Two weeks ago SACS and the rest of the country was surprised when SACS was kept to a 14 all draw by Rondebosch scoring the equalising try in the last seconds of the match. Rondebosch at that stage lost 6 of their 12 games this season. This week they host Wynberg who's season reads as follows played 12 lost 7.
This fixture will be the first of two matches against Wynberg with the second one being played at Wynberg on the 26th Agust 2017, the last game of the season for both schools.
Unfortunately for Wynberg, the SACS boys will come out to impress for two reasons. Firstly to show that the mishap against Rondebosch was just that a mishap and not a sign that SACS season is falling apart and then secondly only 3 boys of this SACS side was selected for the u/18 Craven Week and u/18 Academy Week sides. The SACS boys are not part of the schoolboy community that jumps up and down and shouts in public. They will do their protesting in between the white lines and that should worry Wynberg.
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"Well, their results would certainly seem to support this theory. After al, SACS has beaten both Boland Landbou and Paarl Gym (OK, these games were on their home turf, but still…) amongst others, something which no-one else has managed this year. In fact, Nick Maurer’s squad has only lost once in 2017, 24-29 to Paul Roos.
Makes for a pretty convincing CV by anybody’s standards.
Wynberg haven’t done remotely as well, their four victories coming at the KES Festival and at their own shindig a fortnight later. They haven’t got as far as beating any Western Cape side at all, their most recent failure being a 47-5 thrashing away to Stellenberg.
Despite the weight of statistics and the accompanying overwhelming odds, one thought must be nagging at the minds of the Newlands side’s brains trust. They might have swept all but the Maroons before them, including running up a century whitewash against Durbanville, but they haven’t managed to beat either of their fellow southern suburbanites, Bishops and Rondebosch.
That said, even though they haven’t lost to them either – both matches ended in draws – the knowledge that this presents the one ray of hope to the lads from Lovers Walk might just bug them, a little like a recurrent toothache.
Frankly, that appears to be the only source of hope open to the visitors on their trek up to what is sure to be a typically damp SACS field.
It hurts to have to say this, but the visitors haven’t shown enough signs of resurgence anywhere except in the front row, where James Alexander and Luthando Woji have caught the eye, and, on occasion, in the loose phases, in which old warhorse Cameron Bowes has found a willing apprentice in lively Inga Halu.
The backline has been disrupted to the point that one wonders whether anyone actually knows who is going to play until just before the kick-off.
SACS have seemed ominously stable all round, even when they have been forced by injury to play without captain Lucky Dlepu behind the pack. The integration of new players, when required, has been smooth and seamless, more as the result of design than of luck.
It’s been that sort of season and, if Hayes, Hop, Zeederberg and Abrahams out back have anything to say about it, there really doesn’t seem to be a cogent reason to think that Saturday will turn out otherwise."
A brief history of this fixture
SACS and Wynberg will meet on Saturday in their annual derby. The match is always a fixture that is looked forward to by the schoolboys, parents, old boys and spectators each and every year – this year will be no exception. SACS was founded in 1829 and Wynberg in 1841. They are two of the oldest schools in South Africa and their contact over
the years is steeped in tradition and mutual respect. The first fixtures between the schools are not readily available, but due to SACS’ rugby playing heritage it is noted that ‘Wynberg initially struggled against SACS’ however, his changed in the 1980s as Ray Connellan and Eric Tasker reinvigorated Wynberg rugby, and in the process, developed the Cape Schools Week which is now a held every two years at different venues throughout the Western and Eastern Cape. Both schools have produced outstanding Springboks and Wynberg can boast names such as Rob Louw,
Lionel Wilson, Dave Stewart and Doug Hopwood while SACS have been blessed with Paul Delport, Kyle Bown and Percival Montogomery in recent memory.
The fixture on Saturday promises to be an explosive encounter with both schools looking to end their first part of the season on a high note. The first team game is always keenly contested and this weekend it has the added flavour of being the SACS Matrics final home rugby match against Wynberg. We wish both schools all the best on Saturday and look forward to some exciting and enterprising rugby.
To read more interesting articles on SACS rugby click here.
Fixtures
14h00 - 1ST XV WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘A’
12h30 - 2ND XV WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘A’
12h30 - U/16 A WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘B’
12h10 - U/14 C WYNBERG DE VILLIERS
11h20 - U/16 B WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘B’
11h15 - 3RD XV WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘A’
11h10 - U/15 A WYNBERG JUNIOR SCHOOL “A”
11h05 - U/14 D WYNBERG DE VILLIERS
10h10 - 4TH XV WYNBERG SPENCER-SMITH
10h10 - U/16 C WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘B’
10h00 - U/15 B WYNBERG JUNIOR SCHOOL “A”
10h00 - U/15 D WYNBERG DE VILLIERS “B”
10h00 - U/14 A WYNBERG DE VILLIERS
09h00 - 5TH XV WYNBERG SPENCER-SMITH
09h00 - U/16 D WYNBERG MEMORIAL ‘B’
09h00 - U/15 C WYNBERG JUNIOR SCHOOL “B”
09h00 - U/15 E WYNBERG DE VILLIERS “B”
09h00 - U/14 B WYNBERG DE VILLIERS