NEW HEAD OF RBHS RUGBY

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1 28 May 2014 # 6 NEW HEAD OF RBHS RUGBY Mr Johan Snijmann has taken over the reins as Head of Rugby at Rondebosch. Born and bred in Pretoria, although he confirms that he has never supported the Bulls for one day, Mr Snijmann holds Honours Degrees in both Psychology and Geography. He left the teaching profession for 15 years and worked as a Project Manager at BMW (SA) and was CEO of South Africa Business Link. He has been at RBHS since 2008 and teaches Afrikaans and is also Head of Canigou Boarding House. Mr Snijmann has coached rugby at school level for more than 30 years and has an IRB Level 2 qualification. With his immense knowledge of the game we look forward to his input at all levels of Rondebosch rugby.

2 Copy of a blog from a SACS Supporter: I write this post as a staunch school boy rugby supporter of over 20 years, a parent of a former 1stXV rugby player and someone who has always supported SACS through thick and thin. In 20 years I have seen it all. I have seen 1stXV s beat Paul Roos, Paarl Gym, Boishaai and Boland Landbou and I have seen 1stXV s lose to Strand, Brackenfell, De Kuilen, Bellville High and Tygerberg. I have seen teams win games against the odds and I have seen teams lose games to far lesser teams in the league. I have seen talented teams compete against the big guns and teams with very little talent struggle and succumb even against the minnows. It has always been this way. You have good years and you have bad years, you have talented players and some years you don t, you have fiercely committed players (sometimes without huge talent) and sometimes you have players who just don t have what it takes. The point I m trying to make is that school boy rugby is cyclical. I watched SACS 1st XV play its final game against Wynberg in SACS were desperately unlucky not to win and played with real pride and passion. Despite losing they were a credit to their school. They had plenty of very talented players as well. On that day there was one Grade 11 in the team and he was the wing if I m not mistaken? After 3 relatively successful years under the current coaches, 2014 was always going to be a rebuilding year. It is maybe worth having a look at the new group of players entrusted to wear the jersey in The matric boys or senior players in the squad didn t win a game when they were U16. The Grade 11 boys fared only marginally better when they were U16 last season. When combined, it is surely not surprising that the 1 st XV is struggling a bit this season? As far as I know SACS don t buy players into Grade 11 and 12 so the players we have are the players we have for better or for worse! To start playing the blame game is shortsighted and no help to anybody. The coaches have an exceedingly tough job getting the best out of these boys and the boys probably have it even tougher competing in this very tough Western Province Premier Schools League. People are quick to forget that it was only 5 years ago when Wynberg lost by over 100 points at home to Paarl Gym. Look where they are now! Bishops are just coming out of one of the worst periods in their rich rugby history. Losses by over 80 points to Boishaai, 5 losses in a row to SACS and Wynberg etc etc. As predicted, they are rising again in 2014! Rondebosch are also in a rebuilding phase. A great rugby school with far superior rugby results than SACS throughout history have just 3 wins out of 10 games in They conceded 59 points against Wynberg at home. Lost to Piketberg of all teams! And now most recently, a loss to SACS who remarkably managed to bounce back after their big defeat to Bishops the week before. Rondebosch will weather the storm and they will be back in 2015 and beyond, of that you can be certain! As will SACS. Just have a look at their U14A, U15A and U16A results so far this year. Schoolboy rugby is a cycle so hang in there in the tough times and pop the champagne and celebrate when its going well!

