Candies look to bounce back against the Blues
Pretoria Boys’ High School will look to close out their last match of the second term before the start of the exams, against St John’s College away this weekend.
Comparatively, both teams have not had their best seasons this year so far, but have shown glimpses of promise and will want to end the season on a high note by getting a few wins under the belt.
Kick-off is at 12:00 for the 1st XV’s taking place on Burger Field.
Pretoria Boys have won seven matches and St John’s have won five this season. Last year, when these two sides met St John’s College won the match 27-12, playing in Pretoria on Brooks Field.
The Blues recently beat St Benedict’s College last weekend, winning emphatically away with the scoreline reading 34-22. St Benedict’s led for most of the match before St John’s scored two quick tries in succession to win the match late in the second half.
The hosts have shown earlier in the season that they are not afraid to play a more cautious and defensive style of play. Looking at counterattacking when the right opportunities present themselves through well-executed set-pieces.
Prop Finlay Holden has found himself on the scoresheet a few times this season and will look to add to his number of tries. Another player to keep an eye out for his scrummie Thomas Kruger, who also comes into the match with some form.
Pretoria Boys’ High lost narrowly to Jeppe High School for Boys at home last weekend, where the result ended 22-16. Boys High lost in the final minute and will want to bounce back from a close match, where, arguably, for most of the match, they looked in a good position to win the fixture.
Winger Ntsako Ndlovu put in some big defensive tackles against Jeppe, but will be itching to show off his pace with some tries.
Both sides have needed to replace their flyhalves from last weekend with Keethan Fritz (Pretoria Boys’ High School) and Joe Macrobert (St John’s College) each getting an opportunity to wear their schools’ first XV’s number ten jerseys this weekend.
The Candies have shown some promising plays and will want to put behind them the couple of losses experienced in the last few weeks. Coach Paul Anthony and Assistant Coach Wian Geldenhuys would have ensured that the side put in some hard yards during the training sessions this week.
The teams stack up nicely against each other, which should give both sets of parents and old boys a good opportunity to witness an exciting encounter at one of the more picturesque schoolboy rugby fields around the country.
With St John’s main school building façade, towering over Burger field, it would be intimidating for most away sides.
Enough about school buildings, bring on the rugby!
The teams:
St John’s College: 15 Bryson Walker, 14 Bradley Chabalala, 13 Reece Watson, 12 Nkosi Sibanda (vice-captain), 11 Jacob Smith, 10 Joe Macrobert, 9 Thomas Kurger, 8 Yannis Patu, 7 Matt MacMaster (captain), 6 Grant Barnes, 5 Thomas Archer, 4 Dominic Kamangu, 3 Vincent Miles, 2 Kyle Watson, 1 Finlay Holden.
Pretoria Boys’ High: 15 Kyle Hezlett, 14 Tebogo Nchabaleng, 13 Christoper Smith, 12 Rickus Wessels, 11 Ntsako Ndlovu, 10 Keethan Fritz, 9 Joshua Naude (vice-captain), 8 Seth Venter, 7 Stephen Adams, 6 Etienne du Preez, 5 Tsephpiso Shikhibana, 4 Randy Muzungu, 3 Ofentse Moeng, 2 Shaun Schurmann (captain) 1 Kitso Mokoena.
Fixtures:
St John’s College vs Pretoria Boys’ High School
u14A – 7:45 am (D Rugby Field)
u15A – 8:45 am (C Rugby Field)
u16A – 9:45 am (Burger Field)
u19B – 10:50 am (Burger Field)
u19A – 12:00 pm (Burger Field)
