HOER TEGNIESE SKOOL MIDDELBURG

School profile

We profile the Rooibulle of Mpumalanga.

Middelburg used to be in the Transvaal and is now in Mpumalanga, which means the place of the rising sun.  It is in what was the Eastern Transvaal but high up and cold in winter before it drops down to the warmth.

Middelburg, founded in 1866 and called Nasaret till 1874 when it was renamed after a town in the Netherlands, was the first place where in 1902 an attempt was made to forge a peace agreement at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.  It was also once important for its railway station on the line from Johannesburg to Lorenço Marques, which is now called Maputo. It’s cold in the coal-mining town in winter, but it has one of the best rugby schools in South Africa.

The School

Hoër Tegniese Skool Middelburg has roughly 1100 pupils, 900 of whom are boys, 500 of whom are boarders.

School Information

Motto of school: Ons dien (We serve)
Date of foundation: 1927
School address: Private Bag X251806, Middelburg.  1050

Rugby

The school has a strong record of success.  In 1991 it first won the Beeld Trophy.  In 1992 the Under-15 team won the Piet Krynauw Trophy.  In 1995 it again won the Beeld Trophy and also the Selati Trophy.  In 1996 the first team won the Spiere van Rensburg Trophy. In 2000 they just lost to Waterkloof in the Final of the Beeld Trophy.

The school puts some 20 teams in the field each week.

Traditional Rivals

Affies, Ermelo, Nelspruit and Waterkloof

Springbok

The best-known modern players from HTS Middelburg is undoubtedly Bakkies Botha – John Philip but called Bakkies – who has so much talent and is such a physical presence in the Springbok team.