The Unfancied Noordheuwel from Krugersdorp Verses the Garsfontein from Pretoria in a bone crunching rugby match. This took place on the Markotter Fields in Stellenbosch. The Rugby school games were between Noord-Suid/ North-South Schools rugby teams. While neither won their matches against the more fancied Grey Colle (22-24) and Paul Roos (32-34), Noordheuwel and Garsfontein give good accounts of themselves and will feel they can be raised to the ranks of the major champions of South Africa Schools Rugby.
On another day, and if a little luck had gone their way, Grey and Paul Roos would be nursing defeats today. In another big result that has been heard about across the country, Paarl Gimnasium hammered King Edward VII School from Joburg 102-0. Monument, also from Krugersdorp, suffered a 21-27 loss to Durbanville, just a week after being well beaten by Grey College, while Paarl Boys High beat Waterkloof 66-0. At the Grey High festival in Gqeberha, the hosts drew 28-all with Michaelhouse from KZN, while Hilton beat Graeme College 27-17. Pretoria Boys High fell 26-28 to Kearsney and Queen’s and St Stithians drew 13-all. The action at the North-South festival as well as at Grey High continues on Monday, with fixtures running until Tuesday.
High school sports have proven a fertile hunting ground for agents of professional sports in search of new talent. High school rugby matches can be just as demanding in testing new talent as professional rugby. High schools’ sports draw significant if not large groups of spectators. The effort these students put into their rugby practice could one day earn them a place on one of the national teams. They could perhaps even play for the Springboks. There is of course the rivalry between different schools concerning who can be the best rugby team or who has the best rugby team. This should be kept at a minimum and not escalate. Professional sport is about the talent as much as the effort to be put into it.
Day one of the North-South Festival produced more one-sided results than equal contests and that is testament to the vast difference in quality rugby structures between the participating schools. Paul Roos reaffirmed their status as one of the best schools’ rugby sides with a narrow 34-32 win over Garsfontein. SA schools’ rugby greatest superpower Grey College limped to a 24-22 win against Noordheuwel. Rondebosch were too good for Jeppe and sealed a 38-15 triumph, Oakdale smashed Nelspruit 43-12, Stellenberg whacked Voortrekker Bethlehem 52-7, and Helpmekaar outlasted Nico Malan to win 33-17. In other schools’ rugby results from this festival, Marais Viljoen took down Worcester Gim 41-31, Rustenburg steamrolled their way to a 60-25 victory against Diamantveld, and Framesby inflicted a 60-7 defeat on Duineveld.
Rugby like any other sport can be just about the effort you put into it as it is about the talent you have. The competition between the teams is healthy for building up confidence in their ability or abilities on the field. It is meant to be a worthwhile experience full of adrenalin. High school rugby like any other high school sport is about focusing on keeping healthy and athletic. The competitive nature of the sport especially between High School teams Paul Roos and Garsfontein is to see who can score the most goals. Rugby even high school Rugby is a rough sport and all focus is on preventing the opposing team from scoring the winning goals. Rugby can be as ruthless as it can be rough.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
