Peter Engledow’s Hoër Jongenskool (HJS) troops start their official 2020 rugby campaign with an almost entirely new squad against an experienced Monument High School line-up at the Southern Business School (SBS) Bulfees in Porterville on Saturday, 14 March.
The HJS team for their first official season-encounter boasts just one player who was a regular in last year’s starting line-up, while two boys played off the bench. Seven of the players are in Grade 11 of which five are in the backline.
Tight-head prop Seb Lombard retains his position from last year, while eighth-man Cameron Hanekom and loose-head Braam Reyneke now have starting berths. Reyneke is the son of well-known late rally driver Apie Reyneke.
“Boishaai has a remarkable rugby culture and the boys work extremely hard. In theory, we’re a young team, but the guys have lots of talent and play for each other and for the pride in our school,” said Engledow, who took over the coaching reigns last year.
“They’re a special bunch to coach and I’m excited to see them develop. I’m really looking forward to Saturday - I prefer playing a tough opponent early in the season to see where we are as a team.
“Thanks to Monnas and Southern Business School for making it happen; it’s a privilege to part of the Bulfees and to come up against a team that has travelled so far to play against us,” he said.
The Boishaai under 16A team from last year was on par with the best in the country. This year, the players graduating into the U19A side will be a year younger than most of their Monnas counterparts, but they’re an exciting crop who is full of running rugby.
They put in a good performance against Rondebosch on Tuesday in a shortened warm-up match at Newlands. Boishaai won the 40-minute game by 15-5.
The Boishaai team: 15. Jarred Rees, 14. Ethan Isaacs, 13. Hakeem Kunene, 12. Sebastiaan Boshoff, 11. Keagan Smith, 10. Compion von Ludwig, 9. Keean Barnard, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Luca Ribbens, 6. Herman Visser, 5. Romano Fourie, 4. Coetzee Le Roux, 3. Sebastian Lombard, 2. Ruan van Blommenstein, 1. Abraham Reyneke.