SACS at Cape Schools Week - 2013
On the afternoon of Friday 21 June the SACS 1st XV boarded a bus for Paarl in gloomy conditions. They were warmly greeted by the kind folk at Paarl Gimnasium and settled into their hostel.
The players and coaches attended the opening ceremony where they were addressed by a Gimmies legend, the mighty Kobus Wiese. Kobus spoke very well, mostly in English nogal, about what it takes to be a professional rugby player but more importantly what it takes to a successful person.
By Saturday morning the weather had cleared and most teams stretched their legs on the outer fields at Gim in preparation for the afternoon and evening games. The weather played ball and the games were played in perfect conditions with the magnificent Paarl mountains providing a perfect backdrop for some entertaining rugby.
In the final game of the first day SACS were pitted against Selborne College from East London. SACS managed to build a 9-nil first half lead thanks to three penalties by Shane Fourie. Selborne came out firing in the second period and battered SACS into submission with some aggressive ball-carrying by their bigger and heavier pack. Selborne scored a try wide out to the left after a good build-up and then converted two penalties to take an 11-9 lead with nine minutes remaining. SACS kicked a penalty into the Selborne quarter with a minute left on the clock and mauled for the line. The referee ruled Selborne collapsed the maul and SACS had a relatively easy penalty kick to win the game. The hooter sounded as Fourie walked back to mark his run but the game was there for the taking. Unfortunately like Kurtley Beale earlier that morning Fourie missed to the left and Selborne celebrated a great come-from-behind win.
In their second match SACS were up against Queen's College. SACS got off to the perfect start when No. 8 Devon Barnard broke from the base of a scrum and went over for a try in the first minute. Playing in cold and wet conditions if was always going to be a close game. Queen's struck back ten minutes later after a patient build up. Both teams converted a penalty to see the teams locked at 10-all at the interval.
Queen's struck two penalties early in the second half but SACS took the lead again (17-16) in the sixteenth minute thanks to a 13-man maul. With four minutes to play SACS had a line-out on the own 22-metre line. They took it cleanly but instead of mauling it up-field and clearing their lines they played two phases across the field, in so doing isolating their wing whose support player was pinged for sealing off. Queen's converted the penalty to seal a dramatic 19-17 win.
An 8 a.m. kick-off on the final morning meant SACS had to wake up early to face arguably their toughest opponents of the week, Grey High. Like Selborne of Border, Grey make up almost half of the Eastern Province Craven Week team, so it would take an almighty effort to topple them. The SACS boys played with great passion and should have taken the lead after some good attacking play early on. SACS suffered a hammer blow just before the interval conceding 10 points via an intercept and a penalty in the five minutes before half-time.
Buoyed by the fact that they had actually outplayed their more fancied opponents for large parts of the first half SACS threw everything at Grey in the second period. They were rewarded with a penalty early on to reduce the deficit.
Keagan Wheeler, playing at scrumhalf after regular scrumhalf Michael Henning broke his wrist early in the first half against Queen's, scooped up a loose ball and raced clear. Given the conditions he should probably have dived and slid in from ten metres out but two Grey defenders managed to converge and hold him up. From the ensuing scrum Seb Roodt got close to scoring before the forwards drove the ball over for the crucial score. Lock Robert Mylrea getting the try and leaving Shane Fourie with a conversion to tie the game up with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately his and SACS’s bad luck continued and he missed the opportunity to get SACS a well deserved draw.
Overall the Cape Schools Week was disappointing for SACS in terms of results but the team had fun and played with great determination often in adverse conditions, especially in the final game against Grey. The Festival was a great advert for schoolboy rugby and was wonderfully hosted by Paarl Gim. Cape Schools Week, given its timing, has it detractors but it remains the oldest schoolboy rugby festival in South Africa, bringing together like-minded schools to play very competitive and entertaining rugby. The recently deceased founder of the festival Ray Connellan would have been a very happy man watching from above!
