Sheepfarmers Clash in Cradock
On Saturday Cradock High School again play Gill College of Somerset East in an FNB Classic Clash.
For may years Cradock, founded in 1838 in a sheepframing area, played Marlow, the local agricultural school. But the Wolramme were really too strong for Cradock and so they played ancient friends, Gill College founded as a university in 1869.
Last year the Classic Clash was in Cradock where the visiting Gill side won 23-12. This time the match is again at Cradock and this time it is one of those too-close-to-predict matches.
In 2013 Cradock were rebuilding and struggled. But then only two of their 1st XV players left at the end of 2013. Their present team has experience and they have turned defeat to victory.
Season so Far
Cradock have played 11 matches and won 10 of them, losing only to Volkskool of Graaff-Reinet by a single point..
Gill have played eight matches, won six and lost two. Their defeats have been at the hands of Die Brandwag of Uitenhage and Graeme College of Grahamstown who are probably stronger teams than any Cradock have played this year.
Common opponents
The only opponents both have in common are DF Malherbe of Port Elizabeth, Volkskool of Graaff-Reinet and Winterberg.
DF Malherbe: Cradock won 25-14; Gill won 57-0.
Volkskool: Cradock lost 21-20; Gill won 37-24
Winterberg: Cradock won 19-16; Gill won 28-12
Representative Players
The players of both schools are eligible for Eastern Province Country Districts, a vast area that includes the whole of Eastern Province except for the narrow strip from Uitenhage down to Humansdorp. In other words it is centred on Port Elizabeth while Country Districts includes Grahamstown and areas inland, including Cradock, Somerset East and Graaff-Reinet.
Craven Week
Each team had one player at the Craven Week in Middelburg.
Gill: Evert Joubert
Cradock: Chuma Mboxwana
Academy Week
Gill had two players and Cradock one player at the Academy Week in Worcester.
Gill: Rayno Kruger, Francois Jordaan
Cradock: Sinekhaya Vulindlu
Teams
Cradock: 15 M Goba, 14 L Maso, 13 L Peter, 12 W van Zyl, 11 S Bekebu, 10 R van Zyl, 9 Z Mulder, 8 S Mkolwana, 7 R Peters, 6 M Taljaard, 5 D Stroebel, 4 C Mboxwana, 3 L van Greunen, 2 B Matika, 1 S Vulindlu
Gill: 15 K Kruger, 14 R Sammy, 13 W Meaker, 12 W Viljoen, 11 C Troskie, 10 W Greef, 9 L Saayman, 8 D Gowar, 7 E Joubert, 6 R Kruger, 5 H Moolman, 4 Q Benecke, 3 M Lombard, 2 F Jordaan, 1 M Jacobs
Date: Saturday, 9 August 2014
1st XV kick-off: 15.30
Venue: Cradock Rovers Ground
Expected weather conditions: Rain with a high of 22°C, dropping to 7°C
Rugby Programme
Rovers A
0.900: Under-15A
10.00: Under-11A
10.50: 3rd XV
11.50: Under-13A
12.50: Under-16A
13.50: 2nd XV
15.10: Presentation
15.30: 1st XV
Rovers B
0.900: Under-11B
10.00: Under-14A
10.50: Under-13B
Cradock Voorbereidingskool
0.900: Under-7A & Under-7B
09.30: Under-8A
10.00: Under-9A
