Grey to play Grey in PE
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:54
On Saturday two of the top ranked teams in South Africa meet in Port Elizabeth for what will be the decisive game of their seasons. Grey High School play host to their namesake and arch-nemesis Grey College from Bloemfontein. Grey High are unbeaten after 14 games as are Grey College after 11.
Last week Grey High beat Daniël Pienaar (20–9) in a game marred by a bizarre incident when a Daniel Pienaar supporter tackled the referee with eight minutes to go. Saturday will be only Grey High’s third home game of the season. They have been forced to travel a lot this year and Daniël Pienaar has been the only game they have played against local opposition, Framesby having withdrawn because of other fixture commitments.
Grey High had ten players in the Eastern Province Craven Week team. For various reasons the Eastern Province Craven Week team didn't do itself justice in Pretoria. Grey High School coach Dean Carelse is confident that his players have not been negatively influenced by the poor results at the week. The tough Daniël Pienaar game was just what they needed to get Craven Week out of their systems. Daniël Pienaar also had a number of Craven Week players so the boys knew each other well and produced and intense and entertaining fixture until an idiot ruined the afternoon.
Despite the poor performance of the Eastern Province Craven Week team two Grey High players, scrumhalf Chuma Faas and No. 8 Siyamthanda Kolisi, made the SA Schools team, while wing Phaphama Hoyi made the SA Academy team. Grey College have two players in the SA Schools team as well in flyhalf Franna du Toit and centre François Venter. Their captain Andries Theisinger was desperately unlucky not to make the SA Schools team. CJ Stander, the captain of South Western Districts, who “won” the showpiece game at the week having got the nod ahead of him.
Grey High will be at full strength for Saturday’s game and whey will not be changing their successful game plan. They like to play expansive rugby, picking up the tempo of the game and using their fast, highly skilled backs and loose-forwards to run the opposition off their feet. They have been extremely successful thus far with a record victory over Paul Roos (41–16) in Stellenbosch the season highlight thus far.
Despite having done his homework on Grey College, mainly using the tapes of the Free State Craven Week team, coach Carelse is showing admirable maturity for a novice coach. He says that over the years he has seen Grey High coaches spend additional hours on the training ground in the week leading up to the College encounter, often focussing mainly on defensive drills. He is adamant that he won't be changing anything this week, be it in terms of practice or match day routine. He is not focussing on the opposition and is instead making sure that his team sticks to what they know best and what has served them so well until now.
Grey College are never weak but the 2008 team are carrying the slight burden of having to follow in the footsteps of arguably the best team in Grey College’s esteemed rugby history. They are not as experienced as last year’s team and Grey High are hoping that the expected crowd of 15-20 000 people may help put them off their stride.
Grey High have two games left after Saturday, St. Andrew’s College at home and Selborne College away. They are not looking further than Saturday though and thoughts of going unbeaten are not even on the agenda.
The Grey College game is the season highlight and provides the benchmark for their season. They will no doubt be looking to re-assess things after Saturday but for now coach Dean Carelse is happy to play down the importance of the game saying that: “it boils down to two good sides slugging it out and what happens on the day happens.” Lets hope he still feels the same way come Saturday night!
Grey High Schools 1st XV:
15. Carl van Niekerk
14. Craig Millson #
13. Sikhokele Blom #
12. Haydn de Villiers #
11. Henry Turner
10. Kurt Coleman #
9. Chuma Faas #
8. Siyanda Mangaliso #
7. Siya Kolisi #
6. Renier Erasmus
5. Shaun Potgieter #
4. Alan Clarke
3. Zolani Faku
2. Bonakele Bethe (captain)
1. Wade Lotter #
# denotes Eastern Province Craven Week
Results to date:
Grey High beat Daniel Pienaar, 20-9
Grey High beat Queen`s College, 48-17
Grey High beat DF Malherbe, 61-7
Grey High beat Dale College, 26-0
Grey High beat Paul Roos, 41-16
Grey High beat Wynberg, 36-0
Grey High beat SACS, 62-0
Grey High beat Pretoria Boys High, 22-15
Grey High beat Rondebosch, 28-8
Grey High beat Graeme College, 39-0
Grey High beat Helpmekaar, 43-7
Grey High beat
Michaelhouse, 19-11
Grey High beat Nelspruit, 55-5
Grey High beat Hudson Park, 59-5
