SSPN Test Site

Category: Uncategorized

  • Voortrekker to host second tournament of @lantic 7’s on Saturday

    Voortrekker to host second tournament of @lantic 7’s on Saturday

    THE @lantic sevens series moves to Bethlehem on the weekend. The second tournament of the 2008-series will be hosted by Voortrekker High of Bethlehem on Saturday. One of the stars of last year’s series, Hoffman Maritz of Voortrekker, will be in action once again on Saturday.

    Voortrekker played some exhilarating sevens rugby during last year’s tournament at Jim Fouché in Bloemfontein. The squad is being strengthened this year for their home tournament. “We have two guys who missed out on selection last year due to injury. They are back in the squad and the two guys who played for us in Bloemfontein will now represent our B-side in Group D,” said Dawie Matthee, coach of Voortrekker. Maritz represented the victorious @lantic sevens team at the international sevens tournament in Dubai last year. He will definitely play a huge role in his squad’s preparation for their home tournament. 

    The matches will kick off at 8:30 on Voortrekker’s A- and B-field in Bethlehem. The final of the Cup will be played at 16:30. A selector of the South African sevens team will also be present at the tournament. 

    The teams that will participate in the tournament is:

    Group A: Voortrekker, Welkom Gymnasium, Reitz and Parys.
    Group B: Jim Fouché, Pionier High (Vryheid), Riebeeckstad and Paul Erasmus from Senekal.
    Group C: Harmony Sportacademy, Louis Botha, Sarel Cilliers from Natal and Ficksburg.
    Group D: Potch Gymnasium, Kroonstad High, Bothaville and Voortrekker B.

    By Hannes Nienaber

  • Afrika could still make South African under 20-side

    Afrika could still make South African under 20-side

    Thirteen Blue Bulls was named by Eric Sauls (coach) in his national under 20-side for a training camp in Saldanha. The camp will be held from 2 February until 11 February. The South African team will travel to the IRB under 20 World Championship in June in Wales. “The squad isn’t finalized yet and guys out of the group can still make the squad for Wales,” said Sauls. 
    A player like Cecil Afrika (fullback/wing) can still make the side. He is struggling with an injury and could make the final cut. Another omission from the squad who could be in action in Wales is Francois Hougaard (scrumhalf) of the Blue Bulls. Hougaard is in the Bulls provisional Super 14 squad. “Cecil is an extremely talented player and I can still alter my squad before the competition,” said Sauls.
    The South African team will play two matches against their French counterparts. The French team has set up camp in Vredenburg. The Free State has six representatives in the group. Three of the six players ply their trade in the midfield. Robert Ebersohn and Earl Snyman represented the South African school’s side last year, while Cameron Jacobs captained the Eastern Province team at the Coca Cola Cravenweek held at Stellenbosch. Herzon Amell (prop), Wilton Pietersen (fullback) and PW van Vuuren (hooker) completes the dozen.
    The group is:
    Gerrit-Jan van Velze, Berend Botha, Cornell Hess, Divan Kotze, Henri Bantjes, Stefan Watermeyer, Wynand Willis, Gerhard van der Merwe, Stephan Dippenaar, Oscar Mfundise, Tom Seabela, Marnitz Boshoff, Corne Fourie (all Blue Bulls), Dewaldt Duvenhage (Boland), Herzon Amell, Robert Ebersohn, Cameron Jacobs, Wilton Pieterson, Pieter-Willem van Vuuren, Earl-Jivan Snyman (all Cheetahs), Bernardo Botha, Justin Wheeler, Johan van Deventer (all Lions), Robert Kruger, BG Uys (both Leopards), Mlindazwe Nqoro, Sabelo Nhlapo, Thiphatu Marole, Wiehahn Herbst, Maphelo Mpondo (all Natal), Jean-Jacques Rossouw, Lisle Clark, Martin Muller, Mathew Turner, Mzwanele Zito, Yaasir Hartzenberg, Clark Weidemann, Clayton Steward (all Western Province).
  • Ben Vorster on top at Gerrit Maritz in @lantic sevens

    Ben Vorster on top at Gerrit Maritz in @lantic sevens

    Ben Vorster High from Tzaneen was crowned champions at the first @lantic sevens tournament of 2008 held at Gerrit Maritz High in Pretoria. They defeated Oos-Moot from Pretoria 28-5 in the final of the tournament.

    In all 16 schools participated at Gerrit Martiz High. The champions were also the early favourites to be crowned champions. The steamrolled their way through their pool matches. But they were met by a determined side of Oos-Moot in the final.

    De Wet Moolenaar of Ben Vorster was named player of the tournament, while Phillip Ylwood from the host won a laptop. The next tournament of @lantic will be held on 9 February at Voortrekker in Bethlehem. One of last year’s players to represent the @lantic sevens-team at the international sevens in Dubai, Hoffman Maritz (Voortrekker) will again be in action in the tournament.

