GReY COLLeGe schools rugby 2009 SCHOOLS hen Francois Steyn and his powerful 1855, is the oldest school in the country that’s weiRd greY boot sank the All Blacks in Hamilton, not in Cape Town. This dual-medium college faCtS W South Africans jumped up and down was named after then-Governor of the Cape euphorically. Except perhaps the rugby masters Colony, Sir George Grey. It’s often confused Pupils use a special three- at Grey College, who might have found it a bit of with Grey Port Elizabeth, but do this at your fingered handshake, a yawn. After all, they’d been watching half the peril – Grey PE cannot boast 36 Springboks. apparently dating back RUGBY Review current Bok team in action for years. Grey Bloem’s 2009 rugby crop, quite typi- to the 1920s and owing Grey doesn’t need to advertise its rugby, cally, went almost unbeaten. Between March its origins to the insignia on a 19th-century by richard asher because people like Steyn do that for them. So and August, 16 points was their smallest mar- does hooker (and part-time fetcher!) Bismarck gin of victory; and most teams were walloped French knife. du Plessis, whose brother Jannie is also a Grey by much more. Only in their tryless final game Only the first XV is Schoolboy rugby is getting better, faster and more professional with each old boy. Then there’s the gifted, versatile Ruan against Paul Roos did they slip up – Grey’s first allowed to train in non- Pienaar, and SA’s new opportunity-stealing loss since Paul Roos beat them in 2006. And Grey rugby jerseys – and year that passes. With the 2009 season now behind us, SI looks back on superhero, Heinrich Brussow. The Bloemfontein that was with several first-choice players miss- only the first team wear school has their stamp on this all-conquering ing at the U18 High Performance Programme. white shoelaces. what made the top-ranked schools so magic... Bok squad – and that’s nothing new. It’s hard to imagine there aren’t a few future It’s almost old hat, in fact: Grey, founded in Boks among this lot. Grey are so good that only four schools in Bloemfontein dare to Future BOk? play them. Games in the Free State are stopped if At over two metres, Carl Wegner the score reaches 30-0 has the necessary physicality to before half-time – it’s go all the way. The son of former happened many times Free State forward Kallie, he’s when Grey have been from fine rugby stock. involved. Sentraal, Jim Fouche, Louis Botha and Game Of tHe YeaR Fichardtpark all gave it The massive 62-3 win over a go this year, but all Glenwood stands out, especially conceded over fifty points. given that Grey struggled to beat The team travels to all its the KZN side in 2008. away games by train. Rugby PHilosophy “We play 15-man rugby,” says Head of Rugby Dries van der Wal. “We don’t want to force any- one into a pattern. No individual is made to feel threatened about making their own decisions – if an opportunity is there, he must use it.” ArchrivaL The year-end derby against Paul Roos is the big one, but the show- down with Affies is also a major deal. Both weekends are like an en masse school outing, with a multitude of teams in action. ay what you like about what’s hap- a Saturday runaround – schools rugby replaced by mobile Spur outlets. And pening to test rugby as a spectacle, has arguably overtaken club rugby as the if you want to go and watch, you may S and say what you like about the major feeder to the provinces. Whether or well have to pay for a ticket. Times have state of this country’s club rugby. But not that’s an entirely good thing is another changed. there’s no denying that schools rugby in question, but there’s no doubt that the There’s also a ranking system to keep the South Africa is in rude health. seriousness of the game at school level boys motivated – though the traditional If we’re looking for a reason why South is helping keep SA rugby as powerful as rivalries and prospects of female adulation Africa’s rugby trophy cabinet is bulging tradition demands. probably do that anyway. More than that, right now, maybe we need look no fur- Schools rugby nowadays means spon- even we at SI are starting to sit up and tHe iNTIMIDATORS Grey like to run the ball, All Black-style. But ther than our burgeoning schools rugby sorship, television coverage and year- take notice. So, by way of introduction, they did it with more success than the Kiwis this year! scene. It’s a long, long time since a first round training. On the touchlines, tan- we bring you a closer look at rugby in the team rugby match was just an excuse for nies with boerewors roll stand are being top-ranked schools of 2009. 