{"id":62928,"date":"2025-01-22T10:31:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T08:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=62928"},"modified":"2025-01-22T10:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T08:31:03","slug":"top-teams-to-contest-the-sac-shield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=62928","title":{"rendered":"Top teams to contest the SAC Shield"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"St
St Andrew’s captain, Coel Trollip, will be aiming to lead his team to glory in home waters at the SAC Shield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Please note Thursday fixtures were amended on Thursday morning, see below)<\/em><\/p>\n

Residents in Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape, can expect a buzz of activity, churning water, and loud cheers with two major water polo tournaments grabbing the spotlight in the town this weekend.<\/p>\n

The action will happen thick and fast at the annual St Andrew’s College (SAC) Shield<\/strong>, while nearby Kingswood College<\/strong> welcomes some of the top girls’ teams from across South Africa for the Brian Baker Tournament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Catch the action LIVE<\/strong> on SuperSport Schools<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The events run concurrently, beginning on Thursday, 23 January, with the respective finals scheduled for Sunday, 26 January.<\/p>\n

The SAC Shield will see 12 of the best water polo-playing boys’ teams lock horns for the prestigious shield.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the title returned to the Western Cape after South African College High School (SACS) edged out their rivals Bishops Diocesan College<\/a><\/strong> 9-8 in the final.<\/p>\n

Last year’s finalists,\u00a0 SACS and Bishops, have been drawn in Pool A along with St Andrew’s College, St Stithians <\/strong>College, and the KwaZulu-Natal duo of Westville Boys’ High<\/strong> and Clifton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

SACS and Bishops, led by coaches Devon Card<\/strong> and Jabulani Sibiya<\/strong>, will be among the favourites to go all the way.<\/p>\n

Bishops have made a bright start to their season and impressed in Tuesday’s opening round of the SACS Nite Series<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Sibiya’s charges, meanwhile, handily defeated Wynberg Boys’ High<\/strong> 15-6, but SACS suffered an early blow, slipping to a narrow 7-8 defeat to Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The hosts, St Andrew’s College, are buzzing heading into the SAC Shield. Understandably so.\u00a0Under the guidance of head coach Grant Mackenzie<\/strong>, the Makhanda boys got their season off to a cracking start last week.\u00a0They thumped Kingswood College<\/strong> 11-1, Pearson High<\/strong> 9-1, and Woodridge College<\/strong> 8-1 in games Mackenzie said, “provided excellent preparation” for the tournament.<\/p>\n

Westville Boys’ High and Clifton College will also be out to stake a claim in Makhanda.\u00a0Clifton has begun life under new head coach Pierre le Roux<\/strong>, who returned from New Zealand to take over from Paul Martin<\/strong>, who has joined Hilton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Le Roux, who has been back in South Africa for only two weeks, watched his team coast to an emphatic 24-2 win over St Charles College<\/a><\/strong> on the weekend. Westville, meanwhile, won 15-8 at Maritzburg College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The other Pool A side is Stithians College, one of the dark horse title contenders.\u00a0Coach Michael Stewart’<\/strong>s boys finished ninth last year and they’ll have their sights set far higher this time around. They’re unpredictable and\u00a0could spring a few surprises.<\/p>\n

Pool A is stacked with quality fixtures and teams. So, too, is Pool B.<\/p>\n

\"Rondebosch
Rondebosch forward Jack Robinson (Cap: 11) will pose a serious threat to ‘Bosch’s opponents in Makhanda. Photo: MBL Sports Photography<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St John’s College, who finished third in 2024, will be gunning for the top spot in 2025.\u00a0Coached by the experienced Vlad Trninic<\/strong>, they defeated Jeppe High School for Boys<\/strong> 12-5 in their season opener last weekend.<\/p>\n

St John’s will battle it out in Pool B with Rondebosch Boys’ High<\/strong>, Paul Roos<\/strong>, Grey High<\/strong>, Selborne College<\/strong>, and Hilton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Both Rondebosch and PRG had their confidence boost after wins in the SACS Nite Series over Reddam House Constantia<\/strong> and SACS respectively.<\/p>\n

As previously mentioned, Hilton College has a new coach, Paul Martin. He’s a top coach and over the previous decade compiled an outstanding record at Clifton.<\/p>\n

His first match in charge, on Saturday, resulted in a big 15-1 win over Glenwood High School<\/strong>, so Hilton, with some key performers from last year’s lineup returning, should fancy their chances in Makhanda.<\/p>\n

