{"id":14810,"date":"2023-04-22T06:52:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T04:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rugby.supersportschools.com\/?p=14810"},"modified":"2023-04-22T06:52:29","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T04:52:29","slug":"does-the-nwu-prestige-semi-final-have-some-more-surprises-in-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=14810","title":{"rendered":"Does the NWU Prestige semi-final have some more surprises in store?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9523\" src=\"https:\/\/rugby.supersportschools.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/NewsGOosMoot-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"NewsGOosMoot\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/NewsGOosMoot-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/NewsGOosMoot.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>The semi-finals of the <strong>NWU Prestige series<\/strong> have arrived, after an enthralling quarter-final round last weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Oos-Moot<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> defeated <\/span><b>Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by 37-30 in the quarter-finals <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to cause a stunning upset, completely shaking up the groups and adding even more excitement to the tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coach <\/span><b>Braam Pretorius<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 team played excellently against the big boys from Rustenburg, managing to score three tries courtesy of their electric wingers, <\/span><b>Ewald Wolmarans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Tapiwa Rwafa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and their centre, <\/span><b>Ruwan Allen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it was the trusty boot of flyhalf, <\/span><b>Charl van der Sluis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, that made the difference in this epic encounter, with their unfaltering number ten converting two tries and five penalties, and adding a superb 47m drop-goal \u00e0 la Jannie de Beer for a total of 22 points for his team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Rusties played well and should be favourites to win the playoffs for fifth now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Lorenzo Snyers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (winger) has been excellent all season, and played a major role again, scoring a try and adding two conversions and two penalty kicks for his team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reigning champs,<\/span><b> Noordheuwel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, managed to beat <\/span><b>Die Anker<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a try-scoring bonanza 69-22 with 15 tries scored between the two teams.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their centre,<\/span><b> Marshall de Vos<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, played an unforgettable game, crossing the line four times for the Nories, and flyhalf, <\/span><b>JT Kapank<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was prominent again,\u00a0 adding 14 points through conversions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though they are still definite favourites to defend their title, they should heed the warning of the Oos-Moot victory, the oval ball can do funny things in knockout rugby and no team is guaranteed a place in the final.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next round takes place this Saturday at Hugenote in Springs and Die Anker in Brakpan, where Oos-Moot faces Middelburg High School, who reach the semi-finals after a hard-fought victory over Marais Viljoen, and Noordheuwel plays against Heidelberg Volkies, who also exceeded all expectations, beating Wesvalia in the quarter-finals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Middelburg High<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also relied on their kicker, <\/span><b>Divan van der Westhuizen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who added 14 points off the tee in their 24-11 victory over<\/span><b> Marais Viljoen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The importance of the kickers in all the quarter-final matches highlights the competitiveness of this tournament and is a great service to South African rugby in general, as the professional game has been emphasizing the role of the kicker for quite some time now, and depth and stability at the flyhalf position often making the difference in big matches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Heidelberg Volkskool<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> underlined this point, having to make use of two kickers, <\/span><b>Keane Duckitt <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(flyhalf) and<\/span><b> Kayle Venter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (centre) to secure their one-point winning margin over <\/span><b>Wesvalia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we approach the business end of the tournament the stakes are higher than ever, and this weekend\u2019s matches promise to repeat the excitement of the previous round to determine the two teams who will be vying for the ultimate prize.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The semifinalists are:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Noordheuwel:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 15 Jade Muller, 14 Keaton van Deventer, 13 Marshall de Vos, 12 Jared Coetzee, 11 Divan Cruywagen, 10 JT Kapank, 9 Coun-Lee Koekman, 8 Marco Maree, 7 Ludie Schutte, 6\u00a0 Jaun Fourie, 5 Donavan Breedt, 4 Rudolph Coetzee, 3 Martin Nel, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Meyer Opperman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Heidelberg Volkies: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15 Joshua Booysen, 14 Tristan la Grange, 13 Kyle Venter, 12 Ruduwaan Rodgers, 11 Rhys Thompson, 10 Keane Duckitt, 9 AJ Engelbrecht, 8 Daniel Jordaan, 7 Joshua Munro, 6 Francois le Roux, 5 Dylan Stuart, 4 Wilco Janse van Rensburg, 3 Lian Pelzer, 2 Dian la Grange, 1 Handre Strydom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Oos-Moot: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15 Jeandre de Bruyn, 14 Ewald Wolmarans, 13 Stian Oosthuizen, 12 Van Zyl Myburgh, 11 Tapiwa Rwafa, 10 Charl van der Sluis, 9 Jacques Benade, 8 Gert Hendrik Grobler, 7 Wade Williams, 6 Nathan Kleynhans, 5 Jaydon Botha, 4 Zander Kumm, 3 Christian Smith, 2 Ryan Scott, 1 Braam Bezuidenhout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 15 Divan van der Westhuizen, 14 Mthokozisi Yende, 13 Smiley Sibande, 12 Luke Geldenhuys, 11 Blessing Hamandishe, 10 Crawford Joubert, 9 Simtha Maseko, 8 Tjaart Joubert, 7 Tyrell Isaacs, 6 Ronin van Niekerk, 5 Kaylin Maphutha, 4 Paul van der Merwe, 3 Tebogo Nkosi, 2 Fumani Chauke, 1 Shaun Marx.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>First-team fixtures at Ho\u00ebrskool Hugenote in Springs:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>12:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Potch Volkies vs Jeugland; <strong>13:40 &#8211;<\/strong> Montana vs Lichtenburg; <strong>15:00 &#8211;<\/strong> Oos-Moot vs Middelburg Ho\u00ebrskool; <strong>16:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Hugenote vs Potchefstroom Gimnasium.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First-team fixtures at Die Anker in Brakpan:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>12:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Oosterlig vs Zwartkop; <strong>13:40 &#8211;<\/strong> Rustenburg vs Marais Viljoen; <strong>15:00 &#8211;<\/strong> Noordheuwel vs Heidelberg Volkskool; <strong>16:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Die Anker vs Wesvalia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The semi-finals of the NWU Prestige series have arrived, after an enthralling quarter-final round last weekend. Oos-Moot defeated Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg by 37-30 in the quarter-finals to cause a stunning upset, completely shaking up the groups and adding even more excitement to the tournament. Coach Braam Pretorius\u2019 team played excellently against the big boys from Rustenburg, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}