Captain's profile: Piet van der Merwe
Bloues are out for revenge following their 3-36 on home soil in the 2015 edition of the Clash but van der Merwe and his enthusiastic Bloues charges are fully motivated for the encounter, despite not having one of their best seasons.
"We have been rival schools for as long as we can remember. Although we have had our fair share of disappointments, each year we are fully motivated to see this challenge through. Even if the outcome is not as we wanted it [to be], we still keep our heads high knowing we did our best.
"We are a young team of enthusiastic players who still have a long way to go to reach our goals but each individual team member was chosen according to his capabilities and the amount of effort they showed at practice and THAT is what makes us the best team that we can have been.
"It has not been one of our best seasons but through our tireless efforts we never gave up, stuck together and saw every challenge through until the end. For this match I expect my team to give their best, to back each other up and to always stay positive," van der Merwe said.
The 18-year-old matriculant shared his pride in being named the leader of the pack and ensures the rest of his team adopts his "never give up" attitude on and off the field.
"I keep telling my players to never give up, no matter how hard the journey is and how hard the task in front of you may seem. It is an honour to be chosen as captain of this team and I know that encouragement and support are just two of the duties I have as the leader.
"In the future, I want them to look back on these school days and realise that, at the end of the day, all the sweat and tears were worth it. That every day we did our best at practice that we will be able to pick from the fruits of our labour," he added.
Van der Merwe acknowledges that the future is an unknown entity and tries not to plan too far ahead. However, if it was up to him to decide his future, he would certainly pursue a career in the sport.
