Author: hnienaber

The South African Under-18 men’s team won the Sevens gold medal at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney on Saturday morning (SA time) after defeating host nation Australia 22-7 in the final.

Earlier in the day the SA U18 Women’s team finished in a credible fourth position after losing their bronze medal playoff match 27-0 against Japan, while Tonga was awarded bronze in the men’s division following their 26-0 win over Japan.

In the men’s final, South Africa scored two tries in each half through Duhan van der Merwe, Lungelo Gosa, Warrick Gelant and Ryan Oosthuizen while Harry Jones crossed over for Australia’s only converted try in the first half. SA led 12-7 at halftime.

Marius Schoeman, the SA U18 team manager and assistant coach, said the SA boys’ willingness to implement their game plan was a key factor in their successful gold medal onslaught. “The boys worked extremely hard, they were really eager to listen and to implement the game plan and a lot of credit must go to coach Neil Powell and his management for the team’s very thorough preparation.

“It was an excellent team effort from everyone involved and we can be proud of the boy’s efforts,” added Schoeman, a former Blitzbokke veteran.

Rugby Sevens is one of 17 sports at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival taking place in Sydney from 16 – 20 January.

The Australian Youth Olympic Festival takes place every four years and features 17 sports, with Rugby Sevens enjoying its first year of competition this year.

The Rugby Sevens tournament featured eight nations on both the men’s and the women’s side of the competition with a total 192 athletes who travelled to Sydney for the event.

Earlier in the day the South African boys stormed into the final with a comprehensive 68-0 win over Japan.

The SA Under-18 Women’s team can be pleased with their fourth position in their first international outing after they lost their bronze medal match against Japan.

In their first outing of the day, the girls produced a brave performance in their 14-17 quarter-final loss against Japan. They were however rewarded for their efforts by securing a semi-final spot as the best losing qualifier.

Hosts Australia won this semi-final clash 38-7 to clinch a final spot, which meant SA had to play Japan for a third time in two days, this time for the bronze medal.

Denver Wannies, the SA U18 Women coach, said afterwards he was pleased with the overall performance of the team in their debut overseas tournament.

“Many of the girls have not even travelled beyond their home provinces and for them to come to Australia and be in contention for a bronze medal is amazing.  If you take into account that we had a 15 year-old and mostly 16 year-old girls in our squad, then it is clear that we have the basis of a promising squad for the future,” said Wannies.

The teams return to South Africa on Monday morning.

The SA Under-18 Sevens squads are:

Men: Lungelo Gosa (Border), EW Viljoen, Marius Louw (both Free State), Matjikinyane Molapo (Limpopo), Willandre Kotzenberg (Pumas), Warrick Gelant, Duhan van der Merwe, Dewald Human (all South Western Districts), Gerhardus Labuschagne (Valke), Ryan Oosthuizen, TJ Goddard, Dennis Cox (all Western Province).

Women: Ntsako Faith Tshauke (Blue Bulls), Micaela Witbooi, Kirsten Conrad (both Boland), Lusanda Dumke, Simamkele Namba, Asisipho Dotwana (all Border), Bonakele Sibiya (Golden Lions), Mandy Mhlongo (KwaZulu-Natal), Christal Williams, Atheana Botha (both South Western Districts), Kimico Manuel, Tatum Daniels (both Western Province).

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The South African Under-18 Men’s team dominated the first day of the sevens competition of the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival, held at the St Ignatius College on Friday morning in Sydney (SA time).

The team was ranked first after an impressive unbeaten run on match day one after registering four comprehensive victories and only conceding two tries, against hosts Australia, in their last encounter of the day. Topping the standings means the SA team will get a bye straight to the semi-finals on Saturday and is within reach of a medal.

The SA Under-18 Men’s team, coached by former Springbok Sevens star Neil Powell, scored comprehensive wins over Japan (58-0), Tonga (38-0), China (73-0) and Australia (30-12) to top the rankings.

