Oakdale 1stXV will play the current number one ranked 1stXV, Gey College tomorrow in Riversdale @ 13h15 in a much-anticipated match.
As expected Grey College is still unbeaten in 2022 having won all five of their fixtures up to date. Grey started with two easy wins against Welkom Gim (64-15) and Duineveld (86-00) before coming up against a spirited Stellenberg (43-27) who showed the rest of South Africa how to play if you want to beat Grey College. The second match at the Noord/Suid Rugby Festival was against Waterkloof (57-37) where defence was not on anybody's minds with both sides preferring attack to defence. Grey College's last match was played on the ninth of April against Outeniqua (21-03) at home when the play was called off during the halftime break due to excessive lightning.
Oakdale played one match less than their visitors but could only win their first against EG Jansen at the Noord/Suid Festival. The second game they played against Monnas (16-41) ended in a disappointing loss after being outplayed by the boys from Krugersdorp in the second half. Their trip to Boishaai (15-22) also ended in a disappointment with Boishaai said to be "unlucky" to win with such a small margin.
Who will win it? Grey College is the overwhelming favourite, however, Stellenberg showed that Grey College do not enjoy "in your face aggressive rugby" when Grey College struggled until the last ten minutes of that match before their attack overran the defence of a gutsy Stellenberg.
I was asked why would Grey College defend if they could simply overrun their opponents with their brilliant attacking play. Can Oakdale provide us with the answer? If Oakdale can match Grey College upfront and deny their dangerous back the quality attacking ball this could become a very interesting match however a "surprise" is highly unlikely.