Die Burger reaches Finals
On Saturday the three sections of Die Burger's annual competition will be played at Paarl Gim in the wet, cold Western Cape.
It may be cold but the Finals promise to be anything but. For one thing the schools ranked first and second on the FNB Top 20 will be in action in the main match – Paarl Gim and Outeniqua of George.
Programme for the Finals
09.30: Small Schools Final: Excelsior vs Hoërskool Langenhoven
11.00: Medium Schools: Hermanus vs Nico Malan
12.30: Big Schools: Paarl Gim vs Outeniqua
They promise to be three enthralling matches.
Big Schools Final
Both teams have top players. Gim have back their great lock JD Schickerling who played for SA Schools in 2012 and was chosen this year even though he missed the Craven Week with a broken arm but could not play. He came off the bench in the semifinal against Drostdy last week but will start against Outeniqua, He will not be the only SA Schools player.
Gim also have their captain Rikus Bothma, who captained SA Schools in their recent wins over England, France and Wales, fellow loose forward Jacques Vermeulen and versatile Grant Hermanus with speed and a huge boot. Outeniqua's SA Schools players are all backs, which tells you how they play – scrumhalf Remu Malan, centre Warrick Galant, flyhalf Dewald Human and big, fast, confident wing Duhan van der Merwe. And they are all playing on Saturday.
In addition to the SA Schools players Gim had Johan Momsen and Gavin van den Bergh at Craven Week and only injury kept skilful Ryan Oosthuizen away. The South Western Districts team at Craven Week was an Outeniqua-Oakdale combination as the two schools provided 21 of the 22 players. Apart form SA Schools players Outeniqua had eight players at Craven Week – Marné Botha, Stefan Grundlingh, Eduard Zandberg, Geor Malan, Dian Koen, Douw Schoeman, Hennie Barnard and Anton Smit. In addition versatile Leighton Eksteen, on the wing this week, was at Craven Week in 2012.
Both teams have history on their side. Outeniqua won in 2005 (the inaugural Burger competition), 2009 and 2012 when they beat Gim 30-22 in the Final. Gim won in 2008 and 2010 when they thumped Framesby 57-6 in the Final. (The other winners were Paul Roos in 2006 and Paarl Boys' High in 2007 and 2011.)
Both teams have performed outstandingly this year
Paarl Gim are unbeaten and ranked first on the FNB Top 20. Amongst their successes was victory over Outeniqua in George when they won 37-12. Outeniqua are ranked second and have lost only one match – that against Gim at the end of April.
Results against Common Opponents:
Oakdale: Gim drew 17-17; Outeniqua won 13-7
Paarl Boys' High: Gim won 37-26; Outeniqua won 45-36
Tygerberg: Gim won 55-3; Outeniqua won 68-3
Waterkloof: Gim won 34-6; Outeniqua won 39-19
Westville: Gim won 46-7; Outeniqua won 33-7
Gim also beat other Top 20 schools – Glenwood, Kearsney, Paul Roos, Wynberg and, in the Burger semifinal, Drostdy. Outeniqua also beat other Top 20 schools – Grey Bloem, Grey PE, Noord-Kaap and, in the Burger semifinal, Marlow of Cradock.
History tells us nothing – nor does the weather. Outeniqua beat Marlow in torrential rain and Paarl Gim beat Drostdy in mud and rain. Playing at home may help Gim but Outeniqua are used to travelling far and wide.
It could be an intriguing match.
Teams:
Paarl Gimnasium :15 Grant Hermanus, 14 Ruan Stander, 13 Wayno Visagie, 12 Ryan Oosthuizen, 11 JD du Toit, 10 Wyatt Murphy, 9 Brendon Nell, 8 Rikus Bothma (captain), 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Gareth Cilliers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Johan Momsen, 3 DJ van Niekerk, 2 Wilner Conradie, 1 Gavin van der Berg.
Replacements: 16 JanLouw de Jongh, 17 Regardt Louw, 18 Jaco Willemse, 19 Luhandré Luus, 20 Walter Smit, 21 Dylon Faribridge, 22 Andri Cooper.
Coaches: Christof Lötter, Hendrik Weber.
Outeniqua: 15 Hennie Barnard, 14 Leighton Eksteen, 13 Douw Schoeman, 12 Warrick Gelant, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dewald Human, 9 Remu Malan, 8 Dian Koen, 7 Christopher Roelofse, 6 Geor Malan (captain), 5 Eduard Zandberg, 4 Hendri Storm, 3 Wynand de Necker, 2 Marné Botha, 1 Gregory Nel.
Replacements: 16 Le Roux Baard, 17 Stefaan Grundlingh, 18 Riaan Kleyn, 19 Dirk Oosthuizen, 20 Keenan Tarentaal, 21 Anton Smit, 22 Corné de Klerk.
Coaches: Piet Cloete, Martin Oosthuizen, Jacques Wolfaardt.
Referee: Matt Kemp (Western Province Referees' Society)
Medium Schools Final
Hermanus play Nico Malan.
Hermanus beat Milnerton in their semifinal while Nico Malan of Humansdorp beat Langenhoven Gimnasium of Oudtshoorn.
