A Scouts Perspective – Part II
Andre Tredoux– Monday 26 April- Traveling from PE to Graaff-Reinet the 2010 town of the year, I realise that the vibe and student excitement of Varsity Cup has yet to hit this small town in the Karoo. The TV guesthouse pub was on MNET instead of on of Varsity Cup Semi Finals. It was quickly changed to channel 201. Congratulations to Tuks and Maties, the traditional big two back at the top of student rugby!
On my way to the ‘NWU PUK SKOLE SKOUSPEL’. Day one in Potch you realise why the little student town is up there with the best in Varsity Cup rugby. A well organised schools festival, although some games did disappoint. HTS Drostdy played Framesby, and the boys from the bay got off to a good start, but every time they scored it seemed as if the Donkeys hit back immediately. Framesby leading 20 – 13 at the hooter just relaxed for a second and the Drostdy boys took the ball through numerous phases, before scoring out wide. The kick went wide and that was it a 20 -18 win for Framesby. Framesbys’ front row impressed, with Bart le Roux a big prospect at tight head. Ernst Stapelberg the Framesby flyhalf controlled most of the game; he has good vision and a big left boot. The Donkeys best players, was their small scrumhalf Christwill September and big eigthman Hanro Liebenberg, at 1.94m and 95kg this monster will be heard off.
Oakdale smashed KHS and the boys from the farm were just too physical, fast and skilled for the Klerksdorp outfit, which looked out of their depth at this tournament. Oakdale’s standout player was their big number 13 Lex Botha. With Andre Esterhuizen KHS’s huge 13 missing, they lacked penetration. Oakdale took the honours 44 – 11.
The next game saw a spirited Outeniqua play the mighty Monnas. Chatting to the Monnas coaches before the game, they did mention missing 6 players, but were still confident their juniors coming in would impress. In a great game of schoolboy rugby Outeniqua just always seemed to have their noses in front. Warrick Galant the Kwaggas inside centre impressed me immensely. This player has got something special, pace, vision and an eye for a gap. Jurgens Schoeman at lock and the huge Martin Oosthuizen at loose head were also good. Outeniqua winning 26 16 was the first real upset of the week, for Monnas, Barend Herbst the hard running fullback playing at outside centre had a good game, the young 7 Wiehan Jacobs filling in for Chris Massyn was also very good. At 10 Jako van der Walt is also a class act.
The flyhalf position is a position South Africa doesn’t have to worry about, the talent in this position at schoolboy level is scary. The following players are all quality: Grey Bloems Pieter Jordaan, Queen Colleges’ -Josh Stander, Affies’ Ryno Eksteen, Monnas’ – Jako van der Walt, Paarl Gym’s- Pollard, Paarl Boys Highs’ – Jean Luc du Plessis, Waterkloofs’- Kobus Marais and Paul Roos’ Jason Warrol. Hopefully they can all realise their talent, and not all end up at one union. A national drafting system is becoming a must for SA rugby and something Mr Jurie Coetzee should look into.
The final game of the evening saw Glenwood play Noord-Kaap, the Green machine didn’t know much about the boys from the Kimberley, but believe me, they know all about them now. Noord-Kaap scored early and with Zane le Roux the Noord-Kaap scrumhalf proving a handful Glenwood had to defend. That they did with true spirit and determination. Every time Glenwood got into range, Tom converted the penalty and they went into an 18 – 13 lead, with Northern as they are known throwing everything at them, Glenwood just kept defending and the green machine hung on for a good win.
For Glenwood, Marwana at 12 was a handful running awesome lines and Ngxabi at 4, although he will also have to move to 7, played very well. In fairness Glenwood did get a red card early in the second half. Northerns players that stood out were Shaun Clarke at eightman, Zane le Roux at nine and Koopman the winger.
Other notable results from the festival saw Framesby beating Glenwood 22 -7. Framesby and Outeniqua being the unbeaten side’s at the festival.
A shout out to the NWU PUKKE for hosting a superb festival, the Forward of the tournament – Bart le Roux the tight head from Framesby, Backline player of the tournament- Christwill September the scrumhalf from Drostdy and player of the tournament- Siyabonga Tom from Glenwood.
