Vincent Roberts – Schoonspruit captain
Player Profile
Malmesbury plays host to a FNB Classic Clash on Saturday when Wesbank and Schoonspruit meet. Talented loose forward Vincent Roberts will lead out Schoonspruit.
Vincent Roberts was born in St Helena Bay on 12 November 1987. He attended St Helena Bay Primary School where he played both prop and hooker. Vincent was spotted by the Schoonspruit coach Mr Reinhardt de Jager at the Boland Under-15 trials in 2004. He was offered a place in the hostel at Schoonspruit and an opportunity to play rugby at a higher level. He duly accepted and moved to Schoonspruit at the beginning of 2005 in his Grade 11 (Std 9) year. Currently in Grade 12 (Matric), Vincent is a hostel prefect.
The move has clearly been mutually beneficial, as Vincent’s career has taken off since arriving at Schoonspruit. He played in the losing Schoonspruit team at Interschools last year but was selected for the Boland Academy team for the second year in succession. This year he is in the Boland Under-19 squad and has played in the first two friendlies of the season for them. A highlight for Vincent was his selection for the Maties Academy Sevens team that attended a school tournament in Malaysia. It was Vincent’s first trip abroad and to make it even more special they won the event.
Vincent is a fetcher flank who is built much like Luke Watson. He has exceptional speed to the breakdown point and admits that he is better without the ball in hand. His strengths being turning ball over and solid defence. Not surprisingly his rugby hero is Schalk Burger.
Schoonspruit have had a very good season and have lost only one game, a friendly to Bergrivier. The highlight of the season was their defeat of Swartland High. They won 20-18 and it was the first time in their history that they have defeated the boys from the other side of town. Schoonspruit’s strength lies in the unbelievably fast backline. With derbies normally won by the team with the superior pack it is interesting that both team’s tipping their backs as their strength. It should make for an exciting encounter.
Vincent is hoping to make a career out of rugby and has already been approached the Bulls and the Maties Academy. Vincent is still weighing up his options and is hoping that Boland also come in with an offer. For now though he'd accept a win in his last game for the school that has helped him reach his dream.
