Bishops vs Rondebosch – 27 August 2016

 

This Saturday, the 27th of August, will see two Southern Suburb rivals take each other on for the 191th time since 1911 when the 1^st Teams played each other for the first time. Rondebosch have won 74 games with Bishops having won 98 matches with almost one out of every 10 matches (18) ending in a draw. 

But the spectators and players minds will be occupied with something completely different.  Who will be crowned as the Southern Suburb's champions of 2016. SACS will be crowned as champion if the beat Wynberg with Rondebosch the champion if SACS loses to Wynberg and Rondebosch beats Bishops.

Bishops season must be one of their worst in years only winning ten out of twenty three matches. their victory against SACS two weekend ago should give them a glimmer of hope. However their lost last weekend against bottom of the log Wynberg points to the direct opposite.

Rondebosch who won thirteen of their twenty matches this year must be full of confidence. They won the first encounter this year against Bishops 15 - 14 at home. Their current form displayed against SACS and Wynberg must  make them the favorites to walk the 400m separating the two schools, as victors on Saturday afternoon.

Bishops at least know that their home clash against neighbours Rondebosch is just that: an interschools showdown devoid of any statistical possibilities as far as they are concerned.

The memory of the agonizingly close (a couple of centimetres, no more) 15-14 defeat against their visitors back in June will surely spur the Platinum Blues, as similar situations will have done to many other schools this season, to press the memory delete button and redeem their fairly ordinary campaign with a spirited last stand.

And spirited it will be with thousands of former pupils vying for bragging rights over the auld enemy.

The open style of play for which Bishops is famous relies naturally on exhilarating backline skills and it is not surprising that this is where Saturday’s team must consider themselves to have the edge.

True, they haven’t always fired on all cylinders this year, but an occasion such as this Saturday can only fuel their determination and hopefully, with it, their confidence.

Halfbacks Harry Makin, whose goalkicking has been a revelation this season, and James Macdonald have had an uninterrupted season together, while the understanding between centres Rob Macdonald, younger brother of James, and Craven Week cap Lubelo Scott has had all the time it needs to gel.

No-one will be more aware than these players themselves that they are the key to releasing the potent forces that are fullback Brandon van der Westhuizen and left-wing Seb Prentice, whom necessity forced to spend a long spell on the flank, who have notched fourteen and fifteen tries respectively in 2016.

Bishops forwards rarely hog the limelight, but the sterling work done by Luke Viljoen, Byron Cranswick, Christian Stehlik and Jean Pienaar, to name a few, cannot go unmentioned.

However, this is where Rondebosch will be looking to establish some superiority. 

Matthew Grobler, Braden Tredoux, Hylton Goatley, captain Garth Shenker and Cal Smid make up a fiery back five in a solid-looking pack, one that functions at its best when foraging together.

Injury has regrettably robbed Bosch of influential centre Van der Bijl Blake for far too much of the current campaign, necessitating unavoidable shuffling, which has seen fly-half Sam Cragg redeployed to the midfield.  Hopefully, their presence alongside one another on Saturday should bolster the team’s midfield sufficiently to counter the Bishops threat.

The expected return from international duty of Mike Mavovana will go a long way to offsetting the loss of Amani Minani, but looks certain to allow DJ Falconer, whose penetrative running has impressed this season, to slot in alongside Blake.

Mavovana is unlikely to let the exertions of the last two weeks detract from his dazzling spontaneity and he would love nothing more than playing a decisive role in his last outing for the school.

Results down the Years