De Kock Steenkamp - Captain of Boys' High
Player profile
There is not a bigger schools match in South Africa for a captain than Interschools in the Paarl. This year De Kock Steenkamp is captaining Paarl Boys' High at the FNB Classic Clash when Paarl Boys' High meet Paarl Gim. And he is looking forward to it
De Kock has been a captain of rugby teams from primary school up and enjoys been captain, especially when "you have such a great group of players as I have, guys who work well together".
He started playing rugby when he was five, just before he went to school. That was in the small Karroo town of Williston where Michiel de Kock Steenkamp was born on 16 February 1987. From Williston he captained the Griqualand West Under-13 team at Craven Week, a remarkable feat for a player outside the mainstream schools of Kimberley and Upington. Then he was a back.
Now he is a lock. It is not unusual for locks to develop late. His was not all that late. When he moved to boarding school at Paarl Boys' High he became a lock. It was not a surprising choice of position. After all his father played lock for North Eastern Cape and his brother, two years older is a lock, and he now stands 1,97 metres tall and weighs 98 kg.
As a lock he went to the Nike Week for Under-15s, the Grant Khomo Week for Under-16s, and this year the Craven Week in Bloemfontein where "I learnt a great deal", even though he was in a Western Province team that did not win a match, which "the other provinces enjoyed greatly".
He has been following in his brother Jabez's footsteps – off to Boys' High and into the Western Province team as a lock. In 2003 Jabez took it a step further by playing for SA Schools. Will De Kock follow him to the Blue Bulls as well, for that's where Jabez has a contract and has been playing lock for the Vodacom Cup team?
Not necessarily? "I'd like to stay in the Western Province," he says. Stellenbosch University is an attractive place and Western Province have offered him a contract though there have been whisperings fluttering down from Pretoria.
How has his side done? He feels they have performed well this year. There were disappointing defeats at the hands of Bishops and Pretoria Boys' High but otherwise they have competed well.
Interschools? "We are certainly the underdogs but that doesn't matter On the day the table is level for both sides.
"It's a tense match that is all about winning. The side which handles the pressure better will win."
De Kock played at Interschools in 2004 when Gim won 13-3.
"I enjoy the occasion. It's great to have rivals like Gimmies."
For a general view of Paarl Boys' High, click here.
