Grey College off to Grey High

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:59

Grey College (Bloemfontein), arguably South Africa’s foremost rugby school, travel down to Port Elizabeth this weekend to take on Grey High School. The match is a much-anticipated derby between to unbeaten teams.

Grey College last played on 24 May against Selborne. For most coaches this lack of game time together would be of great concern. As ever though Grey College provided the bulk of the Free State Craven Week team meaning that the Grey boys are all match fit. All their key combinations will have played together at Craven Week so coach Dries van der Wal is able to drill them back into the shape in pretty quick time. Grey College never play the first week back at school as the 1st  XV players are usually still recovering from Craven Week,

Crucially Grey College lost their captain Adriaan Theisinger to a knee ligament injury in the last 30 seconds of the Craven Week “final”. After a great tournament he was desperately unlucky not to make the SA Schools team and Mr .van der Wal says that his loss is a “big blow”.

Grey College’s two SA Schools stars, flyhalf Franna du Toit and centre François Venter, will be in action though. Grey College are expecting a very difficult game. Dries van der Wal has been involved with Grey College 1st  XV since 1984 and he says that they have always had tough games against Grey High. Of late he says Grey High have become a lot more physical and they are becoming more difficult to beat every year.

Grey College have not done any homework on Grey High but with Grey High having almost the entire Eastern Province Craven Week backline at their disposal and from his years of experience he basically knows what to expect.

Grey College 1st  XV travel down in kombis on Friday morning, while the rest of the school leave by train at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The boys sleep on the train and arrive in PE on Saturday morning. The rugby matches start at 8.30 a.m. The conditions are tough for the boys to play and travel under but the Grey College boys are used to it. Being fairly isolated in the Free State Grey College are forced to travel far and wide seeking competent competition so the boys are accustomed to these circumstances.

Grey College would be expected to dominate across the board but Mr. Van der Wal says that at this time of year injuries begin to creep in and he is expecting close games. Contrary to popular opinion Grey College do not recruit players. Mr. Van der Wal, a deputy head at the school, says that to his knowledge no players has ever been poached by Grey College and no boy in the school is on a scholarship of any sort.

Grey College attracts players with its great rugby history and consistently excellent results. They run a very professional outfit with a well-equipped gym staffed by two full-time biokineticists, one fitness and the other a skills specialist.

The boys at Grey College are expected play one summer and one winter sport so no boy is allowed to specialise only in rugby. As is usually the case with talented boys the top rugby players also usually excel at cricket or waterloo so they are busy all year around.

Grey College don't lose often but they can expect a hostile reception and a thorough examination both on and off the field on Saturday from one of the better sides in Grey High’s history. It promises to be a classic!

Results to date:

Grey College beat Selborne College, 38-16
Grey College beat Affies, 31-12
Grey College beat Paarl Boys High, 34-24
Grey College beat Sentraal H, 50-0
Grey College beat Maritzburg College, 72-7
Grey College beat Jim Fouché, 61-10
Grey College beat Monument, 16-14
Grey College beat Windhoek High School (Namibia), 41-0
Grey College beat Linden, 45-6
Grey College beat Noordkaap, 24-0
Grey College beat Harmony Sportakademie, 41-12