Hoops hopeful for season turnaround against Northcliff

A schoolteacher once said, ‘It’s often not how you start but how you end something which can determine the success of it.’ Looking at the St Alban’s College rugby season thus far, the side is due for a turnaround.

The Hoops have had a fairly disappointing season this year up until now, but will be looking to turn things around when they take on Northcliff High School at home this weekend. St Alban’s have shown patches of promise during the season, but would like the moving pieces to fall into place.

The first XV kicks off at 12:00, on the prestigious Moshate Field.

The side has only won a handful of their fixtures. The side will feel unlucky about their most recent outing, losing narrowly in the last five minutes of the match to St Benedict’s College, going down 17-14 in what ended up being an exciting end to a fairly evenly contested match.

Hooker and captain Luke Webber will be eager to lead from the front and will be instrumental in winning possession from possible scrums. 

Points will be the order of the day and The Hoops will be gearing towards accumulating them through wingers Nkosi Malaza and Mike Rider.

Northcliff come off of a string of losses having lost to St Stithians College going down 30-22 and losing to Parktown two weeks ago. Last weekend’s match could have gone the way of Northcliff had it not been for a few tactical errors by some of the players which cost them three simple try scoring opportunities.

Outside centre Jordan Swanepoel and scrumhalf Zenovian Johnson will want to carry over their good form going into this fixture. The two backline players will need to ensure that their side seizes any try scoring opportunity which may present itself.

Jaden Baillie has been putting in the hard yards for the team and will be eager to take on the St Alban’s. The strong eighth man will need to put in a big effort this weekend again.

St Alban’s College will fancy their chances with the home advantage and playing in front of a home crowd. The one thing that’s been seen throughout the season is that Northcliff has a strong support base who are willing to travel around the province in support of their boys and are not afraid to be heard from the stands.

This should be an entertaining encounter with both teams looking to redeem themselves and put them back on a winning path leading into the backend of the season.

Teams:

St Alban’s College: 15 John-Joshua Steenkamp, 14 Michael Rider, 13 Tumelo Mohale, 12 Luke Sass, 11 Nkosi Malaza, 10 Druan Visage, 9 Joshua Verster 8 Daniel Bouwer, 7 Matthew Price, 6 Patrick Weir, 5 Llyod Schneberger, 4 William Von Broembsen, 3 Craig Milne, 2 Luke Webber, 1 Cody Petersen.

Northcliff High School: 15 Dylan Fourie, 14 Ziyaad Bhyat, 13 Jordan Swanepoel, 12 Luke Roos, 11 Gerrit Muller, 10 Dylan Venter, 9 Zenovian Johnson 8 Jaden Baillie, 7 Chad Matthews, 6 Ethan Hayes, 5 Peter Diesel, 4 Liam Alderson, 3 Mpummolelo Bhehbe, 2 Tshiamo Makobo, 1 Blake Neale.

Fixtures:

u14A – 09:35 (Murray)

u19B – 09:35 (Moshate Field)
u15A – 10:45 (Baloyi B)
u16A – 10:45 (Moshate Field)
u19A – 12:00 (Moshate Field)