Bishops at Graeme Day
Excited about making their first appearance at the Graeme College Rugby Day, Bishops will bring their own brand of running rugby in what promises to be another spectacular day of schoolboy action.
The Cape Town school will take on Grey High in the feature match of the day on 28 March 2015, turning their trip to the Eastern Cape into a mini-tour because they will also be playing St Andrew’s on 26 March in a long-standing rivalry which began in 1896.
It will be a tough few days for the Bishops lads, but head of rugby Angus Firth said they were ready to embrace the challenge and were looking forward to a tour to the Eastern Cape which, at one stage, used to be a regular feature on their rugby calendar.
Firth said: “We entered (the Graeme Rugby Day) as a it was becoming superfluous to travel to Grahamstown for one fixture against St Andrew’s and Graeme very kindly invited us two years ago to join their Rugby Day.
“It was always a longstanding tradition where we used to tour the Eastern Cape and this is a little part of attempting to revive this tradition. Three-match festivals have taken the tour enjoyment factor away from so many boys and this hopefully will have a very much more tour feel than a festival.
“We are playing Grey at the day, a hugely formidable foe, but like us they like to play an open and exciting brand of rugby so it should be a superb spectacle no matter who wins.”
While many schoolboy games are exciting to watch because of their willingness to run the ball, there can be little dispute that Bishops are among the frontrunners in employing that strategy, with a running philosophy deeply embedded in their rugby culture.
Firth said that would not be changing any time soon. “It’s what keeps our rugby alive. It is in our rugby vision statement and we are holding on to the philosophy no matter what obstacles we face."
At times lighter and smaller than some of their opponents, Firth said Bishops adopted their running philosophy in an attempt to counter heavier teams they faced.
Firth said: “It was certainly initially developed or evolved out of a means to beating the larger more physically developed Afrikaans boys in our region or at least challenging them.
“First, Piley Rees embraced the philosophy but then Basil Bey took it to new levels and with huge success. Since Basil retired, Abndre Jacobs (ex-St Andrew’s 1st XV coach) has developed the pattern perhaps even more so in order to cope with the restricting modern laws and structures, as did Dave Mallett in his time.
“So simply, the philosophy is deeply entrenched and very much part of our pattern of play right through the school with just a few individual coaching tweaks here and there.”
Bishops certainly face an interesting test in their Eastern Cape visit because the clash with St Andrew’s will be their first full game of the season.
Firth said: “We have done lots of conditioning and skill work thus far, St Andrew's is our first full match as our season starts a little later. Objectives are our traditional ones – to play a fast-paced, support-based attacking style and constantly challenge the boys to beat the game of rugby and not necessarily the opposition.”
In travelling to Grahamstown, Bishops will be missing out on the Paul Roos Day, also on 28n March, as the Stellenbosch school celebrates its 150th anniversary. But Firth said their priority had been to compete in the Graeme Rugby Day since the invitation two years ago.
He said: “We committed to the Graeme Day well in advance of any knowledge or planning of the Paul Roos Day. It was spoken about two years ago! We also chose to play the St Andrew's fixture now so that it fitted into the Graeme Day which we had heard was a hugely spirited and well organised day.
“We are really looking forward to the Graeme Day and allowing our boys to experience some of the renowned Eastern Cape hospitality.”
From Neale Emslie of Graeme College
Graeme Rugby Day Fixtures
Union vs Cambridge
Muir vs Hudson Park
Queen’s vs Pearson
Selborne vs Die Brandwag
Kingswood vs Marlow
St Andrew’s vs Nico Malan
Graeme vs Dale
Grey vs Bishops