    Results of the finals are: 

    Shield: Tuine THS won Uitsig Bowl: Tuine 42, Montana 7Plate: John Vorster THS 19, Pretoria-Noord 0Cup: Ben Vorster High 28, Oos-Moot 5

     

  • Van der Wal to coach Grey College in 2008

    Van der Wal to coach Grey College in 2008

    Dries van der Wal will coach Grey College’s first team this year after an absence of two years from the coaching fraternity. Van der Wal is also Grey College’s head of rugby. He will coach the first team with Ingo Machts after Jaco Swanepoel decided to take the head coach job at the University of the Free State.
     
    Van der Wal coached Grey College’s first team from 1984 till 2005 before leaving Swanepoel with the job as head coach. Van der Wal coached with the legendary Jos Labuschagne until 1997 when the latter retired. Labuschagne passed away last year. He and Van der Wal groomed quite a few Springboks and provincial players when they coached the first team.
     
    Grey College had a tremendous season last year and Van der Wal and Machts will have a difficult job to take the team of 2008 to the same heights. Machts was Swanepoel’s assistant the last two years and also helps with the coaching of the Free State under 19-side. 
     
     
  • Hans Coetzee to coach Golden Lions under 19

    Hans Coetzee to coach Golden Lions under 19

    Hans Coetzee, well known coach of Monument High in Krugerdorp, will help the Golden Lions with the recruiting of players. He will also caoch the Lions under 19-team with Timmy Goodwin and Marius Hurter.

    He coached Springboks like Brendan Venter, Jorrie Muller, Jaque Fourie and Heinke van der Merwe during his 18 years as first team coach of Monument. Coetzee isn’t the first school coach to move to a higher level of coaching this year. Jaco Swanepoel, coach of Grey College in Bloemfontein, will coach the University of the Free State’s rugby team this year.
    The current coach of the Golden Lions Coca Cola Cravenweek team, Oupa van der Merwe, will coach Monument’s first team this year. Coetzee will also help with the administration of school’s rugby in the province.

     

  • 2008 @lantic 7’s kicks off at Gerrit Maritz

    The 2008 @lantic 7’s series kicks off on Saturday, 26 January at Hoërskool Gerrit Maritz in Pretoria.  According to sport promoter, Willem Strauss this year’s series will consist of 16 tournaments.  “The last tournament will be a “champion of champions” tournament that will also take place in Pretoria on 25 October” said Strauss.

    The best player at each tournament will be invited to attend a training camp at which the @lantic invitation team will be chosen.   This team will participate in the Dubai 7’s amateur competition at the end of the year.  The South African schoolboys overshadowed their senior opponents during last year’s Dubai tournament and won with record scores.  One of the schoolboys who represented the @lantic invitation team, Danie Poolman of Paul Roos, has already been included in the Springbok 7’s training squad.

    The participating teams for Saturday are: Hoërskool Akasia, Hoërskool Ben Vorster, Hoërskool FH Odendaal, Hoërskool Garsfontein, Hoërskool Gerrit Maritz, Hoërskool Hartebeespoort, HTS Tuine, HTS John Vorster, Hoërskool Montana, Hoërskool Oos-Moot, Hoërskool Pretoria-Noord, Tuine, Hoërskool Uitsig, Hoërskool Wagpos, Hoërskool Die Wilgers and Hoërskool Wonderboom.

    The first match for Saturday, 26 Jan starts at 08:30 with the Cup final being played at 16:30.

    The program for the first five tournaments is as follows:

    26 Jan    Gerrit Martiz (Pretoria)
    09 Feb    Voortrekker (Bethlehem)
    16 Feb    Jim Fouche (Bloemfontein)
    23 Feb    Paul Roos (Stellenbosch)
    01 Mar    Swellendam (Swellendam)
    The remaining 11 tournaments will take place form July to October.  Nearly 400 schools will take part in this years series.

     

  • Coca Cola Cravenweek could be held at Affies in 2008

    Coca Cola Cravenweek could be held at Affies in 2008

    The Coca Cola under 18 Cravenweek will be held in Pretoria next year. Affies are the favourites to host the tournament in the Jakarandastad. There will be 440 promising young rugby players on show at the week in 2008.
    There will be two more side competing at the tournament than this year. Griqualand West Country Districts and Eastern Province Country Districts will also travel to Pretoria next year. It will be the fourth time in five years that the tournament will be hosted by a school.

    The last time the tournament was hosted by Pretoria was in 1992. Western Province and Free State contested in the main match. Nelspruit High (2003), Grey College (2004) and Paul Roos Gymnasium (2007) were the school whom had the honour of hosting this prestigious week.

    By Hannes Nienaber

  • @lantic 7’s off to a promising start in Bloemfontein

    @lantic 7’s off to a promising start in Bloemfontein

    In the first match of the Free State leg of the @lantic 7’s in at Jim Fouche in Bloemfontein the hosts were upsetted 12-36 by Voortrekker from Bethlehem. Voortrekker’s Cravenweek fullback, Hoffman Maritz, showcased his talent during this match. Maritz also played brilliantly in his team’s other two victories on the opening day of the competition.

    Boela Abrahams’ team of the Harmony Sportacademy also showed that they could play the game of sevens. They outclassed Sentraal 84-0, Rocklands 59-0 and Heatherdale 70-0 in their Pool C matches. Abrahams and Christiano Swartz was their teams star performers.