3 RESULTS DATE: 24 MAY 2014 RBHS PRG 19A L 19B L 19C L 19D 0 86 L 19E 5 39 L 19F 0 70 L 16A 0 56 L 16B 8 12 L 15A 7 40 L 15B 0 52 L 15C 0 27 L 15D 0 68 L 14A 0 37 L 14B 0 12 L 14C 0 55 L 14D 0 60 L Total points 4,0 47,0 Av points Played 16 Won 0 Drew 0 Lost 16 PAUL ROOS GYMNASIUM Rondebosch Boys' High 1st XV PRG 1st XV Half Time 14 7 Full Time st Half 19 min 8 Try by Liam Greenhalgh 5 9 min 8 Try by Migael Meyer 5 14 Conversion by Thomson 2 10 Conversion by Fortuin 2 30 min 4 Try by Byron Bowes 5 14 Conversion by Thomson 2 2nd Half 64 min 12 Try by Clyde Martch 5 37 min 13 Try by Nico Leonard 5 14 Conversion by Thomson 2 45 min 12 Try by Matt Gallow 5 10 Conversion by Fortuin 2 55 min 14 Try by Adrian van Niekerk 5 68 min 13 Try by Nico Leonard 5 10 Conversion by Fortuin 2

4 U19A RBHS 21 PAUL ROOS 31 My final words to the team in the change room before kickoff went something like this: Your school is busy bleeding out on those fields and it is up to you to reclaim some lost ground on this battlefield. A little dramatic I know but it was a tough morning for Bosch all-round. Many people after the game felt it necessary to ask what we did differently during the week. The answer is simple, nothing. The big change came from within the team when the senior boys called a meeting after the SACS defeat in order to rectify the team s mind-set, reflect and take ownership of their season. The weather forecast in the week predicted near perfect conditions as we planned on moving the ball around, but it was clear as the morning breeze became stronger that conditions were going to hamper our plans. The question that mulled around in my head during the morning while enjoying some of the great hospitality was: Do we play against or with the wind in the first half? I believe we got it spot on as we turned with a 14-7 lead at the break. We played well and created many opportunities in the first half but still found the going tough against a rush defence that was bordering the offside line on most occasions. We played a very good territorial game with the wind at our backs but continued to give them easy exits through silly penalties or poor execution. We scored two very good tries in the first half when both Liam Greenhalgh and Byron Bowes crashed over after some serious, quick and good play which caught their lazy defence on the back foot. The reality was though that we left one or two unconverted opportunities out there. The second half was more of the same as we did most of the attacking, but with the wind in our faces we found it difficult to get the ball wide and into space. The Paul Roos guys came out firing in the second half and had us under a lot of pressure straight from the kickoff. Once they got momentum they were very difficult to stop and were rewarded with a try in the corner when their talisman number 13 powered over after a couple of quick ruck balls. We knew we needed to hold onto the ball into the wind and started to build some really good phases, which certainly took them by surprise. We were controlling territory and possession and took the game to them as Kyle Ballakistan and Dylan Harty found some holes, only for their desperate defence to deny us. Paul Roos then scored one of the softest tries they will score this season when we tried to exit under pressure. We ran from behind our tryline and chipped the ball into their hands from where they spun it out into oodles of space and over for a try - again that number 13.

5 From the ensuing kickoff we continued to mount pressure with ball in hand and were unlucky not to get more reward. The yellow card is certainly an ugly thing in any game, but something that will need to come into play more often in the schoolboy game to stop negative play from the defending side. In the end we did manage to score when Clyde Martch jinked his way through five defenders to score under the poles. With the score at in their favour and five minutes remaining we could sense an upset. We put ourselves under pressure by not securing the kickoff and put the big running number 13 on the front foot again, from where he sliced through untouched. For the remaining two minutes we laid siege on their line with only desperate defence denying us the try that would have given a better reflection of the game. There were some amazing moments of good play throughout the hard fought match but two stand out for me: the one moment was when Paul Roos decided to go for poles when they were awarded a penalty 5 metres from our line and the second was when our captain was courageously helped up and embraced by the Paul Roos defender who had just smashed him in the tackle - the beauty of rugby. In the end it must be said that we played a very good Paul Roos team who punished us on one or two moments when we lost some shape due to their physical presence. It was encouraging to see our boys punch above their weight and not stand back. We don t have much time to freshen up and lick our wounds as Boishaai loom in the distance. This weekend we travel to the postage stamp to take on another giant in the schoolboy game. See you behind the poles. CLINT VAN RENSBURG 1 st XV Coach