Marius Schoeman, team manager and assistant coach, praised the excellent team effort of the promising squad.

“The guys stuck to the basics and executed our game plan very well, but there is always room for improvement,” said Schoeman, a former Blitzbokke veteran.

“Our aim is to win the tournament. However, the guys have their feet firmly on the ground and realise they have a huge task ahead of them tomorrow.”

The SA U18 Women’s team, who played in their first ever overseas tournament, finished fourth overall to qualify for a quarterfinal match against Japan on Saturday. Featuring a young team consisting of mostly Under-16 players, the SA team stumbled in their first two matches, losing 32-0 against Japan and 52-7 against Australia before bouncing back to register their first win of the day against Tonga (38-0).

Although they lost their final group match 41-0 against China, South Africa still managed to finish fourth on the overall log and will play against Japan on Saturday in the playoffs for semi-final spot.

Bonakele Sibiya of the Golden Lions created a bit of local history when she became the first player to score a try for the SA U18 Women on foreign soil. Her effort was South Africa’s only reply in their 52-7 loss against tournament host and favourites, Australia.

Denver Wannies, the SA Under-18 Women’s coach, said afterwards his team was overwhelmed by the occasion. They did manage to regain some composure, which resulted in a morale-boosting win over Tonga.

“This tournament is the first overseas experience for our young team and they were overawed in the first two games,” explained to Wannies.

“Our concentration was much better in our third match against Tonga. Tomorrow we have a good chance to test ourselves against a very skilful Japan team.”

The SA U18 men’s results on Day 1:SA 58, Japan 0
SA 38, Tonga 0
SA 73, China 0
SA 30, Australia 12

The SA Under-18 women’s results on Day 1:SA 0, Japan 32
SA 7, Australia 52
SA 38, Tonga 0
SA 0, China 41

The SA Under-18 Sevens squads are:

Men: Lungelo Gosa (Border), EW Viljoen, Marius Louw (both Free State), Matjikinyane Molapo (Limpopo), Willandre Kotzenberg (Pumas), Warrick Gelant, Duhan van der Merwe, Dewald Human (all South Western Districts), Gerhardus Labuschagne (Valke), Ryan Oosthuizen, TJ Goddard, Dennis Cox (all Western Province).

Women: Ntsako Faith Tshauke (Blue Bulls), Micaela Witbooi, Kirsten Conrad (both Boland), Lusanda Dumke, Simamkele Namba, Asisipho Dotwana (all Border), Bonakele Sibiya (Golden Lions), Mandy Mhlongo (KwaZulu-Natal), Christal Williams, Atheana Botha (both South Western Districts), Kimico Manuel, Tatum Daniels (both Western Province).

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Wildeklawer SuperSchools will be bigger and better in 2013. The prestigious tournament will be hosted by Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg from 2 until 4 May. The hosts are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year and will also play in the main match of the tournament against Framesby from Port Elizabeth.

The hosts will play Paul Roos Gimnasium from Stellenbosch in their first match of the tournament. Waterkloof and Outeniqua will clash in the main match of the first day. Matches on the first day to look forward to is Glenwood vs. Boland Landbou and Maritzburg College vs. Paul Roos Gimnasium.

On the second day the clash between Grey College and Monument might be one of the highlights of the 2013 edition of Wildeklawer SuperSchools. The match between Paul Roos Gimnasium and Affies also promises to be one of the highlights. Paul Roos Gimnasium managed to beat Affies for the first time in five years during last year’s Wildeklawer SuperSchools in Kimberley.

New attendees for 2013 are Noord-Kaap (Kimberley), Drostdy THS and Grey Boys’ High School (Port Elizabeth).

