THE Eastern Province u/18 Craven Week rugby players will conclude their training camp in Addo today.
This four-day camp is an important part of EP’s preparation for the Craven Week, which starts on Monday at Rondebosch Boys High in Cape Town.
“No, we are not in the park between the elephants, we are at the Adrenalin Addo Adventure Park,” coach Elric van Vuuren, of Despatch High, said.
“After this camp we will be ready for the Craven Week. We are working on rugby aspects but are also doing some team-building activities.”
The EP boys played two matches in Oudtshoorn against teams of the South Western Districts (SWD) before the Addo camp.
“We went into those matches totally unprepared. We only had two practise sessions leading up to the first match and we also had injuries in the squad.
“The boys actually did very well but just faded towards the end of the first match. We did try some combinations and it was basically final trials before we settled on the starting line-up.
“The players showed guts and that was what we wanted to see. We won’t be playing any other matches before Monday and are now focusing on the first match against Griquas,” Van Vuuren explained.
It is the first time that Van Vuuren will be coaching the Craven Week team but said it wasn’t difficult to mould the players from different schools into a unit.
“Everyone has the same goal. These are all boys that want to play rugby and who know they must perform. There are good leaders in the group in our captain, Liselihle Maphekula (Graeme College) and vice-captain, Zack Serfontein (Framesby). It will be a tough task at the Craven Week but that is what we want. We want to play against the strongest teams.”
Maphekula said he “trust the lads” to do well in Rondebosch. “We can do this.”
The president of the EP Rugby Union, Maasdorp Cannon, wished the players well and reminded them that they are representing everyone in the Eastern Cape when they play in Rondebosch. “Make sure you leave the Elephant foot print on every match,” was his message to Maphekula and his team mates.
The u/18 Academy Week also starts on Monday in Wellington. The EP team will be captained by De Wet Fourie (Daniel Pienaar) and Christopher Felix (Union High) is the coach.
