Jeppe pursues an elusive win against Affies

The Jeppe High School for Boys 1st XV is in a rich vein of form and has reeled off five wins in succession, which started with a special 22-19 victory over Grey College at the NMI Toyota North-South Tournament.

On Saturday, the challenge they face is huge, literally and figuratively. They take on Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in their own paddock in one of the weekend’s most eagerly anticipated showdowns.

With their tight five leading the way, Affies has pulled off some big wins this season, including victories over Garsfontein and Helpmekaar, playing an exciting brand of rugby.

Last weekend, against Paarl Gimnasium, a team many believe to be number one in South Africa – not forgetting Gim hosts Grey College this weekend – they went down 19-20 to the boys from the Boland, with their pack giving the visitors a hard time.

Kick-off on Saturday is at 13:30 on the A-Field. SuperSport Schools will broadcast the match live.

Jeppe’s coach Drickus Venter is looking forward to the challenge: “We are very excited, and we are expecting a real tough encounter from the Witbulle. There is no doubt it is going to be a cracker of a match. We will give it horns,” he said.

Affies has a solid contingent of players returning who were part of last year’s 33-31 thriller on Collard Field, which the Witbulle clinched at the death. Flyhalf Ruben Pienaar, who missed out on 2023’s game due to injury, will be looking forward to making his mark on Saturday.

With a dynamic centre pairing of Janco Purchase and Nicolaas Grobler facing Jeppe’s exciting midfielders, Kuthadzo Rasivhanga and McMillen Mongwana, expect fireworks at the back.

Last year’s dramatic showdown was the closest Jeppe has come to pulling off a win over Affies since the teams began an annual derby in 2009. They came close, too, in 2018, when Affies claimed a 45-41 win.

Matthew Coetzee, who starred in Jeppe’s upset of Grey College, started on the bench against Westville Boys’ High last weekend, but he starts at flyhalf for Jeppe on Saturday. The game against the Griffin was good preparation for their assault on Affies, with Jeppe pulling off a hard-fought 31-24 victory.

Affies face the pressure of maintaining their excellent history of success against Jeppe, while the visitors will believe they have a good chance of altering the trajectory of that story.

Results since 2014

2014 Affies 23-11 Jeppe
2015 Affies 64-26 Jeppe
2016 Affies 52-32 Jeppe
2017 Affies 52-22 Jeppe
2018 Affies 45-41 Jeppe
2019 Affies 47-28 Jeppe
2020 Covid-19
2021 Covid-19
2022 Affies 35-17 Jeppe
2023 Affies 33-31 Jeppe

Teams

Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool: 15 Ruben Groenewald, 14 Rickus Strydom, 13 Nicolaas Grobler, 12 Janco Purchase, 11 Eagan Roux, 10 Ruben Pienaar, 9 Zirk Meyer, 8 Ruan Lippold, 7 Albert Smit, 6 Srefan McDonald, 5 JD Hattingh, 4 Muntingh Hamman, 3 Ruan Smuts, 2 Ethan van Dyk, 1 Werner Vrey.

Jeppe High School for Boys: 15 Sanele Simelane, 14 Lindelani Nkambule, 13 Kuthadzo Rasivhaga, 12 McMillen Mongwana, 11 Mjij Ndimphiwe, 10 Matthew Coetzee, 9 Talent Sithole, 8 Risima Khosa, 7 Nathan Classen, 6 Ndimphiwe Mjiji, 5 Luke Cannon, 4 Lagan Leisher, 3 Luca Trevisan, 2 Bonga Nxumlao, 1 Andre Poulton.

Fixtures

U14A: 08:00 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Jeppe High School for Boys
U15A: 09:00 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Jeppe High School for Boys
U19B: 11:10 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Jeppe High School for Boys
U16A: 12:20 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Jeppe High School for Boys
U19A: 13:30 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Jeppe High School for Boys