42 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED NOVEMBER 2009 november 2009 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 43 2009 schools rugby OUTENiQUa eorge is not a place for the faint-hearted. This year’s team was a very experienced weiRd The capital of the Southern Cape (if there one, with loosehead prop Marius Fourie win- OUteNiQUa G is such a thing) is home to South Africa’s ning an unbelievable 62nd first XV cap in most brutal golf course (the Fancourt Links), the his final game. Speaking of forwards, former faCt remarkable Montagu Pass and some reliably foul Bulls player Anton Leonard has been looking The school has a weather. No wonder, then, that it also has our after the pack in the last couple of years – rather unusual badge, country’s second-meanest rugby school. something that’s made a big difference to the featuring a bee and Even more than is the case with Grey team’s fortunes. honeycomb. It’s all a College, Outeniqua dominates its own region. It showed in the 2009 season, with reference to the fact Just look at the South Western Districts Craven Outeniqua defeated only twice. The only loss- that Outeniqua is a Khoi Week side this year – more than half the es came against Grey College and Monnas, word meaning ‘a man squad’s players were Outeniqua boys. It cer- and there was a 20-20 draw with Paul Roos. carrying honey’. tainly doesn’t hurt that the school is home to A win that put the seal on a good year was the Kwagga Rugby Academy, another thing beating Boland Landbou 32-3 to take the that makes it the place to go in that part of the Cape-based Burger Trophy. Oh, and 107 tries NiCkName world if you’re a good rugby player. in 22 games ain’t bad! Kwaggas Future BOk? Fourie is the standout talent. He’s exceptionally strong and mus- cular, but can play like a loose forward. Last year Fourie played a major role in SWD’s successful Craven Week side, showing his versatility by playing hooker. “He’s a bit like the Beast,” says Head of Rugby Piet Cloete. Now that sounds promising… even if the name doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like Mr Mtawarira’s does! adveRt Game Of tHe YeaR Beating Paarl Gim for the first time since 2004 was the highlight of the season for Outeniqua. “It was a close game, but our backs were quicker than them and we were able to push them back,” says Cloete of the 18-15 victory. Rugby PHilosophy “We don’t have a fixed style like some schools,” says Cloete. “We rather adapt our style to the team we have. This year we had a good back- line and relatively light forwards, so we played at a fast tempo.” ArchrivaL The boys from across the Oute- niqua Mountains in Oudtshoorn (known as Struisies, thanks to Oudtshoorn’s ostrich connections) are the traditional derby enemy, but the annual clash with Paarl Gim has also become a big one for Outeniqua. GRUdGe MATCH The Outeniqua boys proved too strong for their arch-rivals from across the mountain in this year’s game against Oudshoorn. 44 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED NOVEMBER 2009 PaUL ROOS GYmNaSiUm schools rugby f ever a school was destined for rugby 2009 wasn’t a settled season for the Stellenbosch weiRd Paul greatness, it’s this one. When your school boys, with losses to Affies, Paarl Boys’ High, ROOS faCt I once had a headmaster who doubled as Bishops and Grey among the disappointments. the first Springbok captain, well, you’d better They also had a couple of games cancelled due There’s a grand ceremony front up on the rugby field. That rector and to bad weather and flu at the school, and injuries called the Jolla Bolla, Bok captain was of course Paul Roos himself – and call-ups meant a lot of combination changes which gets played out rugby heritage is loaded into the very name of and three different captains. after big wins. It’s best the school. But the low-scoring win against archrivals described as a mass hud- So it’s entirely fitting that the Stellenbosch Grey in the season finale rounded things off dle involving the entire institution, which dates back to 1864, has nicely, giving Paul Roos bragging rights going school. In the case of a churned out more Springboks than any other. into the off-season. Grey may have dominated rugby triumph, like that Andries Bekker and Schalk Brits may have been the rankings for three years now, but Paul Roos against Grey, the first the first in nearly a decade, but who’s going to bracketed their unbeaten run with wins in team and head boy stand argue with a total of 48 Boks? And it’s not just ’06 and ’09.