College go to Affies
On Saturday Maritzburg College will be in Pretoria to play Affies.
In fact there will be 25 College teams trekking from Pietermaritzburg up over the Berg to play – amongst other activities. There will be lots of enthusiasm and competition, invariably taking part in a good spirit. There will also be good spirit in the match which surpasses all other activities – the 1st XV match, the 21st between the two schools since the first one in 1996.
It is one of those crossborder matches that have become more and more common for schools, especially big schools like these two. In fact they have become healthy outings for such schools with large numbers on the move.
Affies withdrew some years ago from competitions and now travel more widely in search of competition for all their teams in which playing is enough and winning a bonus, eagerly sought but its own reward.
Affies have been consistently regarded as the strongest team in the Blue Bulls region and for many years College was the strongest in KwaZulu-Natal, though under pressure especially from Glenwood of late.
This Season so Far
If rankings are anything to go by, Affies are favourites. They are ranked eighth on the FNB Top 20 while College are ranked 16th.
Affies have played 12 matches, winning nine, losing two and drawing one. On the plus side they have beaten EG Jansen (41-5), Waterkloof and Grey College in their Bloemfontein den. Their defeats were against Paul Roos and SACS and the drawn match was with Paarl Gim.
College have played 17, winning 12 and losing five. They have not played opposition as tough as Affies have and have lost to Hentie Cilliers of Virginia, Glenwood (57-21) on Goldstones', Jeppe Kearsney and Michaelhouse (34-8)
Results against Common Opponents
KES: Affies won 92-0; College won 34-33
Westville: Affies won 33-10; College won 13-0 and 16-12
Jeppe: Affies won 64-26; College lost 21-20
That sample would suggest that Affies are going to win. And they will have homeground advantage.
Achievers
SA Schools
Affies: Reuben van Heerden, Cabous Eloff
SA Schools A
Affies: Eddie Fouché, Phillip Kraus
Craven Week:
Affies: Louritz van der Schyff, Eddie Fouché, Phillip Krause, Schalk Erasmus, Cabous Eloff, Niel Bezuidenhout, Eduan Lubbe, Regardt du Plessis, Henk Pretorius, Ruben van Heerden
College: Kudzaishe Munangi, Matthew Kriel, Xolisa Guma
Just look at all those Affies forwards. The College pack will have its work cut out.
Academy Week
Affies: Ruan de Swardt
College: Matthew Kriel
Experience
Players who played in 2014
There are only five players back in this year's teams who played in the massive College victory in 2014.
Maritzburg College: Matt Kriel, Xolisa Guma
Affies: Pieter Coetzer, Eddie Fouché, Eduan Lubbe,
Previous results
1996: Affies won 12-9
1997: Affies won 21-16
1998: Affies won 36-15
1999: Affies won 29-7
2000: College won 16-10
2001: Affies won 20-5
2002: Affies won 20-19
2003: Affies won 25-24
2004: Affies won 33-3
2005: Affies won 32-7
2006: College won 19-15
2007: Affies won 31-19
2008: Affies won 52-15
2009: Affies won 10-0
2010: Affies won 32-20
2011: Affies won 19-6 and 55-7
2012: Affies won 33-7
2013: Affies won 51-20
2014: College won 37-10
Teams
Affies: 15 Pieter Coetzer, 14 Carel Koch, 13 Eddie Fouché, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 11 Christian Strydom, 10 Ruan de Swardt, 9 Divan Henning, 8 Eduan Lubbe, 7 Phillip Krause, 6 Regardt du Plessis, 5 Henk Pretorius, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Niell Bezuidenhout, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Cabous Eloff
Replacements: 16 Viaan Mong, 17 Jano Espag, 18 Willie van der Westhuizen, 19 Vic Meyer, 20 Lombaard Grobler, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Jacobus van Staden, 23 Arno van Wyk
Maritzburg College: 15 Matthew Kriel, 14 Xolisa Guma, 13 Simphiwe Mpanza, 12 Charl Frackers, 11 Kudzaishe Munangi, 10 Ruben van Blerk, 9 Corey Rattray, 8 Craig Glover, 7 Nicholas Odendaal, 6 Kelton Thunder, 5 Daniel Immelman, 4 Bjorn Olivier, 3 Andrew Reintges, 2 Samuel Swanepoel, 1 Matthew Smith
Replacements: 16 Austin Landman, 17 Matthew Smith, 18 Durang Atembe, 19 Jonathon Colenbrander, 20 Daniel Griffith, 21 Guy Rodseth
Date: 25 July 2015
Kick-off: 14.00
Venue: Affies' A Field
TV broadcast: Supersport Select (channel 210)
Expected weather conditions: Partly cloudy with a chance of rain, a high of 18°C, dropping to 3°C
Rugby Programme
A Field
08.00: Under-14A
09.00: Under-15A
10.00: Under-16 A
11.00: 4th XV
12.00: 3rd XV
13.00: 2nd XV
14.00: 1st XV
B Field
08.00: Under-14E
09.00: Under-14D
10.00: Under-14C
11.00: Under-14B
C Field
08.00: 9th XV
09.00: 8th XV
10.00: 7th XV
11.00: 6th XV
12.00: 5th XV
Pretoria A Field
08.00: Under-16F
09.00: Under-16E
10.00: Under-16D
11.00: Under-16C
12.00: Under-16B
Pretoria B Field
08.00: Under-15E
09.00: Under-15D
10.00: Under-15C
11.00: Under-15B
