99 Problems but a win ain’t one – just yet…

In David Fincher’s film Fight Club, lead actor Brad Pitt’s character has one very famous line which goes along the lines of “The first rule of fight club … ” addressing a room full of men in said fight club.

And quite simply answered by himself “… is you don’t talk about fight club!”

So perhaps to break the jinx around the Michaelhouse victory which eludes them, we shall not mention what the landmark is and what it would mean for the school. If you would like to do that feel free to read our previous article that covered the first match earlier this season.

Hilton College won the first of these two epic matches at Meadows by a margin of three points. The final score ending on 20-17. Both teams put up a sterling display of some very entertaining schoolboy rugby in some wet and gloomy conditions.

This weekend the First XV kicks off at 14:00, on Gilfillan Field, with what is forecasted to be a warm sunny winters afternoon.

Catch the action on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).

There are several ways, that one could think of celebrating the long weekend in honor of Youth Day. A day which is so rich in South Africa’s history that it paved the way on how the country’s education system was viewed and structured.

For Michaelhouse beating a very strong Hilton College side away would be right up there amongst the ways to enjoy it.

The home side have had a wonderful season this year, winning 12 of their fixtures and are currently searching for their ninth consecutive win.

In their most recent fixture against Kearsney College, winning 28-12, where the boys put on an incredible performance and showed their strength in defence as they managed to fight off a wave of strong offensive plays. The side will look at Luke Warren and Ross Brown to put in some powerful hits.

Captain Christopher Horak will be looking at creating opportunities for his backline to get into strong offensive positions allowing the side to get points on the board and will be leading a fearless side into battle.

The red and white have been in good form as well recently beating Westville Boys’ High School (36-22), Northwood (38-12) and Pretoria Boys High School (34-19) and would feel confident going into the fixture albeit having to tweak a few minor changes to their playing XV.

Michaelhouse’s Wandile Mlaba is out after injuring his knee last weekend, the big eighth man has been ruled out of the season, needing to have surgery during the week. A disappointing end to what has been a very good season for the young man.

Flyhalf, Luke Davidson, has kicked superbly throughout this season and will be itching to get a few more points in this much anticipated classic clash, which will give captain Fortune Mpofu some comfort.

Many of the boys playing in this fixture will be playing in their last game against their rivals which boasts an incredible history that has provided supporters with some nail-biting finishes over the years.

We can expect another close encounter between these two machines from the midlands. But who will come out on top as victorious will depend very much on how badly each of these teams wants to win.

The teams:

Hilton College: 15 Ivan Jjuuko, 14 Rukudzo Madinga, 13 RD Engelbrecht, 12 Ivan Lockem, 11 Tayedza Jaravaza, 10 Christopher Horak (captain), 9 Luke Watt, 8 Akhona Kunene, 7 Matthew Stewart (vice-captain), 6 Ross Brown, 5 Luke Warren, 4 Hanu Pieterse, 3 Ben Le Roux, 2 Murray Brink (vice-captain) 1 Bunono Jabvu.

Michaelhouse: 15 Murray Baker (vice-captain), 14 Aya Mkhokeli, 13 Campbell Ridl, 12 Tom Baguley, 11 Leo Muziva, 10 Luke Davidson, 9 Josh Aissing, 8 Carlyle Hawkins, 7 Fortune Mpofu (captain), 6 Tristan Arde, 5 Michael Thornton, 4 Jordyn Kleynhans, 3 Luthando Buthelezi, 2 Thabo Njapha, 1 Aphiwe Shelembe.

Fixtures:

u14A: 7:55 am

u15A: 8:55 am

u16A: 11:20 pm

u19B: 12:30pm

u19A: 14:00 pm