{"id":49002,"date":"2024-06-16T11:57:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T09:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=49002"},"modified":"2024-06-16T11:57:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T09:57:32","slug":"ep-target-teamwork-as-top-priority-for-grant-khomo-u16-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=49002","title":{"rendered":"EP target teamwork as top priority for Grant Khomo u16 Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9222 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/GrantKhomoWeek-400x486.png\" alt=\"GrantKhomoWeek\" width=\"400\" height=\"486\" \/>As they enter their final week of preparations, the Eastern Province u16 team will place a massive focus on gelling as a cohesive unit for the opening match in the Grant Khomo Rugby Interprovincial tournament in <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Gqeberha<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> next Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">This prestigious event, featuring the cream of South Africa\u2019s u16 players, will be held for the first time in Nelson Mandela Bay and will see action on Monday, <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Wednesday<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> and Friday at Grey High School.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">Being the hosts, EP will play the feature match of the opening day against Western Province and coach Ashley Carolus knows that they are in for a serious challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cWestern Province are always a tough outfit, but we know we have to be ready to compete against the best, so our preparations are on track for that,\u201d Carolus said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cWe have been hard at work with several training sessions held at Pearson High School and we will <\/span><span class=\"s5\">finalise<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> our preparation this week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">The coach, who was also in charge last year after serving two years as an assistant coach, is happy with their progress but understands the challenges which they face.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cThe most important factor for us will be to work as a group of players, so we are focusing on teamwork as a top priority,\u201d Carolus said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cWe had some really good trial games and have a decent team, and we are excited about the week ahead of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">He added that they would like to feature in the main games on the remaining days, but they were not looking any further ahead than the opening match against WP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cWe have to make sure we take it one step at a time, so we are not putting any pressure on ourselves with undue expectations, but will go into the week trying to put into action what we have concentrated on during practice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">One advantage for the local team is that they will be operating in familiar conditions on Grey High\u2019s <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Kolisi<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> Field and Carolus said they were looking forward to receiving some support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">\u201cHaving the backing of the home supporters will be important for us and the boys will be keen to shine in front of their families and friends,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">The EP-WP clash on Monday will start at 15:30 and will be preceded by the tournament\u2019s opening ceremony at 15:00<\/span><span class=\"s5\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">Action will take place on the <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Kolisi<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> Field and Pollock Oval, with the first games starting at 09:20 when the Pumas take on Griquas (<\/span><span class=\"s5\">Kolisi<\/span><span class=\"s5\">) and the Free State XV face Border Country Districts (Pollock).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><span class=\"s5\">Those games should set the scene for a weekend of entertaining schoolboy rugby, with two high-profile matches on the opening day featuring Lions versus Boland (10:40 on <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Kolisi<\/span><span class=\"s5\">) and Free State against the Sharks (12:10 on <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Kolisi<\/span><span class=\"s5\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s9\"><strong><span class=\"s5\">Fixtures | Day 1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>KOLISI FIELD\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>15:30 &#8211;<\/strong> Eastern Province vs Western Province<br \/>\n<strong>15:00 &#8211;<\/strong> Opening Ceremony<br \/>\n<strong>13:40 &#8211;<\/strong> Blue Bulls vs Western Province XV<br \/>\n<strong>12:10 &#8211;<\/strong> Free State vs Sharks<br \/>\n<strong>10:40 &#8211;<\/strong> Golden Lions vs Boland<br \/>\n<strong>09:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Pumas vs Griqualand West<\/p>\n<p><strong>POLLOCK OVAL\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>15:30 &#8211;<\/strong> Leopards vs Limpopo Blue Bulls<br \/>\n<strong>13:40 &#8211;<\/strong> South Western Districts vs Namibia<br \/>\n<strong>12:10 &#8211;<\/strong> Border vs Zimbabwe<br \/>\n<strong>10:40 &#8211;<\/strong> Valke vs Griffons<br \/>\n<strong>09:20 &#8211;<\/strong> Free State XV vs Border Country Districts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As they enter their final week of preparations, the Eastern Province u16 team will place a massive focus on gelling as a cohesive unit for the opening match in the Grant Khomo Rugby Interprovincial tournament in Gqeberha next Monday. This prestigious event, featuring the cream of South Africa\u2019s u16 players, will be held for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49002","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\/49002","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\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}