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8 U19B RBHS 12 PAUL ROOS 43 Paul Roos was not a bigger or heavier team than Rondebosch, but they played with vigour, as though their lives depended on winning the game. Paul Roos was a well-drilled rugby machine, skilled in all departments of the game. Rondebosch, on the other hand, played as though the outcome was not important. The Bosch team missed numerous tackles in both halves, were pushed off the ball in scrums (by a smaller pack of forwards), lost many of their own lineouts and were guilty of bad passing, poor kicking and generally just did not look as though they wanted to play this game. Fullback Josh Williams looked impressive at times with ball in hand and hooker Pieter Slabbert was often prominent. Paul Roos played with the strong wind in the first half, scoring five easy tries. Bosch waited 28 minutes before getting into the opposing 22m area and then scored one try by winger Ferhad Ahmed. The half time score was The strong wind helped Bosch slightly in the second half, but Paul Roos scored two more tries, while Pieter Slabbert ran well to score in the last minute for Bosch, making the final score to the home side. U19C RBHS 10 PAUL ROOS 61 The Bosch U19C team made the trip out to Stellenbosch on Saturday morning to face Paul Roost. After a good week s training, albeit with a few last minute changes, the boys were feeling confident for the challenge that awaited us. Bosch took an early 3-0 lead thanks to a penalty slotted from the boot of Stuart Goatee. However, from then on, things didn't quite go to plan. We were up against an extremely strong Paul Roost team (the majority of whom have come from last year s U16A team) who were skilful and welldrilled. Paul Roost replied almost immediately with a seven pointer from a maul 5m out and followed this up with another soon after. Shortly before half time, Bosch was, unfortunately, denied a try as the ref adjudged the final pass to be forward. Paul Roost then went on to score a 95m try from the scrum that ensued, resulting in a 14 point turn around. This completely shifted the momentum of the game and the second half belonged almost entirely to Paul Roost. The 'Dogs' were however able to pull a try back through captain David Cane after our best passage of play in the game but it was too little too late. The final score was a disappointing TRIES: DAVID KANE CONVERSIONS: STUART GOATEE (1) PENALTIES: STUART GOATEE (1)

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10 U19D RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 86 We always knew that it was going to be a tough match against Paul Roos. We just never expected it to be quite so tough. Having an early morning start was going to be difficult but the guys got there early and started the warm up. They were a little on edge but also motivated to get out on the field and put up a good fight. Unfortunately, things didn t go according to plan and it was a very challenging match right from the start. We conceded some early tries and found it difficult to get on our feet. We had some very promising periods of play and came close to scoring on a few occasions, but just didn t take it with both hands. The score does not reflect how the team played as they never gave up and kept their heads up no matter what came at them. Unfortunately, we were beaten by some great rugby from Paul Roos. This week will be a time of reflection to see what needs work and where we can improve for next weekend.

11 U19E RBHS 5 PAUL ROOS 46 After a good week of training, the Flyers felt up for the challenge against the Pirates from Paul Roos. It s tough to warm up on a field when all the scoreboards around you indicate that what is to come is not what you ve prepared for. We tried to encourage the team to forget about that and not to look at the scoreboards around them (we underestimate the psychology of small environmental cues like these). Unfortunately, an incorrect match schedule meant that when the Flyers were ready to take to the field we were informed that the Paul Roos team had not even arrived yet. All that hype and energy only for us to get the guys to play some touch rugby for an extra 25 minutes. The match started relatively well, but we were put to the test immediately. We successfully defended wave after wave of attack, whether out wide or around the rucks, but we realised that keeping this up for an hour would not be possible. A few unfortunate decisions at crucial times gave Paul Roos the breaks they needed and at half time the score was 17-0, which to my mind wasn t too bad. Unfortunately, the flood gates opened in the second half - we were our own worst enemies, leaking in three soft tries all because of silly mistakes. There was however a period of play where we actually started to get things right. We managed to score a try and had a few other opportunities, but made very poor decisions and couldn t execute. The tries kept coming and our casualty count kept increasing. In the end they were just too strong for us and we lost The Flyers held their heads high at the end and we knew where we had made errors. Winning starts long before the game starts and that s the lesson we need to take from this. TRY: ISHMAEL SALIE

