The first day of the 2023 Noord/Suid Rugby Festival is set to set the bar high for the following three days of action as a lot of fireworks and maybe also a few upsets is on the cards.
The Actions kicks off at 08:15 (SA Time) on the A Field when Noordheuwel 2ndXV will battle it out with Maritzburg College's 2ndXV. However, all rugby is good the excitement will start in earnest at 12:00 (SA Time) when Waterkloof and Drostdy HTS will lock horns.
The final match of the day between Grey College and Paarl Gim could also decide the top 1stXV in 2023.
31 March 2023
A Field
12:00 Waterkloof vs Drostdy HTS
Waterkloof is currently ranked 19th on the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV Rankings while Drostdy HTS is ranked 25th.
Waterkloof's only match this season so far was at the Outeniqua Rugby Festival where they beat Oakdale 08-05 in a close battle. Waterkloof did "lack" match fitness against an Oakdale team that is already not having a good season.
Drostdy HTS on the other hand have already played two matches in which they lost against Boland Landbou (10-24) and Paarl Boishaai (06-13).
This could be one of the highlights of the day between two evenly-matched teams, both looking for their first wins.
My money must be on Waterkloof with their coaching staff highly rated and Cobus van Dyk the SA "A" Schools' coach.
13:30 EG Jansen vs Welkom Gimnasium
This match is guaranteed to keep all spectators on the edge of their seats with both teams' early performances surprising South Africa.
We know EG Jansen's 1stXV is a very young squad who are still unbeaten after three matches. EG climbed 8 positions on the Ruggas.co.za rankings and are currently ranked 18 after beating Ligbron (57-14), Nelspruit (41-00) and Menlopark (33-24).
Welkom Gimnasium is ranked 33rd up 14 places on the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV ranking with surprise wins against Helpmekaar (25-16) and Monnas (31-26). They did lose against a brilliant Grey College team 73-21, but so did 4 other teams also.
To indicate Welkom Gims' try-scoring abilities they did score 21 points against Grey College which will require an extraordinary defensive effort from EG Jansen.
However, and I know that I will probably be proved wrong, my money is on EG Jansen starting the Noord/Suid with a hard-fought win with the match still up for grabs until the fat lady did her thing.
15:00 Nelspruit vs Glenwood
Unfortunately, this could become an "ugly" match when the unbeaten Glenwood face a Nelspruit team that is still looking for their first win after three losses.
Glenwood is currently ranked 12th while Nelspruit slumped to its worst ranking in several years. Nelspruit is currently Ranked 41st after they dropped 18 positions on the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV rankings.
Glenwood had wins against Voorterkker (PMB) (72-00) and Westville (25-24) while Nelspruit had losses against Secunda (00-15), EG Jansen (10-41) and Transvalia (27-32).
Glenwood should/win this match with relative ease unless Nelspruit comes out firing on all 12 cylinders.
16:30 Noordheuwel vs Maritzburg College
Noordheuwel is currently a runaway train while Maritzburg College is playing great rugby but unfortunately has nothing to show for their efforts.
Noordheuwel's best display was in their only loss this season when Outeniqua beat them (14-18) in George. Wins against Oos Moot (48-07), Oosterlig (55-10) and Potch Volkies (76-00) were spectacular but admittingly against teams that should not give them any worries on the pitch. Noordheuwel is currently ranked 30th reflecting the quality of their opponents in 2023.
Maritzburg College is ranked 26th on the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV Rankings and had losses against Michaelhouse (20-27) and DHS (07-14).
To make a prediction will be foolish but the quality of the opponents of Maritzburg College and the small margin of their losses might just get my vote when forced to make a bet at gunpoint.
18:00 Affies vs DHS
This could become an interesting chess game with the Ruggas.co.za 2022 coach of the year, Peter Engledow facing the young and exciting Neil Jacobs as coach.
Durban High School under the guidance of Peter is still unbeaten in 2023 beating Voortrekker (Beth) (38-17), St Charles (52-14) and Maritzburg College (14-07) and are currently ranked 15th on the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV Rankings.
Affies had a brilliant season under the guidance of Jacobs in 2022 and is also still unbeaten in 2023. Wins against Diamantveld (27-00) and Helpmekaar (41-33) cemented their 4th place in the rankings.
DHS did show against Maritzburg College that they can defend themselves to a hard-fought win, however, the attacking mindset of the Affies team will ask several more questions to DHS' defence, however, this could become a thriller with Affies for obvious reasons my favourite to win.
19:30 Grey College vs Paarl Gimnasium
The undisputed two top 1st XV's for the past few years will play in the final game of day 1 at the Noord/Suid Rugby Festival. These two giants of SA Schoolboy rugby faced each other at the Wildeklwer Festival in 2022 with Grey College losing 17-22.
Grey College is currently ranked 1st after wins against Trio (38-10), Welkom Gim (73-21), Marlow (52-12) and St Andrew's (48-00). Grey College have not been tested by any of their 2023 opponents and will be firing on all cylinders.
Paarl Gim, currently ranked 2nd, only played two matches and won both. They were ruthless against Potch Gim(83-03) but struggled against Stellenberg (24-23). However, if there is a team to beat Grey Paarl Gim is one of few if not the only one in 2023.
A responsible bookie will bet on Grey College winning, however, will also risk a few rands on Paarl Gim, just in case.
