Grant Victor – Marais Viljoen captain
Player Profile
Marais Viljoen face the daunting task of travelling to Monument on Saturday afternoon to play in a FNB Classic Clash. Grant Victor captains Marais Viljoen.
Grant Victor was born in Johannesburg on 16 July 1988. He attended Alberview Primary in Alberton before moving to Marais Viljoen in Grade 8. Despite its Afrikaans name Marais Viljoen is a co-ed, dual medium school with 1700 pupols. Like most primary schools in Gauteng, Alberview did not offer rugby and Grant spent his formative years playing soccer and cricket. He began playing his rugby at loose forward in Grade 8 and immediately made an impact, being selected for the Under-14 Club Lions.
Grant stayed at loose forward up until this, his Grade 12 year when he moved to hooker. The move has clearly been fruitful as he captaining the 1st XV and has recently been selected for the Golden Lions Craven Week team. Last year he played No.8 for the 2nd team and was selected for the Coca-Cola Under-18 team, a regional selection made from 63 Gauteng schools.
Being an ex-loose forward Grant excels in the loose and loves to run with the ball or support the ball-carrier. Grant has worked hard on his scrumming and line-out throwing and the hard work has obviously paid off with his Craven Week selection. Grant’s rugby hero is another hooker who converted from loose forward, New Zealander Kevan Mealamu.
Marais Viljoen are going well this year according to Grant. They finished seventh in the Super 16 tournament despite lots of injuries. They are now involved in the Golden Lions league and their best win to date has been over a useful Florida High outfit. Marais Viljoen have a good backline this year but their pack is the best part of their team according to Grant.
They will be looking to use their pack to counter the strong Monument team on Saturday, while kicking in behind the Monument forwards to turn them around. The FNB Classic Clash is one of Marais Viljoen’s biggest games of the season and Grant is very excited about it. Monument had a brilliant team last year and Marais Viljoen got well beaten; so they are hoping to make amends on Saturday.
Grant is looking to take his rugby as far as possible and if the Golden Lions don’t offer him anything, he is hoping to get an offer from the Sharks Academy. He will not be shirking his education though and hopes to study engineering or sports management at the same time. For now though his focus is clearly on Saturday and on leading Marais Viljoen to an historic win.
