Preview: Grey v Affies
Grey College will be looking to restore some pride when they take on Affies in an FNB Classic Clash in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Free State giants have lost two consecutive games to drop down to fifth position on the FNB Top 20, and will be desperate to bounce back on home soil against their old rivals.
Although they have been hit hard by injuries in their nine matches this year and their defeats have come against Paarl Boys' High and Monument who are ranked second and third respectively, Grey will be determined to get back on track and avoid losing three games in a row. To them that would be unthinkable – unthinkable but possible.
Affies, ranked 14th on the FNB Top 20, have also lost two of their eight games against teams in the top 10 this year, firstly against top-ranked Paul Roos and then against SACS at the Kearsney Festival, with their last match a 22-22 draw with Paarl Gim.
The only common opponent they have had this year is EG Jansen, with Grey beating them 27-25 in a tight match at Kearsney and Affies securing a more comfortable 41-5 victory.
Last year Grey edged an epic clash with Affies in Pretoria which could have gone either way, but the last time the two sides met in Bloemfontein it was Affies that came out on top on their way to an unbeaten season.
Both sides are most likely to have players in their Craven Week sides this year. Grey have back this year only two players who were at the 2014 Craven Week – Jurie Burger and prop IG Prinsloo but neither is in the team to face Affies. Affies have two influential players who were at the 2014 Craven Week – flyhalf Eddie Fouché and burly eigthman Eduan Lubbe.
There is, believe it or not, more to the Affies' visit than just rugby. The 1st XV match will take pride of place but there will be 27 other rugby matches plus hockey, mountainbiking, tennis, golf, tabletennis, crosscountry, chess and a cultural exchange.
The Grey team is again much changed from the side that played Paarl Boys' High last week. George Rossouw is the only member of the tight fiver remaining and all of the threequarters are changed.
The referee for the match is Paul Mente of the Leopards. He is on the nine-man Contenders Squad of promising referees and did especially well at the Wildeklawer tournament recently.
1st Teams
Grey College: 15 Dian Gouws, 14 Marnus Boshoff, 13 Jaco Wessels, 12 Wihan Victor, 11 Francois Agenbach, 10 Edward Janse van Vuuren, 9 Niel Durow, 8 Werner Roberts (captain), 7 Dian Schoonees, 6 David Theron, 5 Janco van Tonder, 4 George Rossouw, 3 Gideo Beukes, 2 Daniel Rust, 1 Stef Brits
Affies: 15 Pieter Coetzer, 14 Carel Koch, 13 Henco Jordaan, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 11 Christian Strydom, 10 Eddie Fouché (captain), 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 Louis Venter, 18 Juan Basson, 19 Lombard Grobler, 20 Jack Hart, 21 Ruan de Swardt, 22 Kobus Maree, 23 Arno van Wyk
Referee: Paul Mente
Rugby Programme for 9 May 2015
Main Field
08.15: Under-14A
09.35: Under-15A
10.55: Under-16A
12.15: 2nd XV
14.00: 1st XV
Oval
08.15: 5th XV
09.35: 3rd XV
10.55: 6th XV
12.15: 4th XV
GC A
08.15: 7th XV
09.35: 9th XV
10.55: 8th XV
12.15: 10th XV
GCB
08.15: Under-14C
09.35: Under-16D
10.55: Under-16C
12.15: Under-15B
Windmill A
08.15: Under-16B
09.35: Under-14E
10.55: Under-14B
12.15: Under-14D
Windmill B
08.15: Under-15D
09.35: Under-15C
10.55: Under-15E
12.15: Under-16E
Tommix
08.15: Under-15F
09.35: Under-16F
12.15: Under-14F
Results Down the Years
1953: Grey won 3-0
1954: Grey won 9-3
1955: Grey won 19-0
1956: Draw 6-6
1957: Grey won 22-0
1958: Grey won 14-6
1959: Grey won 14-3
1966: Grey won 25-11
1967: Grey won 22-0
1970: Grey won 16-11
1971: Grey won 19-0
1973: Grey won 10-3
1974: Grey won 14-6
1992: Grey won 24-3
1993: Draw 26-26
1994: Grey won 13-6
1995: Grey won 37-13
1996: Affies won 25-3
1997: Grey won 19-9
1998: Draw 23-23
1999: Grey won 17-13
2000: Draw 17-17
2001: Draw 12-12
2002: Grey won 46-21
2003: Grey won 33-3
2004: Grey won 32-29
2005: Affies won 27-20
2006: Affies won 18-13
2007: Grey won 47-10
2008: Grey won 31-12
2009: Grey won 30-13
2010: Grey won 23-6
2011: Grey won 16-11
2012: Affies won 35-29
2013: Affies won 37-31
2014: Grey won 42-31