12 U19F (Stunners) RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 70 This will be the toughest rugby match you will play, is what I told the boys during the week and in the warm up to the match against Paul Roos. The Stunners showed complete respect for that challenge and duly trained like champions during the week, the likes of which would surely see any professional team green with envy. After the narrow and disappointing loss to SACS, the boys were keen to show their adversaries from Stellenbosch that the season was only getting started. The week primarily focused on defence, with guest appearances made by Matthew Rist and Simon Dwyer on the Thursday to try and spruce up the back line and help provide the extra kick they needed to get firing on all cylinders come Saturday. Unfortunately we lost. Naturally, one could claim many excuses as to why we did not win or why the scoreline was so large but in truth, we lost to a far better team and we were outclassed in every area of the game. For someone like Mike Steenkamp, it was truly a baptism of fire, playing and starting his first ever game of rugby against arguably the toughest assignment in Western Cape school boy rugby. There are many other team members playing their first season of rugby and, as such, fixtures against schools on the other side of the Boerewors Gordyn will prove to be tough tasks. However the haaties shown by the boys on the day, particularly captain, Pierre Viviers (also in his first season), was to be commended. In saying that, I have to congratulate Ian Calvert who had a truly outstanding game, putting in big hits and riding some big hits himself. He came off the field sore and aching a bit, as any good forward should, and fully deserved the Man of the Match award. Many of the players do not possess the skills that players learn and grow up with in playing rugby from a very young age. As such, I am genuinely proud of the progress many of these players are making and while the scoreline may not reflect it, they are doing themselves, The Stunners and the school proud. BIG LICK: MAN OF THE MATCH: PATRICK KRISTIANSEN IAN CALVERT U16A RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 56 With the strong wind behind their backs Bosch actually had territorial advantage and looked dangerous but it lasted a mere seven minutes. After that the maroon machine clicked into gear and ran in for converted tries up to the eighteenth minute to take a commanding 28-0 lead. The following twelve minutes was the only period in which Paul Roos could not score, but after half time another four converted tries followed leaving Bosch stunned into silence and well and truly beaten.

13 U16B RBHS 8 PAUL ROOS 12 The Blues came close to causing the upset of the day and were unlucky not to pull off a win. Cameron Abrahamse (13) gave Rondebosch an early lead with a penalty (3-0), but the Stellenbosch lads replied with two tries (one converted) to take a 12-3 lead at the turn. Our boys came out storming after the break and completely dominated the game in the second half. Salmaan Moosa (1) might not be the biggest boy in the team, but he scrummed his opponent (twice his size) into submission. Bosch controlled the line-outs and the loose where, once again, Matthew Booth (5) and Hylton Goatley (6) played above themselves, ably assisted by Jay Fisher (4) and Larry Napoli (8). Goatley was rewarded with a try after the maroon defensive wall finally broke five minutes from the end. Bosch now smelt a possible win and tried everything to get the five-pointer, but to no avail. One can only wonder what would have happened if the game had run the 30 minutes and was not shortened to 25 due to the late start of an earlier match on the Rivierveld. So close, and yet so far but surely the reward of a win must come soon? U15A RBHS 7 PAUL ROOS 40 As with any trip up the N1, this match was always going to be a challenge. The boys were amped and ready, however, buoyed by the win over SACS the week before. Unfortunately, this was to be a very different match. Paul Roos hit us hard from the start, keeping us on the back foot and pinning us into our own half. A couple of quick tries set the momentum in their favour and it was evident that this was going to be a tough match to get on the front foot. The RBHS boys did well with the ball they did manage to get and DJ Falconer was strong in midfield, making yards in contact on a few occasions. The second half started more promisingly: we got our hands on the ball, and made some serious inroads into their defence. We got the ball wide on a few occasions, allowing Zuhair Dollie to get some running in, unfortunately in limited space. Despite us playing a lot of the game around their 22m, the Paul Roos defence absorbed the pressure and hit back hard - once again scoring a few quick tries after capitalising on their opportunities. RBHS can take several positives from the match, as we were competitive in a lot of phases of play, held our own in the lineouts and scrums and showed incredible vision and skill in scoring our try mid-way through the second half - a combination of good hands and superb support running letting Zak Sallie over for his fifth try of the season. TRIES: ZAK SALLIE CONVERSIONS: SAM ALEXANDER MAN OF THE MATCH: ZUHAIR DOLLIE

