Rondebosch neighbours, good rivals
On Saturday Rondebosch play Bishops at Rondebosch and there will be lots of enthusiasm between the two communities.
The two schools are some 400 metres apart and the two communities are similar – proximity and similarity adding to the intensity of the competition, and it is intense for the boys, the staffs, the parents and the Old Boys.
The rivalry is intense and yet it is so respectful. And that goes for every team. Think back over the last 50 years with only college/high school playing and doing so mostly twice a year. This year there will be 16 teams playing. Some years there have been more. Take 16 matches and multiply it by 30 (players) and then multiply that by all those years – something like 92 years. You get some 9 000 boys playing for 50 or 70 minutes in a collision sport with lots of emotion and you have an enormous potential for things going wrong. But then think back over the last 50 years of this rivalry and think of how many bits of rotten sportsmanship there have been.
Two old men put their heads together and they could come up with three that could be called bad sportsmanship – three momentary incidents in all those thousands and thousands of minutes of eager play. It's wonderful and they can do it twice a year – nowadays on the last rugby day of the second term and the last rugby day of the third term, which marks the end of the rugby season, for some their last rugby match at school.
Of course, all those teams will play and for every player in every team the match and its result will matter but what matters most is the 1st XV match. It is the 'us and them' match – We beat or They won. The 1st XV counts for all.
Season so Far
This year Rondebosch has had much the more successful side. They have played 15 marches, winning 10 and drawing one. Bishops have played 16, winning five and drawing one. They have lost their last seven matches against local opposition.
One of those, significantly, was Rondebosch against Bishops at Bishops. Rondebosch won that 22-7.
Results against Common Opponents:
Boland Landbou: Bishops lost 10-0; Rondebosch lost 30-20
Paarl Boys' High: Bishops lost 22-18; Rondebosch lost 38-20
Paarl Gim: Bishops lost 24-3; Rondebosch lost 35-14
Paul Roos: Bishops drew 22-22; Rondebosch lost 10-5
Primrose: Bishops won 63-9; Rondebosch won 47-10
SACS: Bishops lost 22-5 & 21-16; Rondebosch won 41-18 & 18-17
Wynberg: Bishops lost 42-28 & 34-29; Rondebosch drew 10-10 & lost 23-20
There is enough in that to suggest that it would be silly to write Bishops off – not that Rondebosch would be tempted to do so.
Representative Players
Craven Week
Bishops: Saud Abrahams
Rondebosch: Khanyo Ngcukana, Brett Paulse
Academy Week
Bishops: Cuan Hablutzel
Rondebosch: Kyle Whyte, Stef de Gouveia
For the traditionalists – and there are many at both great schools – the enthusiasm and manners will be the same. The ground will be packed with some up the poplar trees for a better view. Oh the cheering will be more organised than in the days of C'mon Bishops/Rondebosch, but the heart of it will be as it was.
Teams
Bishops: 15 Jesse Wilensky, 14 André Manuel, 13 Justin Heunis, 12 Mike Mynhardt (vice-captain), 11 Ant van Ryneveld, 10 Herman Share, 9 Sean van Rensburg, 8 Saud Abrahams, 7 Wes White, 6 Nic Bester, 5 Shane Smith, 4 Sam Mitchell, 3 Tariq Allen, 2 Cuan Hablutzel (captain), 1 Dan Russell, 16 Gerard Pieterse
Coaches: Dave Mallett, Gareth Hayden
Rondebosch: 15 Khanyo Ngcukana, 14 Devon van Rensburg, 13 Clyde Martch, 12 Ronnie Melck (captain), 11 Nic le Roux, 10 Hylton Gibson, 9 Stef de Gouveia (vice-captain), 8 Jay Stevens, 7 Philip Jankielsohn, 6 Graham Geldenhuys, 5 Christoph Blake, 4 Luke Stringer, 3 Kyle Whyte, 2 Alan Eaby, 1 Rian Barnard
Coaches: Clinton van Rensburg, Rod Labuschagne
Date: 27 August 2013
1st XV kick-off: 12.00
Venue: Rondebosch Boys' High
Expected weather conditions: In the context of recent Cape weather it will mercifully be sunny with a high of 17º but with a strong southwester.