    Linden High won Pool B beating Bloemfontein High, Paul Erasmus and Batho on the way. Louis Botha won Pool D beating Jim Fouche B 19-12, Ficksburg 47-5 and Petunia 49-0.

    Results on Friday:

    A-field

    Jim Fouche A 12,  Voortrekker 36
    Harrismith 58,  Thaba Nchu 0
    Harmony Sportacademy 84,  Sentraal 0
    Heatherdale 26,  Rocklands 12
    Jim Fouche A 73,  Thaba Nchu 0
    Harrismith 5,  Voortrekker 51
    Linden 50,  Batho 0 
    Paul Erasmus 10,  Bloemfontein High 38
    Jim Fouche A 27,  Harrismith 0
    Sentraal 56,  Rocklands 0
    Voortrekker 56,  Thaba Nchu 0 
    Harmony Sportacademy 70, Heaherdale 0 

    B-field 

    Linden 40, Bloemfontein High 15
    Paul Erasmus 22,  Batho 15
    Louis Botha 19,  Jim Fouche B 12
    Ficksburg 33,  Petunia 0
    Harmony Sportacademy 59,  Rocklands 0
    Heatherdale 19,  Sentraal 22
    Louis Botha 49,  Petunia 0
    Ficksburg 21,  Jim Fouche B 24
    Bloemfontein High 51,  Batho 0
    Jim Fouche B 39,  Petunia 7
    Linden 45, Paul Erasmus 5 
    Louis Botha 47,  Ficksburg 5 

    By Hannes Nienaber
     

  • Swanepoel leave Grey College after 12 years as coach

    Swanepoel leave Grey College after 12 years as coach

    After Jaco Swanepoel coached Grey College’s first team for twelve years he decided to move on. He was appointed to coach the University of the Free State’s first team, the Shimlas, from next year. He grabbed the job in front of nine other coaches who applied for the job.

    “I accepted it as a full time job and won’t be coaching at Grey anymore,” said Swanepoel about his move. He was involved an amazing thirty years at Grey College in Bloemfontein as a pupil and teacher. “It is definitely difficult to leave Grey behind. I have walked a long way with the school,” said Swanepoel.

    Shimlas has been coached by former Griqua-centre, Waksie Prinsloo and Dougie Heymans this year. Prinsloo will still coach the varsity’s sevens team after coaching them to the title of the Melrose-sevens.

    It is not difficult to see why Shimlas’ management decided on Swanepoel. He coached more than 50 provincial players in his twelve years at Grey College of which seven became Springboks. The seven Springboks are Gerrie Britz, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Frans Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Wian du Preez and CJ van der Linde. Of which only Britz and Du Preez wasn’t part of th3e victorious Spirngboks which won the William Webb Ellis trophy at the World Cup in France earlier this year.

    Grey College was seldom on the loosing side with Swanepoel as coach. Only a few school coaches can compare with him on school rugby level. He can play a huge role in the academy which was started by the University of the Free State and the Free State Rugby Union. Swanepoel also coached the Free State’s Cravenweek team with success.

    “There are a few job opportunities as a professional coach and I would say that I am now a professional coach. I am very excited about this opportunity,” said Swanepoel. He also played one match for the Shimlas before getting injured after Piet Bester, former Free State and Griqua prop, fell on him. He was a promising young wing before he decided to hang up his boots. He represented the South African school’s team in 1986. He also played for the University of the Free State’s under 20’s and Irawas.

    By Hannes Nienaber

  • @lantic sevens team victorious in Dubai

    @lantic sevens team victorious in Dubai

    The @lantic sevens team won the Dubai 7’s International Division when they defeated Lenograd from Russia 47-0 in the final of the tournament. It is an excellent achievement for the school boy’s from South Africa. They played against senior sides at the tournament. They are invited to take part again in the tournament in 2008.
     
    They also beat Dubai Rugby (52-5) in the semi-final, Limm (42-0) in the quarterfinal, Teheran (78-0), Vauxhall (45-7) and the national side of India (52-5) on their way to be crowned champions. They scored 324 points conceding only 17 in the tournament.       
     
    The team that represented the @lantic team were: Gerrit van den Heever (Affies), GD Kotze (Volkskool Heidelberg), Joubert Engelbrecht (Upington High), Brian Shabangu (Glenwood),  Abednego Mamushi (Middelburg High), Enrico Ackers (Outeniqua High), Hoffman Maritz (Voortrekker Bethlehem), Pierre Lombard (Waterkloof), Justin McKay (Excelsior High) and Glen Mafumo (Ben Vorster High).
     
    The team was assembled from the player of the tournament from the ten tournaments held throughout South Africa by @lantic during the year. The tournaments were held in Pretoria (Affies), Vereeniging (Monument), Upington (Upington High), Durban (Sharks Academy), Middelburg (Ermelo High), Polokwane (Ben Vorster High), Klerksdorp (Middelburg High), Bloemfontein (Harmony Sportsacademy) and George (Outeniqua).