Heading north to attend the Waterkloof Sport festival, it was a shock to see so little support for this festival.
Day 1 Saw Merensky getting pumped 43-0 by Transvalia, Centurion hammering a below strength Tygerberg 62-12, Brandwag mauled by Jim Fouche 41-7, Ben Vorster scraping home over a gutsy Sentraal 24 17, Voortrekker Bethlehem hammering Montana 58- 6, Middelburg batting first in hammering PMB Voortrekker 83-0 and Waterkloof beating Jeppe, after the Johannesburg outfit started brightly, 43 -7.
This tournament was a difficult tournament for a scout as the programs did not have the names of the boy’s and0 the teams played in different numbers. I did however stumble onto a name sheet.
Players to watch out for is the Centurion inside centre Chad McKay, a strong runner with good feet, Thabo Mabuza the SA Schools star at 6 was as busy as ever, Francois Jones a monster playing at 8 he will be a great 5 lock in the Bekker mould and Eduan Bosman a lock in the Bakkies mould. Jaco Hayword, the speedster, also impressed at 15 scoring a brace. Dayan van der Westhuizen at loose head prop is also one to watch in the future.
The Tygerberg coach rested several players against Centurion and this was evident against Waterkloof. The hosts lead 13-0 at the break, the game caught light with a great try started by Edwin Sass the burly centre lighted up the game and he is a star of the future. At 13-5 the Cape boys suddenly had a sniff and it was not long before the stepping and weaving off Sass led to Tygerbergs’ second try. At 13 -12 with 7 minutes to play it was going to be a humdinger. Waterkloof came back to score a robust try, 20 -12, before Sass and his boys scored in the final minutes to bring the days play to an end. The final score was 20 -19 in favour of Waterkloof. The Tygerberg kickers left their kicking boots at home.
For Tygerberg Shane Grundlingh at 15 was also a standout player. Waterkloof has in Kobus Marais, the 2011 Limpopo Bulls, Craven week star a very good flyhalf, and it’s also good to see Rohan Janse van Rensburg the Blue Bulls Craven week number 13 returning to the game after a big injury. Although still rusty he has class written all over him. He scored a brilliant try against Jeppe that at a Danie Gerber look about it.
Voortrekker Bethlehem had an entertaining game against Middelburg after both team came off big wins on Saturday. Middelburg with no apparent stars is a well drilled unit. They play for each other and ran into a quick 19-3 lead. The Voortrekker boys have real character and staged a great fight back to lead 31 19 with ten minutes to play. Middelburg then jumped back into action and scored, making the score 31 24. Trailing by 7 they launched an almighty attack that saw them take the ball from their own 10 yard line to score in the left corner. With the score 31 29 with time up, the kick needed to be good to draw the match. Unfortunately it went wide, and the Bethlehem boys had won a physical encounter. The standout players for Voortrekker was there Captain Oelof Stander at 8, Christo Wessels a very fast Rob Louw like flanker at 7, the little feisty number 9, Crause Bekker who had to spend 10 minutes in the bin for using his boots on a forward twice his size. The fullback Sechaba Matsoele or Zuma as his friends call him is also a star of the future, the grade 11 boy is growing with confidence with every game. The Bethlehem side is well coached outfit and Dawie Mathee and Hennie Pelser must be credited for their outstanding work.
Ben Vorster although winning both their games, has yet to really dominate and their players to watch are: 13 Adriaan Maebane, 11 Don Mlondobozi, 15 Marcel Scholtz and 14 Grant Pinto. There forwards are workmen like, but it’s when these boys start using their pace that the opposition has to take note.
Top players of the last week: Warrick Galant the Outeniqua 12, Kobus Marais the Waterkloof 10, Rohan Janse van Rensburg the 13 form Kloof, Bart le Roux the huge Framesby tight head.
My travels take me to the Kearney festival, and I look forward to writing about one of the best Easter festivals. Follow me on Twitter @AndreTredoux9 for up to the minute updates on players to watch, I don’t do scores.
Keep it real.
Related Posts
« Motherwell make emotional return at Lagunya Rugby Easter Tournament Fascor Hand Tools Rugby Week presented by Port Natal Skool »
