having beaten Affies, Waterkloof and Menlo Park for the first time in the same season. Their star scrumhalf, Steven Nel, is the SA Schools scrumhalf and they would have been confident of beating a big Helpmekaar side in Pretoria.
And so it proved, Garsies were comfortable victors over the men from Johannesburg and can rightly claim to be the best side in Gauteng for 2022, with just two eminently winnable games left against Noordheuwel and EG Jansen.
Prediction: Garsfontein √