‘Bosch fancy their chances against Paul Roos on home turf

After a positive start to their 2024 campaign, Rondebosch Boys’ High will have an opportunity to stake their claim to being one of Western Cape’s top teams when they host Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) at the Bosch Astro on Friday night.
The clash takes place at 19:00.
‘Bosch enters the game on the back of a gruelling pre-season campaign, and a tough season opener against Stellenberg last Friday.
They played to a 2-2 draw against Stellies, with Martin Barnard and Jamie Hundermark getting onto the scoresheet for Rondebosch.
Catch all the hockey action live on SuperSport Schools.
Before that, ‘Bosch participated in the annual Founders and King Edward VII Hockey Festivals, in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng respectively.
At Founders, coach Waseem Domingo‘s side, up against some of the best schools in the country, held their own.
They defeated Affies (2-1), held a strong Kearsney College team to a draw (1-1), beat Dale College (3-1), and recorded a draw (0-0) against Northwood School‘s 2nd XI. Their only defeat came against the defending Aitken Cup champions, St Stithians College (1-2).
Fast forward less than a week, and Domingo’s charges were in action at the annual KES Easter Hockey Festival.
There, ‘Bosch impressed, playing an attacking brand of hockey and, again, losing only one match, against Grey College (1-2) on day two.
They drew with the hosts, King Edward VII (3-3), Maritzburg College (1-1), and the Northwood School 1st XI (1-1), and beat Jeppe (1-0) on the final day.
“I think the preparation at both KES and Founders helped immensely,” Domingo told SuperSport Schools.
“The boys had very good wins against Dale College, Affies, and Jeppe, before coming back home.
“I feel like we are on the right footing, and we are in a better position than we were in last year. Our boys are getting the meaning of what it means to play an attractive brand of hockey.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a couple of injuries, so that was a setback, but very happy with the progress we’ve made so far,” he added.
The Rondebosch team is a mixture of youth and experience, with several players in the side currently in matric, playing their final year.
Domingo said they have worked hard as a unit to ensure that squad depth exists within the team heading into 2025.
“At Rondebosch, we pride ourselves on depth, and I think we are back to that level where the depth has been incredible,” he said.
“We have an even number of grade 12s and grade 11s, so we have a good amount of experience and continuity in terms of the boys that are playing this year going into 2025.
“We’ve got a couple of grade 10s, as well, who are in the team based on talent. It’s well balanced but the team chemistry on and off the field has been immense.”
That team chemistry will need to be at its sharpest when Domingo’s side welcomes Paul Roos on Friday night.
PRG is led by the school’s Director of Hockey, Michael Baker, who made the move from KwaZulu-Natal’s Durban High School at the start of the year.
Domingo said his team recognises the big threat the Stellenbosch side poses, and his ‘Bosch boys will give their all, in front of their home supporters.
“The major thing with Paul Roos is that we have to respect them,” Domingo said.
“They are a well-oiled machine, well versed. They know what’s expected of them. They are going to come at us hard, but our team knows what’s at stake.
“We are ready, willing to go the extra mile, and we have to take the step up against them physically, and our concentration can’t drop. We have to back ourselves and understand that we have a level of confidence to contribute to the match,” he concluded.
Paul Roos, on the other hand, will enter the clash filled with self-belief after an impressive showing at the Founders Festival.
They will, however, be without their influential goal scorer and skipper, Reuben Sendzul, who went down with an injury this week. Coach Baker’s boys will need to step up as a unit to make up for his absence, if they are to register a win away from home.
TEAMS
Rondebosch Boys High: Marley Musasa, Thomas Gordon, Joshua Beattie, Hilton Lima (c), Nathan Ball, Noah Heath, Raeeq Daniels, Daniel Powell, Anam Nkohla, Jamie Hundermark, Martin Barnard, Cade Miller, Jasper Southwood, Imaad Martin, Oliver Roach
Paul Roos: Keanu Meyer, Hano Basson, Callum van Oudtshoorn, Louan van Zyl (Vice), Joshua Smit, Seth Paterson, Keith Siebrits, Luke Oliver, Barend Geldenhuys, Juan Mouton, Christo Swanepoel (Captain), Charles Lombard, Logan Lackay, Dan Lurie, Ruben Gouws
Other matches

The weekend is jam-packed with a busy fixture list, starting at 15:00 on Friday at Fairmont High School, who welcome Westerford.
Fairmont will be chasing a bounce-back performance after being on the wrong end of a 0-6 drubbing from SACS last weekend.
Belville High takes on The Settlers, Pinelands hosts Somerset College, and Curro Durbanville entertains the unpredictable Langa Hockey Club.
The action doesn’t end there, as SACS has a home game against Parel Vallei. While SACS thumped Fairmont last weekend, Parel Vallei shared a 1-1 draw with DF Malan.
Later, on Friday, Bishops has home ground advantage against that same DF Malan side, Worcester Gimnasium battles Punt, and Wynberg Boys’ High travels to Paarl Boys’ High for a match that begins at 19:20.
Saturday’s action begins with a clash between HTS Drostdy and Framesby, before Durbanville tackles Edgemead.
Brackenfell High School has a 16:00 meeting with Cannons Creek.
Fixtures
Friday, 12 April
15:00 – Fairmont High School vs Westerford
17:00 – Belville High vs The Settlers
18:00 – Pinelands vs Somerset College
18:30 – Curro Durbanville vs Langa Hockey Club
18:45 – SACS vs Parel Vallei
19:00 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Paul Roos Gimnasium
19:00 – Bishops vs DF Malan
19:15 – Worcester Gimnasium vs Punt
19:20 – Paarl Boys’ High vs Wynberg Boys’ High
Saturday, 13 April
10:00 – HTS Drostdy vs Framesby
11:00 – Durbanville vs Edgemead
16:00 – Brackenfell vs Cannons Creek
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