Kwaggas look to close out centenary year with revenge against Donkies
Hoërskool Outeniqua will play one final match against HTS Drostdy on Saturday to bring an end to what has been an exceptional season to celebrate their centenary year.
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When these two met last year, HTS Drostdy emerged as victors with 13-9.
Repeating that success this year, however, would be one of the upsets of the season, as the Kwaggas have only lost to Grey College (19-17) and Garsfontein (19-8), the two schools at the top of the rankings this year.
They proved they deserve to be mentioned among the big names this year with another epic match against an in-form Paarl Gimnasium, recently holding the Powerhouse from Paarl to a 10-all draw in George.
Since then, they have returned to winning ways, beating Stellenberg 10-8 in their penultimate fixture of the season.
JT Strydom (fullback), JJ Daters (winger), Ashwen Damons (winger) and Nathan Smit (hooker) have been some of their most impressive players this season. They were among the 15 Kwagga players who represented their school in the SWD Craven Week team that competed at the annual Youth Week which was hosted by Outeniqua in July.
In their final match of the season, they pass the torch to some of the younger players who will be tasked with continuing the legacy next year, like the young flyhalf, Andrew Stopforth and the replacement scrumhalf, Elgernon Meyer, who have both already shown their value this year.
Over their 100 years of existence, Outeniqua has produced some top-quality players, like Springboks Johan Heunis, Marco Wentzel, Warrick Gelant and our World Cup Flyhalf, Manie Libbok all attended the proud school in George.
Other notable alumni include Duhan van der Merwe who currently stars for Scotland and Faan Conradie who toured with the Springboks in 1965 but never got the opportunity to play a test.
HTS Drostdy has had more of a mixed season.
They’re coming off a 31-24 loss in a closely fought match against an in-form Oakdale after putting up a massive 73-5 against Tygerberg just before the break.
Their two flankers, Ettiene Claasen and captain Matt Romao, have stood out for the team from Worcester and will have a big role to play this weekend again.
The hosts are without their star flanker, Jeffwin Wesso, who was selected as a part of the SA U18 Sevens team that recently earned the bronze medal at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago. An injury sustained in the match against Paarl Gimnasium limited his involvement in the tournament, but he is undoubtedly a young player with a bright future ahead of him.
Since 2005 HTS Drostdy has only beaten the Kwaggas twice; once in 2018 and once last year. Handing the hosts their third loss in their centenary year would be a massive achievement for the Drostdy boys, but it will take an immense effort to upset the Outeniqua on their home field.
The teams are:
Outeniqua vs HTS Drostdy at 13:30:
Outeniqua: 15 JT Strydom, 14 JJ Daters, 13 Luca Potgieter, 12 Estiaan Cronje, 11 Ashwen Damons, 10 Andrew Stopforth, 9 Jamil Pretorius, 8 Brendon Gouws, 7 Dewald Gerber, 6 Ruart Curlewis, 5 Jayden Potgieter, 4 Michael Cronje, 3 Juan Kleinhans, 2 Nathan Smith, 1 Ruan Swart.
HTS Drostdy: 15 Graham Thompson, 14 Adrian Vergotine, 13 Aljay Skippers, 12 Kenneth Jansen, 11 Bernedict George, 10 Josh Fourie, 9 Corné van Schalkwyk, 8 MJ van der Westhuizen, 7 Matt Romao, 6 Ettiene Claasen, 5 Marcus Lee, 4 Piet Erasmus, 3 Tertius Wantenaar, 2 Daniël Mellet, 1 Walter Schoeman.