The fixtures:

2 May 2013

07:50 – EG Jansen vs. Noord-Kaap
09:00 – Glenwood vs. Boland Landbou
10:10 – Drostdy THS vs. Monument
11:20 – Grey College vs. Oakdale Landbou
12:30 – Diamantveld vs. Grey Boys’ High School
13:40 – Paarl Gimnasium vs. Wildeklawer XV
14:50 – Maritzburg College vs. Paul Roos Gimnasium
16:00 – Outeniqua HS vs. Waterkloof

B-field

10:10 – Affies vs. Framesby
11:20 – Paarl Boys’ High vs. Sharks Invitational XV

4 May 2013

07:50 – Oakdale Landbou vs. Sharks Invitational XV
09:00 – Waterkloof vs. Paarl Gimnasium
10:10 – Diamantveld vs. EG Jansen
11:20 – Glenwood vs. Paarl Boys’ High
12:30 – Boland Landbou vs. Noord-Kaap
13:40 – Affies vs. Paul Roos Gimnasium
14:50 – Monument vs. Grey College
16:00 – Maritzburg College vs. Framesby

B-field

10:10 – Grey Boys’ High School vs. Outeniqua HS
11:20 – Wildeklawer XV vs. Drostdy THS

By Hannes Nienaber

South Africa Under-20 head coach Dawie Theron on Monday named 34 players for the latest training camp in preparation for the IRB Junior World Championships to be played in France in June. The Junior Springboks will defend the title won in South Africa last year.

The camp, to be held in Stellenbosch between 14 and 27 January, will include trials and friendly matches against the Universities of the Western Cape (UWC), Stellenbosch (Maties) and Cape Town (Ikeys).

“This is a very important camp for us,” Theron said.

“We need to settle on a squad and this will be another opportunity for us to do so. There are a lot of boxes that we will have to tick in the two weeks of the camp to make sure we are on track.

“The trials should confirm our selections and the training matches will give us a better idea of the various combinations available to us. We will also have to settle on our game plan once we have a clear understanding of our playing personnel.”

The SA Under-20s will meet UWC on 18 January, Maties on 23 January and UCT on 26 January. The friendlies will be played in Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

The SA Under-20 training squad is:

Fullbacks: Cheslin Kolbe, Tim Swiel (DHL Western Province)

Wings: Seabelo Senatla (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Luther Obi, Sylvian Mahuza (Leopards)

Centres: Jan Serfontein, Dries Swanepoel (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Justin Gedult, JP Lewis (DHL Western Province), Tyler Fisher (KZN)

Flyhalves: Handrè Pollard (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Robert du Preez (KZN)

Scrumhalves: Kirshwin Williams (MTN Golden Lions), Hanco Venter, Stefan Ungerer (KZN)

Loose Forwards: Leneve Dames, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp (all Vodacom Blue Bulls), Albertus Smit (MTN Golden Lions), Jurie van Vuuren (DHL Western Province)

Locks: Dennis Visser, Irnè Herbst, Jacques du Plessis, Marvin Orie (all Vodacom Blue Bulls)

Props: Justin Forwood, Andrew Beerwinkel, Neethling Fouchè (all Vodacom Blue Bulls), Luan de Bruin (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Marnè Coetzee (KZN), Sti Sithole (DHL Western Province)

Hookers: Jacques du Toit (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Devon Martinus (MTN Golden Lions), Mornè du Plessis (KZN), Freddie Kirsten (DHL Western Province)

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The Kearsney College Easter Festival of 2013 will see three new attendees in Outeniqua HS (George), Boland Landbou and Framesby (Port Elizabeth). The big guns at the tournament will be Grey College (Bloemfontein), Paarl Gimnasium and Paul Roos Gimnasium (Stellenbosch). 

The Kearsney College Easter Festival has become the one of the highest quality tournaments in South Africa the last couple of years. Only the Coca-Cola Craven Week and Wildeklawer SuperSchools are more prestigious tournaments to attend. The festival hosted by Kearsney College has lost Affies, Monument and Dale College who will all support Maritzburg College in their 150th anniversary celebrations.