Grey High and Selborne College complete the group, and they will want to make a statement playing in their home province. At last year’s Schools Water Polo South Africa Inter-Provincial Tournament<\/strong><\/a>, Buffalo City<\/strong>‘s u19 side, made up solely of players from Selborne, finished an admirable fourth.<\/p>\n

The first match of the tournament features St Andrew’s College against Westville Boys’ High at 07:30<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Previous winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

2024 \u2013 SACS
\n2023 \u2013 Paul Roos Gimnasium
\n2022 \u2013 Bishops Diocesan College
\n2021 \u2013 St Andrew’s College
\n2020 \u2013 Bishops Diocesan College
\n2019 \u2013 SACS<\/p>\n

Groups<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A:<\/strong> St Andrew’s College, Westville Boys’ High, SACS, St Stithians College, Bishops, Clifton College.
\nPool B:<\/strong> Rondebosch Boys’ High, Selborne College, Paul Roos Gimnasium, Grey High School, Hilton College, St John’s College.<\/p>\n

Fixtures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, 23 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30<\/strong> – St Andrew’s College vs Westville Boys’ High; 08:20<\/strong> – Clifton College vs Bishops Diocesan College; 10:50<\/strong> – Bishops Diocesan College vs St Stithians College; 11:40<\/strong> – Westville Boys’ High vs Clifton College; 12:30<\/strong> – SACS vs St Andrew’s College; 15:00<\/strong> – St Andrew’s College vs St Stithians College; 17:30<\/strong> St Stithians College vs SACS<\/p>\n

Pool B<\/strong><\/p>\n

09:10<\/strong> – Hilton College vs Rondebosch Boys’ High; 10:00<\/strong> – Selborne College vs St John’s College; 13:20<\/strong> – Grey High School vs Hilton College; 14:10<\/strong> – Paul Roos vs Selborne College; 15:50<\/strong> – St John’s College vs Grey High School; 16:40<\/strong> – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Paul Roos<\/p>\n

Friday, 24 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A<\/strong><\/p>\n

09:30<\/strong> \u2013 SACS vs Westville Boys’ High; 10:20<\/strong> \u2013 St Andrew’s College vs Bishops Diocesan College; 11:10<\/strong> \u2013 Clifton College vs Stithians College; 14:30<\/strong> \u2013 Westville Boys’ High vs Stithians College; 15:20<\/strong> \u2013 Clifton College vs St Andrew’s College; 16:10<\/strong> \u2013 Bishops Diocesan College vs SACS.<\/p>\n

Pool B<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:00<\/strong> \u2013 Hilton College vs Paul Roos Gimnasium; 07:50<\/strong> \u2013 Rondebosch Boys’ High vs St John’s College; 08:40<\/strong> \u2013 Grey High School vs Selborne College; 12:00<\/strong> \u2013 Paul Roos Gimnasium vs Grey High School; 12:50<\/strong> \u2013 Selborne College vs Rondebosch Boys’ High; 13:40<\/strong> \u2013 St John’s College vs Hilton College; 17:00<\/strong> \u2013 St John’s College vs Paul Roos Gimnasium; 17:50<\/strong> \u2013 Hilton College vs Selborne College.<\/p>\n

Saturday, 25 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:00 \u2013 Bishops Diocesan College vs Westville Boys’ High; 07:50<\/strong> \u2013 SACS vs Clifton College.<\/p>\n

Pool B<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:40<\/strong> \u2013 Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Grey High School<\/p>\n

Play-offs<\/strong><\/p>\n

10:20<\/strong> \u2013 Quarterfinal 1; 11:10<\/strong> \u2013 Quarterfinal 2; 12:00<\/strong> \u2013 Quarterfinal 3; 12:50<\/strong> \u2013 Quarterfinal 4; 13:40<\/strong> \u2013 5th-8th place-playoff; 14:30<\/strong> \u2013 5th-8th place-playoff; 17:00<\/strong> \u2013 Semifinal 1; 17:50<\/strong> – Semifinal 2.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 26 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:00<\/strong> \u2013 11th\/12th place-playoff; 08:50<\/strong> \u2013 9th\/10th place-playoff; 09:40<\/strong> \u2013 7th\/8th place-playoff; 10:30<\/strong> \u2013 5th\/6th place-playoff; 11:20<\/strong> \u2013 3rd\/4th place-playoff; 12:10<\/strong> \u2013 Final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Please note Thursday fixtures were amended on Thursday morning, see below) Residents in Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape, can expect a buzz of activity, churning water, and loud cheers with two major water polo tournaments grabbing the spotlight in the town this weekend. The action will happen thick and fast at the annual St Andrew’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":62949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62928","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\/62928","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}