{"id":90791,"date":"2026-02-24T08:26:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90791"},"modified":"2026-02-24T08:26:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:26:44","slug":"sacs-rugby-aims-to-level-up-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90791","title":{"rendered":"SACS rugby aims to level up in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Could SACS shock their southern suburbs rivals in the 2026 season? Photo: mbl_photography4 on Instagram.<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Turning back the clock to August 2025, the SACS <\/strong>first XV trailed Bishops<\/strong> 6-18 in a southern suburbs’ derby early in the second half. A rain-soaked Memorial A Field<\/strong> was covered in mud, but SACS had plenty of fight left, and they kept pressing until the final whistle.<\/p>\n

In a remarkable finish, they scored two tries in the last minute of the game to grab a morale-boosting draw<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This year, their squad reveals no significant additions from outside. SACS is trusting in home-grown talent to deliver in 2026.<\/p>\n

There has, however, been a change in the coaching department, Graeme Wepener<\/strong>, the SACS first XV manager, told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong><\/a>: “We have appointed a new head coach, Kofi Appiah<\/strong>. He was previously an assistant coach for the Rondebosch Boys’ High<\/strong> first XV and is currently an assistant coach of the UCT Young Guns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Our previous first XV coach, Nick Maurer<\/strong>, stays on as the Teacher in Charge and will coach defence, while Josh Strauss<\/strong> will again take over coaching the forwards, as he did in 2022\/23.” Strauss represented Scotland in 15 test matches.<\/p>\n

Wepener also touched on the make-up of the squad: “We were very matric-heavy in 2025. Out of the Grade 11 boys, tighthead prop Qiraan Hermans<\/strong> (Grant Khomo in 2024) was a regular starter last year. Lock Cameron Hirst<\/strong>\u00a0also has a good number of caps. Prop\/Lock\u00a0RJ Cunningham<\/strong> finished the season strongly, while Rob Boyes<\/strong> (flyhalf), Dayyaan Conrad<\/strong> (centre – Grant Khomo 2024), Josh Gorgens<\/strong> (wing) and Stephan Kruger<\/strong> (lock) accumulated caps throughout the season.”<\/p>\n

Optimism comes in the shape of last year’s u16 players, who should provide the SACS squad with a big boost. “Our incoming Grade 11s had a good u16A season, with six of them representing the WP Grant Khomo team, namely Nahum Koen<\/strong> (fullback), Luca Orgill<\/strong> and James Sale<\/strong> (both centres), Jake Dave<\/strong> (flyhalf), Jordan Forbes<\/strong> (scrumhalf) and Luca Liebenberg<\/strong> (loosehead prop).<\/p>\n

In addition, two boys made the WP Grant Khomo XV, in Deen Fortuin<\/strong> (tighthead prop) and Joshua Philander<\/strong> (lock). The six WP Grant Khomo starters should all stand a good chance of doing the same for the 2026 SACS first XV.”<\/p>\n

South Africa’s oldest school also features a player whose father sports an international sporting pedigree; Wepener spoke highly of Luke McKenzie<\/strong>, who might slot into Mikey Skeeles’<\/strong> role as an explosive outside centre:\u00a0“Outside centre\/wing Luke McKenzie was injured all of last season, but should be in the squad for the 2026 season. His dad, Neil, played cricket for the Proteas<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Head coach Kofi Appiah<\/strong> shared his ambitions for the 2026 season, outlining some cornerstones of the SACS approach: “We aim to play with respect, discipline, hard work and creativity, to develop a brand of rugby that becomes synonymous with SACS over the next few years.<\/p>\n

“We want to inspire the next generation of SACS Rugby players by creating an atmosphere of enjoyment around our school and community.<\/p>\n

“We aim to be more competitive against our southern suburbs ‘rivals’, as well as against more fancied schools from the Paarl<\/strong> and Stellenbosch<\/strong> areas. We are not chasing individual accolades. However, should we get any provincial representatives from our team, that will be a bonus.”<\/p>\n

Coach Appiah also said playing in festivals and derby fixtures will help the team grow: “Our six southern suburbs derby weekends are always a highlight.<\/p>\n

“Over Easter, we are attending the Pretoria Boys High<\/strong> 125 Festival, where we play the hosts in the main game, followed by Maritzburg College,<\/strong> on Easter Monday.<\/p>\n

“We also play Selborne College<\/strong> and Kearsney College<\/strong> at the Grey High Festival<\/strong> in May. Those four fixtures against traditional boys’ schools will be amazing opportunities for the boys.”<\/p>\n

With young blood being thrown into the mix, SACS could face growing pains while the players adapt to the new approach adopted by management. They won’t, however, be hamstrung by a lack of talent, which makes the SACS first XV a team with intriguing potential and one on which to keep an eye.<\/p>\n

In 2026, will the first XV, when put to the test, be able to claw its way out of the mud? Like they did against Bishops in 2025?<\/p>\n

SACS Fixtures 2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Turning back the clock to August 2025, the SACS first XV trailed Bishops 6-18 in a southern suburbs’ derby early in the second half. A rain-soaked Memorial A Field was covered in mud, but SACS had plenty of fight left, and they kept pressing until the final whistle. In a remarkable finish, they scored two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":81863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90791","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\/90791","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\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}