Referee: Stefan du Toit
Rugby Programme at Rondebosch
Rugby A
08.15: Under-19 D
09.30: Under-19 C
10.45: Under-19 B
12.00: Under-19 A
Meadow A
09.00: Under-16 B
10.15: Under-16 A
Meadow B
09.00: Under-15 B
10.00: Under-15 A
Meadow C
09.30: Under-19 F
10.45: Under-19 E
North
10.15: Under-16 C
Lower Desert A
08.30: Under-14 B
09.45: Under-14 A
Lower Desert B
09.45: Under-14 C
Range
10.00: Under-15 C
Lower Desert
08.30: Under-14 D
Results Down the Years
1911: Bishops won 18-0 & 25-0
1916: Bishops won 13-0 & drew 13-13
1917: Bishops won 5-3 & Rondebosch won 14-3
1918: Bishops won 16-0 & drew 0-0
1921: Bishops won 6-0
1923: Rondebosch won 9-8
1925: Rondebosch won 22-3
1926: Bishops won 10-9 & 6-3
1928: Bishops won 8-3 & 15-3
1929: Bishops won 7-3
1930: Bishops won 15-9 & 12-9
1931: Bishops won 11-3 & 16-9
1932: Bishops won 9-3 & 15-0
1933: Bishops won 11-6 & drew 3-3
1935: Bishops won 6-3
1936: Bishops won 49-0 & 37-3
1937: Drew 0-0 & Bishops won 6-3
1938: Rondebosch won 8-3 & Bishops won 16-6
1939: Rondebosch won 8-0
1940: Bishops won 25-3 & 11-8
1941: Bishops won 13-9 & Rondebosch won 8-3
1942: Bishops won 16-4 & 10-3
1943: Bishops won 21-0 & 31-3
1944: Rondebosch won 21-14 & 6-0
1945: Rondebosch won 6-0 & Bishops won 11-8
1946: Drew 3-3 & drew 3-3
1947: Bishops won 6-3 & Rondebosch won 9-6
1948: Rondebosch won 17-13 & Bishops won 13-6
1949: Bishops won 23-0 & 17-6
1950: Drew 14-14 & Rondebosch won 17-6
1951: Bishops won 8-0 & 17-0
1952: Rondebosch won 6-3 & drew 3-3
1953: Rondebosch won 6-3 & 13-3
1954: Rondebosch won 11-3
1955: Bishops won 9-6 & 8-6
1956: Bishops won 11-0 & Rondebosch won 9-6
1957: Rondebosch won 5-0 & drew 3-3
1958: Rondebosch won 8-0 & 8-6
1959: Bishops won 10-0 & Rondebosch won 3-0
1960: Drew 3-3 & Rondebosch won 12-3
1961: Rondebosch won 5-0 & 13-6
1962: Bishops won 3-0 & drew 6-6
1963: Rondebosch won 11-0 & 9-6
1964: Rondebosch won 13-0 & 13-0
1965: Drew 0-0 & drew 3-3
1966: Rondebosch won 14-3 & 12-3
1967: Drew 3-3 & Rondebosch won 20-0
1968: Rondebosch won 6-0 & drew 8-8
1969: Rondebosch won 11-6 & 25-3
1970: Rondebosch won 14-0 & 11-9
1971: Rondebosch won 8-3 & 24-3
1972: Rondebosch won 13-4 & 13-4
1973: Rondebosch won 13-12 & Bishops won 16-13
1974: Bishops won 9-3 & 18-4
1975: Bishops won 27-3 & 22-6
1976: Bishops won 14-13 & 22-12
1977: Rondebosch won 15-12 & 33-7
1978: Drew 6-6 & Bishops won 8-6
1979: Bishops won 9-0 & 24-0
1980: Rondebosch won 22-12 & Bishops won 10-3
1981: Bishops won 12-6 & 7-6
1982: Bishops won 18-6 & Rondebosch won 12-6
1983: Rondebosch won 18-10 & Bishops won 16-6
1984: Rondebosch won 7-0 & 15-11
1985: Bishops won 12-3 & Rondebosch won 16-9
1986: Bishops won 14-4 & 13-3
1987: Bishops won 12-7 & 15-3
1988: Bishops won 10-3 & 13-3
1989: Bishops won 58-10 & 7-4
1990: Bishops 14-7 & 9-0
1991: Bishops 12-9 & 21-9
1992: Bishops 34-3 & 27-6
1993: Bishops 28-10 & 19-5
1994: Rondebosch won 6-5 & 19-9
1995: Rondebosch won 7-6 & 11-10
1996: Rondebosch won 17-7 & 6-0
1997: Rondebosch won 18-0 & 31-11
1998: Bishops won 20-0 &15-7
1999: Rondebosch 16-15 & Bishops won 24-9
2000: Rondebosch 22-19 & 27-17
2001: Bishops won 17-0 & 18-0
2002: Bishops won 52-8 & 41-25
2003: Bishops won 18-5 & 78-19
2004: Bishops won 27-8 & Rondebosch won 26-22
2005: Bishops won 31-6 & 14-12
2006: Bishops won 71-3 & 75-22
2007: Bishops won 48-27 & 27-24
2008: Bishops won 20-8 & 47-15
2009: Rondebosch won 16-10 & Bishops won 10-6
2010: Bishops won 38-10 & the sides drew 19-19
2011: Rondebosch won 34-18 & Bishops won 37-12
2012: Bishops won 15-3 & Rondebosch won 19-11
2013: Rondebosch won 22-7