14 U15B RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 52 Some key injuries in the build up to this match led to a few positional switches and some new caps coming in to the side - and what a baptism of fire it turned out to be. An exceptionally well-drilled Paul Roos side put our boys to the sword right from kick off and the difference between the sides was evident from the start. Despite having the wind at our backs, we struggled to get enough ball to get out of our half and paid the price for some poor tackling. The half time pep talk seemed to wake the boys up a bit and, once again, Matthew Horrigan led the charge in trying to take the game to the Paul Roos boys. The amount of tackling the boys had to do worked against them, however. As the tiredness crept in, tackles started to slip and so the gaps in our defence began to open up. As always, the boys showed lots of heart and were quick to acknowledge that they were simply beaten by a better team. There s lots of rebuilding to do this week and another big challenge up ahead next weekend with yet another trip up the N1. MAN OF THE MATCH: MATTHEW HORRIGAN U15D RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 68 In what can only be described as the graveyard shift, the U15 boys lined up at 8 am ready to take on the Paul Roos juggernaut. The opening exchanges went well, with Rondebosch competing well at the break down and totally bamboozling the "countrymen" with a well-timed short lineout. This, however, was the only glimmer of light on a very stormy Stellenbosch morning. Paul Roos were dominant for much of the game, scoring multiple tries while spreading the ball and particularly driving it up around the rucks. Rondebosch were guilty of not making first time tackles. A special mention goes to Eohan "Not-like-Manchester-United-sir" Lakey, who emerged from the doldrums of long term injury to make a few bursting runs from outside centre - most notably taking four Paul Roos players with him. Mandi "Slide tackle" Cakwe lived up to his nickname by doing just that, in an attempt at grasping an evading attacker. Mandi made up for his lapse in judgement with some solid tackles later in the game - all legal ones of course. It was a tough result on us in the end, but it gives us a platform for the coming weeks ahead. MAN OF THE MATCH: EOHAN LAKEY U14A RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 37 With a number of injuries in key positions in the team, we knew from the outset that Paul Roos was going to be a big mountain to climb. As a result, we as coaches decided to concentrate on playing with a positive mindset. The boys didn't start off very well conceding a try and, along with it, a yellow card in the second minute of the game. This gave Paul Roos the momentum to play some attractive rugby, spreading the ball left and right searching for an overlap. As a result of a number of first time tackles being missed, Paul Roos stormed into a 16-0 lead by the end of the first half. We as a team were never in the game, making mistake after mistake and finally ending up by losing As a team we need to establish a new beginning and the boys need to take responsibility on the field. The rebuilding process is going to take time, but we as coaches know there is better to come from this team.

