Another weekend, another feast of schoolboy rugby brilliance across South Africa. The embarrassment of riches continues as the country’s finest young talent prepares to lock horns in fixtures that could shape reputations and seasons. From the vineyards of Stellenbosch to the Free State heartland, Saturday promises fireworks, physicality and plenty of drama.
Here’s your essential guide to the weekend’s most mouth-watering clashes across the provinces.
Western Cape: North meets South at the Markotter
The jewel in this weekend’s crown arrives at the hallowed Markotter in Stellenbosch, where traditional powerhouses Affies and Paul Roos will renew one of schoolboy rugby’s great rivalries. It’s the classic North versus South battle, and both sides arrive with momentum and belief.
The Pretoria giants come south fresh off a morale-boosting victory over Waterkloof, whilst Paul Roos have been in ominous form, dispatching both HTS Drostdy and SACS with the kind of clinical efficiency that sends shivers down opposition spines.
Ruan Jacobs, Affies’ head of rugby, isn’t sugar-coating the challenge awaiting his troops. “We are expecting an absolute war. Paul Roos are a very, very good side, they are physical, run hard and know exactly who they are and what they want to do. We will have to be at our best if we want anything from this match.”
The Affies boss is particularly focused on winning the physical battle, the foundation upon which everything else will be built. “We are expecting a physical assault from them and we have to fight fire with fire. The team that wins that battle will be able to assert their game plan. It’s going to be an interesting chess match that we have to win, otherwise the maroon machine will get going and then we will be in trouble.”
Fight fire with fire, indeed. This one promises to be an absolute belter.
KwaZulu-Natal: Hilton’s pack to test DHS mettle
Up in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Hilton College welcome Durban High School in a fixture dripping with quality and intrigue. Both sides opened their campaigns with encouraging victories, Hilton over Westville, DHS dispatching Michaelhouse, setting up a tantalising early-season test.
Hilton’s calling card is well known: a powerhouse pack that can grind opposition into submission. DHS will need to match that forward brutality if they’re to emerge victorious from a traditionally tough away fixture.
Peter Engledow, DHS director of rugby, is hoping the weather gods smile favourably. “We are a bit worried about thunderstorms and weather, we hope the game will go ahead. Hilton, away is always a tough fixture, they had a good win against Westville.”
The DHS boss is refreshingly philosophical about the challenge, focusing on performance as much as result. “We want to win, but it’s also about how we perform. We want to reward guys that are working hard and putting in the effort. They are a difficult side to beat, we’ve struggled against them since I’ve arrived five seasons ago. It’s going to be a good tussle, we are looking forward to the test match.”
Five seasons of struggles? That’s motivation enough for any squad.
Gauteng: Noordvaal Cup giants collide
The Noordvaal Cup heavyweights Noordheuwel and Garsfontein face off in what promises to be a cracking encounter. The narratives couldn’t be more different heading into this one.
Garsfontein will be smarting from their shock defeat to Jeppe and desperate to restore their credentials with a statement performance. Meanwhile, Noordheuwel are riding high after dispatching Rustenburg at the weekend, confidence flowing through the squad.
Bounce-back performances can go one of two ways, either a team responds with fury and focus, or the psychological damage lingers. Saturday will reveal which path Garsfontein choose.
Free State: Monnas venture into the Grey fortress
If you’re looking for David versus Goliath, look elsewhere. When Monnas travel to Bloemfontein to tackle Grey College, you’re getting two giants slugging it out on one of South African schoolboy rugby’s grandest stages.
Grey College are in frightening form, their well-oiled machine purring along nicely with a string of impressive victories. Even their toughest test, Oakdale, was dispatched with relative ease. To put their dominance in perspective, they demolished Welkom earlier this season by an eye-watering 109-3.
Monnas, however, aren’t travelling as sacrificial lambs. They’ve just blown Welkom Gimnasium out of the water with an 87-22 thrashing, demonstrating they possess serious firepower of their own.
Grey College’s 1st XV coach Jannie Geldenhuys is showing his opposition plenty of respect. “I think Monnas have a special team this year, they are very well balanced with big but agile forwards and a backline that can use the front foot ball generated by the forwards well.”
The veteran coach is relishing another chapter in this storied rivalry. “We are lucky to have a long history with Monument and Saturday is another chance to add to that story. We are looking forward to a tough match, it is another chance to test out the hard work we have been putting in during training.”
When coaches start talking about “special teams” and “testing hard work”, you know something tasty is brewing.
Eastern Cape: Framesby fancy their chances
Framesby arrive at their clash with Selborne brimming with confidence after a composed victory over St Andrews at the weekend. Keeping their heads whilst others might have panicked, they got the job done in style.
Some pundits have called the St Andrews result a slight surprise, but Framesby clearly fancy themselves against stronger opposition. Selborne represent a significant step up, but this is a team growing in belief and capability. Don’t be shocked if they cause a few headaches.
