Graeme Rugby Day Preview

With the early season skirmishes out of the way, the Graeme Rugby Day is set for a spectacular display of schoolboy action when it kicks off in Grahamstown at 8 am on March 28.

This highly popular event on the schools calendar sees the first teams of 18 schools do battle on the Somerset and Marais A fields as coaches and players approach the upcoming season in earnest.

Headlining the day will be the final match between Grey High and Bishops, two powerful rugby schools with fantastic sporting traditions, who are sure to provide a fitting end to the day’s activities.

The Cape Town school have rightly earned a reputation of playing running rugby, irrespective of the situation and this high intensity approach will test any team’s defence.

Bishops are delighted to be competing in the Graeme Rugby Day and director of rugby, Angus Firth, said they were looking forward to the challenge they faced against some of the Eastern Cape’s top schools.

“It was always a longstanding tradition where we used to tour the Eastern Cape and this is a little part of attempting to revive this tradition. Three-match festivals have taken the tour enjoyment factor away from so many boys and this hopefully will have a very much more tour feel than a Festival,” Firth said.

“We are playing Grey at the Festival, a hugely formidable foe, but like us, they like to play an open and exciting brand of rugby so it should be a superb spectacle no matter who wins.”

Under the captaincy of Michael de Marco and the coaching of former Eastern Province player Tim Fraser, Grey will be looking to put together another big year, with exciting players in the backline such as Curwin Bosch and Keanu Vers, who both played for SA Schools last year. But they will be well tested by Bishops’ enthusiasm and running approach in their first big test of the season.

Hosts Graeme have generously conceded the main game to the Grey-Bishops showdown, but will be keen to give a good account of themselves in the main curtain-raiser against a formidable Dale College side.

The Grahamstown school have never given themselves an easy game in the Graeme Rugby Day and skipper Heino Gaiser will be urging his players for a committed effort on Saturday.

With talented Dale flyhalf Courtney Winnaar likely to dictate matters from the pivot position, the Graemians will have to prepare themselves for another tough challenge.

Union High and Cambridge kick off proceedings at 8 am, while Pearson face one of their most testing fixtures when they play Queen’s at 10.20 am.

With their strong rugby pedigree, Queen’s will take the field as favourites, but Pearson are fast emerging as opponents capable of taking on the more established rugby schools and will be hoping to make a point on Saturday.

In a pre-season practice match, they lost 25-5 to Grey and this provides them with another opportunity to show they can mix it at a higher level.

There should be an intriguing battle at 12.40 when Kingswood play Marlow, who always manage to provide a hard challenge, irrespective of their opponents.

Versatile sportsman Garrick Mattheus will have an important role for Kingswood at flyhalf, while the Grahamstown side will have to handle the Marlow lads up front to give them a chance of victory.

Marlow’s strong physical approach will certainly test the credentials of a Kingswood side which has plenty of potential. A good performance for Kingswood could set them up for a successful season.

The new-look St Andrew’s side will be aiming to prove themselves in a 1.50 pm clash with dangerous Humansdorp outfit Nico Malan. St Andrew’s have just two players back from last year and the hard-running Nico Malan XV will certainly provide a good test of their character.

It should be a typical schoolboy game, with both sides committed to running rugby.

Fixtures

Somerset Field

08.00: Union High vs Cambridge

09.10: Muir vs Hudson Park

10.20: Queens’ vs Pearson

11.30: Selborne vs Brandwag

12.40: Kingswood vs Marlow

13.50: St Andrew’s vs Nico Malan

15.00: Graeme vs Dal

16.10: Grey vs Bishops

Marais A Field

08.15: Under-16 Graeme vs Bishops

09.15: 2nd XV Graeme vs Bishops

10.15: Port Alfred vs Nathaniel Nyaluza

11.15: Under-16 Cambridge vs Framesby

12.15: Under-16 Hudson Park vs Muir

13.15: Under-16 Queen’s vs Pearson

14.15: Under-16 Selborne vs Brandwag

15.15: Under-16 Kingswood vs Marlow

Marais B Field

08.15: Under-14 Graeme vs Bishops

09.15: Under-14 Kingswood vs Marlow

10.15: Under-14 Cambridge vs Framesby

11.15: Under-14 Hudson Park vs Muir

12.15: Under-14 St Andrew’s vs Nico Malan

13.15: Under-14 Selborne vs Brandwag

14.15: Under-14 Queen’s vs Pearson

15.15: Under-16 St Andrew’s vs Nico Malan

From Neale Emslie