15 U14B RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 12 As always, Paul Roos came out guns blazing, but the boys stood up and gave them a great contest. After an early unconverted try by Paul Roos the game settled and things were pretty equal. Both teams struggled to gain momentum due to a very strict ref. The half time score was 5-0. Bosch came back in the second half by playing all the rugby but couldn't manage to convert it into points. Paul Roos sealed the victory with a late second half try. Although the score didn't go our way we were delighted with the result due to all the guts and determination that was shown. U14C RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 55 It was a tough encounter for the boys this past weekend as they came up against a fantastic Paul Roos side but they still managed to show heart. The pre-match atmosphere amongst them was great with a lot of amp, excitement and energy in the warm up. The boys believed that they stood a chance and weren t going to hold back as they wanted to carry on with the winning streak. Paul Roos started the game off, putting us on the back foot straight from the kickoff, bringing about some fine defence from the Bosch boys who held them out for the first five minutes. However, our defensive wall couldn t keep up and we let the first try slip in and this was the first of many for Paul Roos. The Bosch forwards did front up to the challenge when it came to ruck time and matched them physically in that department, however, they were struggling to keep up with Paul Roos as they spread the ball wide - Bosch didn t enjoy much of the ball as Paul Roos was very good with possession. What was nice to see, even though we were well out of the game with about ten minutes to go, the boys never gave up trying and didn t drop their heads. They were just outclassed by a very well drilled Paul Roos side. U14 D RBHS 0 PAUL ROOS 60 Once again we had the early morning start to our Saturday, with kick off at 8am, and the boys were still very tired after the long trip through to Stellenbosch. The C team boys were there to lift the spirits and get the D team boys excited for the kickoff. Paul Roos kicked off and immediately we were struggling with the ball bouncing out on our 5m line and a lineout to Paul Roos. They scored a magnificent backline move which most teams probably wouldn t be able to defend and this disheartened the boys with a try in the first minute. However, they didn t give up and kept trying but were starved of ball possession and were defending the whole day. The boys showed a lot of heart in not giving up but were just outclassed by a classy Paul Roos side.

16 FIXTURES RBHS VS PAUL ROOS - 24 MAY TEAM OPPOSITION TIME FIELD U19 A Paarl HJS 12:30 A Field U19 B Paarl HJS 11:20 A Field U19 C Paarl HJS 08:00 B Field U19 D Paarl HJS 09:10 B Field U19 E Paarl HJS 10:20 B Field U19 F Paarl HJS 11:30 B Field U16 A Paarl HJS 10:10 A Field U16 B Paarl HJS 11:10 C Field U15 A Paarl HJS 09:00 A Field U15 B Paarl HJS 11:00 E Field U15 C Paarl HJS 10:00 E Field U15 D Paarl HJS 09:00 E Field U14 A Paarl HJS 09:00 C Field U14 B Paarl HJS 11:00 D Field U14 C Paarl HJS 10:00 D Field U14D Paarl HJS 09:00 D Field Auric Auto Claremont

17 BLITZ BITZ THE RONDEBOSCH BEST EVER XV Here is the suggested Best after school Bosch squad. Our 14 Springboks and Irish player are all included with the year in brackets being when they were first selected for the national team. This follows the suggested Rondebosch Best First XV which is based on performances while still at school by First XV players since 1955 (see last week s Bosch Blitz). Do you agree with the selection? Which Old Boys would you rather pick for our Best Ever XV? Ian McCallum (1970) Chris Pope (1974) Gerald "Tommy" Thompson (1912) Willie Rousseau (1928) "Jock" van Niekerk (1928) Mike Lawless (1964) Roy McCallum (1974) Dion O'Cuinneagain (Ireland 1999) Alf van der Merwe (1931) James Starke (1956) "Butch" Deuchar Kobus Immelman Derek van den Berg (1975) Hanyani Shimange (2004) Dawid "Tank" van der Merwe Bench: Gcobani Bobo (2003) Jackie Tindall (1924) John Apsey (1933) Steve Hillock Doug Mather Anton van Zyl Francois Bonthuys Deuchar, Immelman, Hillock, Mather and Bonthuys all represented WP during a very strong era and van der Merwe played for Boland. Deuchar, Immelman, Mather, van den Berg and Pope played for Western Province in the famous victory over the All Blacks in Anton van Zyl has reprensted the Stormers, Lions and the Barbarians and now plays for Stade Français. Springboks Bennie and Stanley Osler, Jack Gage, Frank Mellish, Mervyn Ellis, Dendy Lawton and Joel Stransky did not finish at Rondebosch, nor did Eric Mellvill who played for France. Our latest international is Justin Melck (2014 for Germany) and a 1997 centre, Dallen Stanford has represented the USA. Thank you to Mike Barwell and others for compiling the two squads. Photographs courtesy of Robert Gad and Kara Robertson