The main match of the first day will be played between Paarl Gimnasium and Westville Boys’ High. The second day’s main match will be between Grey College and Framesby. The main match of the festival will be contested between the hosts, Kearsney College and Boland Landbou.

The schools who will attend the Kearsney College Easter Festival are – Framesby, Selborne College (East London), Nico Malan (Humansdorp), Glenwood (Durban), Paarl Gimnasium), Grey College (Bloemfontein), Westville Boys’ High (Durban), Outeniqua HS (George), EG Jansen (Boksburg), Paul Roos Gimnasium (Stellenbosch), Boland Landbou and hosts Kearsney College.

The Fixtures:

28 March 2013

09:30 – Kearsney College vs. Framesby
10:45 – Selborne College vs. Nico Malan
12:00 – Glenwood vs. Paul Roos Gimnasium
13:15 – Grey College vs. Boland Landbou
14:30 – Outeniqua HS vs. EG Jansen
15:45 – Paarl Gimnasium vs. Westville Boys’ High

30 March 2013

09:30 – Nico Malan vs. Boland Landbou
10:45 – Outeniqua HS vs. Westville Boys’ High
12:00 – Kearsney College vs. Paarl Gimnasium
13:15 – Glenwood vs. Selborne College
14:30 – EG Jansen vs. Paul Roos Gimnasium
15:45 – Grey College vs. Framesby

1 April 2013

09:30 – EG Jansen vs. Nico Malan
10:45 – Framesby vs. Westville Boys’ High
12:00 – Grey College vs. Outeniqua HS
13:15 – Paul Roos Gimnasium vs. Selborne College
14:30 – Paarl Gimnasium vs. Glenwood
15:45 – Kearsney College vs. Boland Landbou

By Hannes Nienaber

Steve Botha, master in charge of rugby at Maritzburg College, is to leave College for a post in the United Arab Emirates.

Botha will be based in Abu Dhabi. Ryan Strudwick continues as director of rugby.

The post was offered to Botha to run the Sharks Academy in Abu Dhabi, a partnership  between the UAE and the Sharks in an attempt to improve rugby in the UAE which tends to lose players in the 18-25 age group. Botha is to take charge of the Under-15 and Under-18 High Performance squads to nurture the players and grow the squads.

He has had experience  of this kind of work, having run the Midlands Academy which grew from 15 to 52 players under him.

In addition Botha will be coaching a club side – the Abu Dhabi Saracens.

He has visited Abu Dhabi and has been impressed by the city, not least by its greenness.

All in all Botha is excited at the prospect, though he regrets missing the College 150th celebrations next year.

Botha is not the only schoolmaster on the move.

Grant Griffiths, the Dale coach, is leaving the college for the Cape. A former Dale captain and a successful coach of the 1st XV, he is to become the coach of Hamiltons, the oldest club in South Africa and one with ambitions. In addition he will be living and coaching at SACS, the oldest school in South Africa where rugby is an important part of school life.

Wynand Moolman, coach of Hoërskool Monument, the rugby powerhouse in Krugersdorp, is leaving the school where he is the director of rugby to become the deputy principal and director of sport at Walvis Bay Private High School in Namibia. The school was established in 1961 and has nine rugby sides. Moolman has been most successful at Monnas, in the Golden Lions schools and in SA Schools. Hans Coetzee, Moolman’s predecessor as the Monnas coach, will return to the school.

After just one season at Paul Roos but not a happy one, Thys Stoltz is leaving the great Stellenbosch school. The new 1st XV is Hein Kriek, the coach of the successful Under-15 team.

From www.rugby365.com

The oldest school in KwaZulu-Natal, Maritzburg College will celebrate their 150th anniversary with an Easter Rugby Festival in 2013. The Festival will be held from 30 March until 3 April in Pietermaritzburg.

