Bishops head to Wynberg
It will be wet down in the dip off Lovers Walk when Bishops come to play Wynberg, a match first played 95 years ago.
The Southern Suburbs find it hard to match the Paarl Schools and Paul Roos but the enthusiasm in matches amongst themselves makes for great rugby spiced with unpredictability. And the winners get the "Triple Crown" if they can beat the other three in a quartet made up of Bishops, Rondebosch, SACS and Wynberg. The four schools get on well as such established schools should who have the same kind of parents with the same kind of boys.
Not that the chumminess makes the rugby matches less intense!
The Season So Far
Wynberg and Bishops have both had better seasons.
Bishops have played eight, won five and lost three.
Wynberg have played 10, won seven and lost three.
Common opponents
St Andrew's: Wynberg won 36-12; Bishops won 35-33
Grey PE: Wynberg lost 32-20; Bishops lost 24-15
Pretoria Boys High: Wynberg won 24-17; Bishops won 59-0.
Bishops possibly had the best win of the season when they beat Paarl Gim 35-32. In their match last week they lost 12-7 to Paarl Boys' High who are ranked No.1 on the FNB Top 20. Wynberg lost 47-22 to Paul Roos who are ranked No.2.
Wynberg have homeground advantage.
Interestingly the Wynberg headmaster, Keith Richardson is a Bishop Old Boy, but doubtless he would love Wynberg to win.
Achievers
Western Province Schools chose three teams to play Boland teams yesterday as a form of trials. There were 13 from Paarl Boys' High, five from Bishops and none from Wynberg. There were five Paarl backs in the side who failed to score a try against Bishops last week, which may suggest that Bishops enjoy a strong defence which they will need as the Wynberg backs are good.
The five Bishops players are Brandon Salomo, Tristan Leyds, Cornel Smit, J-P Smith and William Day. Leyds scored a dazzling try against Boys' High and in the afternoon his brother Dillyn scored two tries for the Stormers against the Rebels.
Experience
Wynberg have nobody back from this match last year while Bishops have elusive Tristan Leyds, props Jean-Pierre Smith and William Day, wing André Manuel who scored a try and kicked two conversions, Cornel Smith, Keanan Alexander, Jarryd Lurie and Tim Kuhn.
Weather
The northwester has been blowing and suddenly autumn has changed gear to winter and it is wet and cold. Wynberg will certainly feel the wet on its low-lying fields. The rain has not been heavy but a boon to the dry Western Cape and its farmers. It seems to be about to continue past the weekend.
Teams
Wynberg: 15 Daniel Jamieson, 14 Tristan Turner, 13 Mushtaq Rossier, 12 Jordan Holgate (captain), 11 Dian Fourie, 10 Dominic Coetzer, 9 Labib Kannemeyer, 8 Michael Scholtz, 7 Shaine Orderson, 6 Stephen Mathew, 5 Connor Thalrose, 4 Gideon Boshoff, 3 Mathew James, 2 Christian Botha, 1 Romario Henriques
Reserves: Yanga Ngcayisa, Callum Steyn, Mika Ekström
Bishops: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Lubelo Scott, 13 Seb Hanekom, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 André Manuel, 10 James Macdonald, 9 Brandon Salomo, 8 Francois Stassen, 7 Jarryd Lurie (captain), 6 Jean Pienaar, 5 Connor Osborne, 4 Luciano da Graca, 3 William Day, 2 Keanan Alexander, 1 JP Smith
Reserves: Nicholas Frankenfeld, Siya Qamgwana, Seb Prentice, Avela Biko, Ross Church, Leonardo Potgieter, Gregory Willcocks, Zico Oaker
Rugby Programme
Hawthornden
08.15: 4th XV
09.30: 3rd XV
10.45: 2nd XV
12.00: 1st XV
Silverhurst A
08.00: Under-15B
09.00: Under-16 A
10.10: Under-14A
11.10: Under-15A
Silverhurst B
08.15: Under-15D
09.30: Under-16C
10.45: Under-16B
Silverhurst C
08.00: 6th XV
09.10: 5th XV
10.10: Under-15C
11.10: Under-14B
JK Oval
08.00: Under-14D
09.00: Under-14C
