Grey College look to keep building momentum at home against Boishaai
Grey College will be looking to build on its recent run of good form when they face Paarl Boys’ High at home in a King Price Derby Series encounter on Saturday.
Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com) or on DStv channel 216. The match kicks off at 14:00.
The team from Bloemfontein found their rhythm during the annual Absa Wildeklawer Festival with comfortable victories over Noordheuwel (34-12) and Jeppe High School for Boys (54-14), respectively.
Those were much-needed victories as Grey went into the tournament after uncharacteristically suffering three defeats on the trot.
More important than the two victories during the Wildeklawer YTournament was the manner in which Grey secured the wins. Their loose-forwards –Niel du Randt, Henru Erasmus, and Xander de Beer – found their feet and regularly got Grey over the advantage line.
Erasmus will miss the encounter against Boishaai due to injury. Boishaai flank, Steven Muller, is a former learner from Grey and captained the school’s u14A, u15A, and u16A sides. So the battle between the loose forwards promises to be fierce.
Boishaai’s head coach, Sean Erasmus, will have had a wry smile when he arrived in the City of Roses, where it has been cold and wet during the week. “If there could fall a bit of rain before or during the game, it would feel like we are back at home. It is a bit chilly here in Bloemfontein, but it is always difficult to play Grey at home,” said Erasmus.
Last year, Boishaai defeated Grey 25-10 at a very wet and muddy Brugstreet Stadium in Paarl. Erasmus’s teams boast two victories in Bloemfontein over Grey College, which is something few have managed. The last time they won under Erasmus in Bloemfontein was in 2017, when the score was an emphatic 46-31.
Since that defeat, Grey has only lost once on their home turf, going down to a 31-43 loss against Paarl Gimnasium last year.
Boishaai suffered a 37-40 last-minute defeat against the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool of Pretoria in the main match of the final day of the Absa Wildeklawer Festival in Kimberley. Their only other defeat this season came against Garsfontein (28-31) during the NMI Toyota Noord/Suid Tournament.
The battle between the two half-back pairings could be decisive. Grey College’s Christoff Crous (flyhalf) and Jonathan Drysdale (scrumhalf) will be in a tactical war with Boishaai’s Liam de Villiers (scrumhalf) and Daniel Meisenheimer (flyhalf).
Crous missed out on selection for Craven Week, while Drysdale made the Free State team for the tournament to be hosted in Gqeberha later this year.
The teams:
Grey College: 15 Lamla Mgedezi, 14 Caden Janse van Rensburg, 13 Eddie Mabena, 12 Ruan Roux, 11 Jaco Oosthuizen, 10 Christoff Crous, 9 Jonathan Drysdale, 8 Niel du Randt, 7 Arno de Bruin, 6 Xander de Beer, 5 Prestan Bennet, 4 Alexi Tyropolis (captain), 3 Hennie Bredenhann, 2 AJ Hendriks, 1 Frans-Paul Troskie.
Paarl Boys’ High: 15 Dante Davids, 14 Dirk Farmer, 13 Wian Delport, 12 Jeneal Davids, 11 Aleit Stander, 10 Daniel Meisenheimer, 9 Liam de Villiers, 8 Chris Nel, 7 Luhan Hattingh, 6 Steven Muller, 5 AD Faul (captain), 4 Trichardt van Tonder, 3 Bates Winshaw, 2 JP Norton, 1 Max Malan.
Referee: Ashton Ockhuys.