Both teams have been having good years. Nico Malan had played several top schools and have been close to the FNB Top 20. Their crowning achievement was giving Die Brandwag of Uitenhage a hiding.
Nico Malan are in competition with powerful sides like Grey PE, Framesby, Die Brandwag, Pearson and Daniël Pienaar when it comes to Craven Week selection for Eastern Province but their inside centre Luan Nieuwoudt was also the Eastern Province centre at Craven Week. In addition they had players at the Academy Week in Durban – Deon van der Westhuizen, Alandré van Rooyen, Darren Domingo, Heinrich Ruiters and Jean Jacques Killian. Their captain Selvyn Davids went to Craven Week last year but is no longer Under-18. That has not stopped him from being the prolific points' scorer in schools rugby. He is a match-winner.
Hermanus have a SA Schools player in Leolin Zass who played wing for the triumphant SA Schools side but is at outside centre for Hermanus on Saturday as he did at Craven Week. Flyhalf Ewan Adams and hooker Martin van Wyk were also in the Boland side. They would probably liked to have had their eighthman Dian Koen still playing for them. The strong played for Boland last year but then moved to Outeniqua.
Hermanus won 13 of their 16 matches. Nico Malan played 18, won 11, drew two and lost five.
Teams
Hermanus: 15 Bevan Simmers, 14 Ian Cornelius, 13 Leolin Zass, 12 André-Pierre Gouws, 11 Nohen Fick, 10 Ewan Adams (captain), 9 Daan Otto, 8 Harry la Grange, 7 Vincent van Niekerk, 6 Jannie du Toit, 5 Jaco Abel, 4 Wiltas Leeuwner, 3 Duane Romans, 2 Keenen Plaatjies, 1 Martin van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Philip le Roux, 17 Vitto Solomons, 18 Nico van der Westhuizen, 19 Dian Kemp, 20 Ruan Visser, 21 Nelius De Villiers, 22 Gerhard Kruger.
Coaches: Graham Bellingan, Ivanore Da Kosta
Nico Malan: 15 JP Myburgh, 14 Juan Maritz, 13 Selvyn Davids (captain), 12 Luan Nieuwoudt, 11 Dominique Uytenboogaardt, 10 Armand de Lange, 9 Ruben Botha, 8 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 7 Percy Tshunungwa, 6 Dean van der Westhuizen, 5 Andries Jacobs, 4 Alandré van Rooyen, 3 Wayne du Plessis, 2 Jonathan Louw, 1 Deon van der Westhuizen,
Replacements: 16 Stefan Gerber, 17 Christo Zeelie, 18 Willem Rautenbach, 19 Jean-Lee Meyer, 20 Darryn Domingo, 21 Shelton Geswindt
Coaches Gerrit Pienaar, Hein Vermeulen, Abe Smith
Referee: Joey Salmans (Western Province Referees' Society)
Small Schools Final
There is a star playing in this Small Schools Final between Excelsior of Belhar in Cape Town and Hoërskool Langenhoven in Riversdale – Dennis Cox. He played for Western Province Under-13 and at the Grant Khomo Week. In 2012 he was the Western Province flyhalf at Craven Week and was there again this year. He is potentially a match winner.
Excelsior also had Ryan Davids at the Academy Week.
Both teams had big wins in their semifinals. Langenhoven beat Ndzondelelo of Port Elizabeth 25-5 while Excelsior beat Ashton 43-7.
Teams:
Excelsior: 15 Lyale Marcus, 14 Eugene Raubenheimer, 13 Daniel Joubert, 12 Morné Lingeveldt, 11 Charlton Steyn,10 Dennis Cox, 9 Mickhail Philander, 8 Ryan Davids, 7 Mickhail Lavigre, 6 Denver Beukes, 5 Jaydee Juluis, 4 Jurie Hanson, 3 Luvuezo Antonio, 2 Tashriq Adams, 1 Chrissen Wynhand,
Replacements: 16 Diego Richardson 17 Zane Petersen 18 Tyler Faroe, 19 Denver Isaks, 20 Yusuf Afrika, 21 Noel Makiet, 22 Clint Damons
Coaches: Lawrence Titus, William Bernadie, Rodney Jacobs.
Langenhoven:15 Wentzel October, 14 Hiram Lewack, 13 Heinrich Albertyn (captain), 12 Lewies Janse van Rensburg, 11 Adrian Steyn, 10 Remorgan Fielies, 9 Chriswin Kortje, 8 Frikkie Pietersen, 7 Franquin September, 6 Dean Morgan Juta, 5 Daniel van Tonder, 4 André van Staden, 3 Morne Meyer, 2 Jaco Koen, 1 Christof Gouws.
Replacements: 16 Willem Stapelberg, 17 Theo Herselman, 18 Jabula Mpembe, 19 Jaydan Scholtz, 20 Darryl Prins, 21 Angelo Willemse, 22 Lorenzo Witbooi, 23 Jannes Bosman
Coaches: Pieter Franklin, Herman Maartens.
Referee: Pierrie Rogers (Western Province Referees' Society)