Maritzburg College has produced Springbok Players like Joel Stransky, Jeremy Thompson, Butch James, Bill Payn, Bertram van der Plank, Phil Nel, Keith Oxlee, Ormond Taylor, Andy van der Watt and Peter Grant. The school has a knack for producing flyhalves of high quality. Both players who wore the number 10 jumper in the World Cup Final in the Springbok triumphs of 1995 (Joel Stransky) and 2007 (Butch James) are Old Boys. The last three Springboks produced Stransky, James and Peter Grant is all flyhalves.

Ten schools from around the country will attend the Festival. The attendees are Noord-Kaap (Kimberley), Jeppe Boys’ High (Johannesburg), Dale College (Kings William’s Town), Monument (Krugersdorp), Rondebosch Boys’ High (Cape Town), Durban High School, Grey Boys’ High School (Port Elizabeth), Affies (Pretoria) Queen’s College (Queenstown) and hosts Maritzburg College. It is interesting that Grey College of Bloemfontein haven’t opted to rather attend Maritzburg College’s Festival than Kearsney College’s Easter Festival. Monument, Dale College and Affies all opted to support Maritzburg College in their milestone year after attending Kearsney College’s Festival previously.

The hosts will play Grey PE in the main match of the first day. The main match of the second day will be competed between Affies and Grey Boys’ High School. Maritzburg College will play Noord-Kaap in the main curtain raiser for the main match of the second day. The main match on the last day will be contested between Maritzburg College and Queen’s College.

The fixtures:

30 March 2013

10:10 – Noord-Kaap vs. Jeppe Boys’ High
11:30 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs. Durban High School
12:50 – Queen’s College vs. Affies
14:10 – Dale College vs. Monument
15:30 – Maritzburg College vs. Grey Boys’ High School

1 April 2013

10:10 – Monument vs. Rondebosch Boys’ High
11:30 – Durban High School vs. Dale College
12:50 – Queen’s College vs. Jeppe Boys’ High
14:10 – Maritzburg College vs. Noord-Kaap
15:30 – Affies vs. Grey Boys’ High School

3 April 2013

09:00 – Dale College vs. Affies
10:20 – Grey Boys’ High School vs. Durban High School
11:40 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs. Jeppe Boys’ High
13:00 – Monument vs. Noord-Kaap
14:20 – Maritzburg College vs. Queen’s College

By Hannes Nienaber

The SA Under-20 training group will assemble from 2 to 12 December at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport for a second planning camp in preparation for the defence of their IRB Junior World Championship title in France next June.

The extended group of players who attended the first training camp last month in Stellenbosch, were reduced to 38 and include many schoolboys who did not attend the previous camp because of exams, such as flyhalf and JWC winner Handrè Pollard.

Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron said the purpose of the camp be to do as much planning as possible for the squad’s forthcoming training matches early next year.

Theron has line-up three training matches in January against the university teams of the Maties, Ikeys and UWC.

According to Theron those three matches will serve as important on-field preparation for the planned tour to Argentina next March.

“This camp is important because it will be the last time we see the boys before the end of the year.  There will be a huge focus on our game planning, team structure, defensive systems and lineouts. We will have another get together in January, just a few days before the training matches against the university teams.

“It is still very early days, but I am happy with the overall planning at this stage and the management team is looking forward to working with the players again,” said Theron.

The SA Under-20 training squad to assemble on Sunday at SAS in Stellenbosch:

Vodacom Blue Bulls: Andrew Beerwinkel; Clyde Davids,  Dennis Visser, Handrè Pollard, Irnè Herbst, Jacques du Plessis, Jacques Rossouw, Jan Serfontein, Justin Forwood, Leneve Damens, Marvin Orie,  Neethling Fouchè,  Roelof Smit,  Ruan Steenkamp;

Toyota Free State Cheetahs: Luan de Bruin, Jacques du Toit, Seabelo Senatla;

MTN Golden Lions: Harold Vorster,  Albertus Smit,  Kershwin Williams,  Louwrens Erasmus;

The Sharks: Hanco Venter , Marnè Coetzee,  Morne du Plessis,  Robert du Preez,  Stefan Ungerer, Tyler Fisher;

Platinum Leopards: Sylvian Mahuza, Luther Obi, Marnus Tack;

DHL Western Province: Cheslin Kolbe, Freddie Kirsten,  Justin Benn, JP Lewis,  Tim Swiel,  Jurie van Vuuren,  Sti Sithole, Justin Gedult.

