A weekend of surprises

Picture: Rondebosch Boys' High Facebook

There were some unexpected, to say the least, results in Saturday’s 1^st team rugby matches across the country. Several teams have shown that there is perhaps no reason to believe that the pre-Covid pecking order in SA schools rugby will continue, as of right. Their performances at the weekend have added extra spice to next weekend’s Wildeklawer Festival at which just about all the top schools will be appearing.

The consistent top four over the years, Grey College, Paarl Boys’ High, Paarl Gimnasium and Paul Roos Gimnasium were all shocked. Paarl Gim’s 2022 is supposed to be their “dream team” and they certainly started off the year that way. They beat Monument and Glenwood easily earlier on and looked to be on a roll. Affies, on the other hand had a few good wins, but then went down to Garsfontein for the 1^st time ever. They were not the favourites on Saturday, but won 29-26.

Grey College don’t lose very often and they didn’t on Saturday. But they were held to a 17-all draw by Oakdale, the little agricultural school from Riversdal who they have never lost to.

Paul Roos Gim also drew – 38-all with Bishops. Bishops did win this annual fixture in 2021, but their previous victory before that was back in 2009. Bishops has had a great season so far, which included a 31-20 win over Outeniqua at the Grey High festival. The seem to have regained the old running rugby flair that served them well in the past.

The biggest shock was at Paarl Boys’ High where Rondebosch beat the home side for the first time since 1997. Boys’ High have been either one or two on the ranking list for the last 10 years but, following a 19-all draw with Garsfontein on the North-South weekend, you have to wonder if they too can have “one of those years”.

Another notable win, but not such surprise given their results in the run up, was Durban High School’s 38-14 win over Maritzburg College. It was, however, their biggest away win over College ever.

In other weekend action, Westville, with its gigantic pack, beat Jeppe 15-0, Pretoria Boys’ High made KES work hard for their 31-25 win, Queen’s beat Dale 20-13 in the home leg of their double-header derby, and Monument beat Nelspruit 38-16.

Next weekend is the Wildeklawer Festival. As mentioned, last weekend’s results have piqued interest in a number of the fixtures. Oakdale meet Affies, for instance, on Saturday, while Grey College take on Paarl Gim and Monument face Paarl Boys’ High on Monday.

There is another festival next weekend, the Selborne 125^th Anniversary. Rondebosch are there and they play Grey High on Monday.

One of the country’s biggest local derbies is on Saturday (it’s 1^st leg) at Hilton College, when Michaelhouse are the guests. It’s a game that brings to whole KZN Midlands region to a halt.

Comments

Lots to enthuse about last week

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Another derby, another great day, much like the last one

Much of what I’m going to say here I said last year this time. That sort of repetition used to be a no-no, back when I was newspaper reporter. But I’m not one anymore, and what I experienced on Saturday at the King Edward VII School vs Jeppe High School for Boys rugby derby at KES was so similar to what happened at Jeppe in April last year, that you really couldn’t tell the story differently this time around. Anyone who was there – and anyone else in Joburg who might have wanted to go to the game wouldn’t have found a spot to watch it from any way – was treated to the same spectacle; a riot of colours (mainly red), a cacophony from the stands and, on the field, the same passion and commitment and skills levels. Those skills, admittedly were less than perfectly executed at times, but if you are going to hold that against those 17 and 18-year olds, under that pressure, in that cauldron, then you were obviously not one of the 9 000-odd people shoe-horned into the school on Satur...

Theo Garrun Talking Schoolboy rugby

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