Hard clashes ahead as Cape schools do battle

IT will be a case of east versus west when schools square up in two rugby festivals which get under way in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town tomorrow.

The biennial Cape Schools Week will be hosted by Rondebosch in the Western Cape, while Port Elizabeth school Westering, whose festival is also held every second year, have attracted an entertaining array of teams to their sporting extravanganza.

The Cape Schools Week pits five Eastern Cape schools – Grey High, Muir, Dale, Selborne and Queen’s – against their western counterparts in a tournament which has been reduced to two days this year.

Given the amount of schools rugby and festivals on the regular programme, that is probably a wise move.

However, it will still pose a massive test because, even without regulars Paarl Gymnasium, the programme will provide some strong opposition.

Grey, for instance, will be up against the hard-as-nails Boland Agricultural outfit tomorrow before taking on the highly rated SACS outfit on Monday.

Muir have an equally demanding programme as they start off against Stellenberg, a side which has produced impressive results this year, and finish against Boland Agricultural.

Last weekend, Boland came within a whisker of ending Paarl Boys’ High’s remarkable unbeaten run in SA schools rugby, finally being shaded 38-33.

Grey coach Allan Miles knows they will have their hands full against the farming lads.

“Boland have found form this year and we are expecting an extremely physical encounter against them,” he said.

“On Monday, we play against one of the strongest teams that SACS have produced in recent times.

“They have an amazing skill set and are not scared of using the full width of the field on attack.”

He said that exams and injuries had affected their planning for the week, providing an opportunity for some fringe players to show their worth.

“As a biennial festival, not everybody gets to play in the Cape Schools Week,” Miles said.

“The players are aware of this and very keen to be part of it.”

Muir teacher Lyntin Gouws said they realised they faced two tough games but were keen to prove themselves.

“Both Stellenberg and Boland are going to be hard, with two different styles of play,” he said.

“We will have to adapt to the running game of Stellenberg and then the physicality of Boland.

“The team members are excited as many will only experience this type of rugby once in their school career.

“We have a number of younger players in the squad and they are looking forward to the opportunity to show their worth against the big boys and prove to the coaching staff that taking them was the right decision.”

Besides the Port Elizabeth sides, Westering will host schools from the Western Cape, as well as Port Alfred and East London, in what should be an entertaining two days of rugby.

The hosts play Cape teams Milnerton and Fish Hoek and will be fired up to give a good account of themselves.

Woodridge have produced some good results this season and it will be interesting to see how they fare against Fish Hoek and Milnerton, while Framesby should prove one of the stronger teams at the festival.

They take on Cambridge tomorrow and Fairmont on Monday.

The fixtures are: