FNB Top 20 - September 14

Tue, 14 Sep 2004 21:32

Paarl Gim top

After much debate and self-doubt, questioning and checking we have produced a final FNB Top 20 for 2004, in which we have weighed anew all the top schools in South Africa.

We know - as you know - that the list is fallible but it is an honest attempt to grade our schools and feed interest in schools rugby.

We have tried to give preference to schools who have played more matches. Playing more matches means risking defeat - as Paarl Gim and Grey PE both found in their very last fixtures of the season.

We have also tried to keep the strength of the opposition in mind. School A played 20 matches, losing five. All their defeats were against strong schools. In turn they beat seven really strong schools. School B lost four of 17 matches, one fewer than School A in three matches fewer, but they had only two victories over really strong schools. That takes head-aching evaluation.

The team in the FNB Top 20 who played the fewest matches is Grey College. But there are huge travel demands on them to find suitable opposition and they play several matches as Free State Schools, which we could not really take into consideration.

There was no unbeaten school amongst the FNB Top 20 schools this year. Paarl Gim and Grey PE lost one match each.

Gim lost one out of 17, Grey one out of 20, but we put Gim first. For one thing their only defeat was against Outeniqua who are high on the FNB Top 20 whereas Grey lost to Selborne who are not there at all. Gim beat six sides whom we regarded as especially strong, Grey four.

Congratulations to Paarl Gim, our FNB Top 20 top school!

Congratulations to all the schools on the FNB Top 20! There are so many great rugby schools in South Africa.

The FNB Top 20 for 14 September

1. Paarl Gim
2. Grey High of Port Elizabeth
3. Grey College of Bloemfontein
4. Outeniqua
5. Marais Viljoen
6. Kearsney
7. Paul Roos
8. Boland Landbou
9. Affies
10.  Monument
11.  EG Jansen
12.  HTS Middelburg
13.  Westville
14.  Michaelhouse
15.  Daniël Pienaar
16.  Glenwood
17.  Maritzburg College
18.  Dale
19.  Paarl Boys' High
20.  Waterkloof

The following schools were in the FNB Top 20 at some stage during the season: Bishops, Hoërskool Kroonstad, HTS Vereeniging, Marlow, Nelspruit, Noord-Kaap, Pietersburg, Pretoria Boys' High, St Andrew's, St Charles and Selborne.