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Powerful centre Jan Serfontein, a 2012 Junior World Championship winner with the SA Under-20 team and the current IRB Junior Player of the Year, this year became one the first players to graduate from the SARU Under-16 High Performance programme to the Junior Springboks.

Fellow Blue Bulls and SA Under-20 team mate Marvin Orie (lock) is another product of this programme and followed the same pathway as Serfontein.

On Friday, 24 August 2012, SARU announced the next intake of Under-16 High Performance players when it named a group of 53 players for the camp in September in the Western Cape. This large group of Under-16 players was identified by the SARU National and SA School Selectors during the recent Coca-Cola Youth Weeks programme.

Another successful example of the programme is Handré Pollard, the SA Under-20 JWC winning flyhalf, who became the first schoolboy to represent the Junior Springboks.

Furthermore, Pollard also starred for the SA Schools in their recent 3-0 series win over the Under-18 teams of France, Wales and England. He also captained the SA Schools team in their last encounter against the English youngsters at the University of the Western Cape.

For the match against France U18, no fewer than 17 of the SA Schools match 23 attended previous Under-16 High Performance camps that are arranged by SARU annually during the September holidays.

Apart from Pollard, other schoolboy stars who have benefitted from this programme are SA Schools representatives Pierre Schoeman (captain and prop), identical twins Jean-Luc du Preez and Daniel du Preez (KwaZulu-Natal), the outstanding centre-pairing of Kubeka Sandile and Rohan Janse van Rensburg as well as right wing Sergeal Petersen of Grey PE. Petersen was also the standout wing during the 2012 Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and a stalwart for the SA Schools in their recent junior internationals.

This year the next crop of promising schoolboy players will attend  a training camp from 30 September to 7 October at the Paarl Gymnasium High School, where they will receive instructions from a range of nutritional, conditioning, coaching and mental skills experts.

Some of the experts who attended in the past were Allister Coetzee (DHL Western Province coach), Henning Gericke (former Mental Skills coach of the Springboks), Dr Wayne Viljoen and Clint Readhead (project leaders of the BokSmart injury prevention programme) and Shelly Meltzer (well-known Cape Town nutritionists).

Mervin Green, the SARU GM of Development, said the SARU Under-16 High Performance Programme is one of the key pillars in the development strategy to produce world class junior players for South Africa.

“Our pathway for the development of young players in South Africa include the Coca-Cola Youth Weeks, the Under-16 High Performance camp and the trials for SA Schools team. Our selectors work in close cooperation with the various SARU Development structures to identify players who show signs of early promise and then we get them into our system so we can track them and offer them advise on vital components such as conditioning, correct training, conditioning and mental skills programmes.

“Thanks to this programme we recently selected probably the strongest ever SA Schools squad and by the identification and early development of such a strong elite schools group we also provide the SA Under-20 squad with a bigger group of well-developed youngsters,” explained Green.

Fourteen boys from a squad of 23 who have attended one or both of the 2009 and 2010 JHP camps were selected for the 2011 SA Schools squad. Furthermore, 25 players out of a group of 50 young boys who were part of one or both of the 2010 and 2010 JHP camps intakes also gained selection to the 2012 SA Schools High Performance Squad.

“This level of consistency will be hugely beneficial to our rugby in the future because we are now able to monitor and develop a much larger group of emerging players at an earlier stage,” added Green.

The following players will attend the SARU Under-16 High Performance camp in September: