Candies unveil Ross Buckley Changeroom ahead of Hoops clash

Pretoria Boys High School‘s first home match of the season, against their local rival, St Alban’s College, has been met with excitement around the unveiling of a new changeroom for the First XV.
The changeroom has been named after old boy, Ross Buckley, who represented the school’s first XV in 1992 and 1993 and who also ran out for Northern Transvaal.
He tragically passed away in 2020 but his memory will live on in the new changeroom.
Any sportsmen will tell you the significance of a changeroom in a team environment – it is the heart of the home ground, a nexus between generations.
Think about Lords Cricket Ground, when England won the 2019 Cricket World Cup, or Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu, after a big Champions League tie, or even closer to home, Loftus Versveld for the Blue Bulls, during the 2009 Super Rugby season.

This means players will no longer need to trek across from the cricket pavilion, which has doubled up as a First XI and First XV changeroom for a number of years.
Both Pretoria Boys High and St Alban’s College recorded one win and one loss in their respective Easter festival fixtures.
Boys High took part in the KES Easter Festival. They performed well in an 8-24 loss to Paarl Boys’ High and also recorded a good 26-21 win over Selborne College in their opener.
PBHS assistant coach Wian Geldenhuys said: “The boys cannot wait to play on Brooks Field for the first time this year, in front of our home crowd.”
Commenting on the Candies‘ performances at KES and the preceding NMI Toyota North-South Tournament, he added: “Hopefully, the lessons we have learned from the Noord-Suid Tournament and the KES Easter Festival will stand us in good stead for the season ahead and, more particularly, this weekend against St Alban’s College.”
Boys High’s lanky lock and captain Tshepiso Shikhibana, will be looking to lead from the front, and being afforded the privilege of being the first captain at the school to be able to address his side in the new changeroom will surely get the adrenaline pumping.
Seth Venter will be eager to mark his return to Brooks Field with a strong showing, after immigrating to the United States with his family last year. He’s back in South Africa to complete his matric year. The grass is not always greener on the other side but it sure is green in Pretoria at present.
For a forward, Venter has a big boot on him and can kick the ball a country mile, which was evident against Jeppe a few weeks back. So don’t be surprised to see the flanker lining up the odd place kick.
Stephen Adams misses out this weekend and will be out for the next six weeks after sustaining a knee injury in the fixture against Boishaai.
St Alban’s lost to St Charles by six points at the St Stithians Easter Festival, but coach Ofentse Moeng felt that the team could have won that match, which was much closer than it appeared.
“We let ourselves down in the game during the set-pieces, more specifically around the lineouts, where we could have beaten St Charles. There were also a couple of unforced errors,” he reckoned.
Moeng was impressed by Patrick Weir and Daniel Bouwer, whose work-rates he described as “immense”.
From the visitors’ side, outside centre JJ Steenkamp will be one to keep a close eye-on. He has made a speedy recovery from a concussion.
A good rivalry between the schools exists, with St Alban’s aiming to get one over the hosts on their home field. Last year, when they locked horns, the Candies walked away with a victory.
Both teams employ an attacking style of play, but kicking will be an important element with wet weather forecast for Saturday. This will likely necessitate a conservative, forward-based approach.
St Alban’s have an overseas tour to Spain and Portugal on the horizon, and they will need to remain focussed as they take on a hungry Boys High team, who performed admirably at KES.
TEAMS
Pretoria Boys’ High: 15 Tebogo Nchabeleng, 14 Ompfuna Tsanwan, 13 Motheo Dimpe, 12 Rickus Wessels, 11 Ntsako Nhlovu, 10 Tumisho Motswi, 9 Cole Williams, 8 Katlego Shebu, 7 Seth Venter, 6 Panyaiotis Ellinas, 5 Tshepiso Shikhibana, 4 Matthew Parrott, 3 Ofentse Moeng, 2 Thapelo Mphela, 1 Jeffery Singo.
St Alban’s College: 15 Matthew Nelson, 14 Ofentse Sema, 13 JJ Steenkamp, 12 Tumelo Mohale, 11 Ngaa Chikarango, 10 Everett Gosling, 9 Joshua Verster, 8 Daniel Bouwer, 7 Thabiso Mbembele 6 Patrick Weir, 5 Keegan Dick, 4 Jandré Botha, 3 Neo Gama, 2 Craig Milne 1 Andreas Philippou.
Fixtures
u14A: 8:55 – Pretoria Boys High School vs St Alban’s College (Dorey Far Field)
u15A: 10:00 – Pretoria Boys High School vs St Alban’s College (Oehley Far Field)
u16A: 11:00 – Pretoria Boys High School vs St Alban’s College (Oehley Near Field)
u19B: 12:00 – Pretoria Boys High School vs Sutherland u19A (Brooks Field)
u19A: 13:20 – Pretoria Boys High School vs St Alban’s College (Brooks Field)