It was the third weekend of schoolboy rugby and nobody can blame you if you do not watch the "Super 119" series on Supersport but rather head down to your local school for some entertaining rugby.
In the Central Union, there was some excellent rugby displayed at the Brandfordt Rugby Day where Sentraal was again on the receiving side. This time Outeniqua Hoërskool showed no mercy and completely dominated this fixture. Louis Botha HTS again displayed the form that is attracting some serious discussions. Hentie Cilliers did have not any answers to the style of rugby displayed by Louis Botha. In the main fixture of the day, Brandfordt (President Swart Hoërskool) did not have it easy. They really had to work hard to win this fixture against Kroonstad AHS (Blouskool). Their flyhalf, Waldi Eksteen scored three tries and was the difference between these two teams.
Kimberley was the host of one of the most anticipated fixtures of the weekend, between Affies and Diamantveld. Although the score is not a real reflection of the battle it must be said that the winning margin could have been a lot bigger if it was not for the fight in the heart of the Diamantveld boytjies. Affies clearly displaying their intention with a backline that would not easily be matched this year. De-an Ackerman of Diamantveld again confirmed his class with a solo try that will be talked about for the rest of the season.
Grey College in Bloemfontein showed none of the hospitality often attributed to them. They demolished all "A" sides from Waterkloof, u/14 (79-7), u/15 (33-12) and u/16 (107-24) with the 1stXV completely outplaying their opponents winning 67-12. A lot was said regarding the backline of Grey College and they just confirmed all the praise is justifiable. Rikus Pretorius and Janco van Heynigen showing why they are rated as the best centre pairing at schoolboy level in South Africa.
In the Eastern Cape, the action is slowly picking up with Queens College and Brandwag displaying good early season form. The form of Daniël Pienaar must be worrying managing only a draw against Grens. Framesby and the farmers of Cradock, Marlow showed that if anybody wants to claim the title of King of the Eastern Cape they will first have to claim a victory against them. Their battle on the 27th of May later this year promises to be a massive fixture. Marlow following last week's victory against Upington up with a victory against Hudson Park.
In KZN the giants are slowing waking up. A big storm erupted after some of the parents claimed a victory for Hilton in a practise match against Glenwood. This "victory" was denied by Hilton but spectators were impressed with the Hilton's 1stXV. DHS demolished Northwood with 82-0 and one have to question the quality of schoolboy rugby in the Last Outpost as only a few schools can really compete against the rest of South Africa's best. Kearsney was victorious against Welkom Gym winning 29-15. Up till half time, Welkom Gym was still in with a chance at 12 all but the last 15 minutes proved to be too much for the travelling team. Dylan Richardson displaying early season brilliance. The Voortrekker night Series did not provide any surprises as Westville and Maritzburg College scored easy wins.
In the Noordvaal Region, one can not be blamed to only decide on Saturday morning which game to attend. The week already started on Tuesday with the games at the Bulls Prestige Day providing a lot of action. Monnas and Garsfontein showed their opponents on Saturday on what to expect.
The Tuks Super Series provided plenty of action with Middelburg HTS just managing a victory against Nelspruit on Tuesday. Middelburg HTS winning with 25-22 scoring in the last minutes of the match to win. Garsfontein started against Eldoraigne applying pressure immediately. Garsfontein already leading 22-0 at half time. After a red and yellow card in the 2nd half, Garsfontein were extremely happy when the final whistle sounded. Scrumhalf Keegan Johannes followed his man of the match performance on Tuesday up with another splendid performance scoring a try in the second half. He will be a player to watch by Garsfontein's opponents. Monnas scored an emphatic win against the struggling Petersburg who suffered their second defeat in so many weeks. In the last match, Kempton Park scored a somewhat surprising victory against Transvalia.
In the Pukke NWU 16 series, Pretoria North is busy establishing itself as one of the leading teams. Although Secunda put up a spirited fight Pretoria North managed a hard fought but well deserved 35-27 victory. Fochville followed their victory against Schoonspruit up with another win against Wolmaransstad and last year's winners Vryburg scored a good win against Schoonspruit, 31-6. Pionier should be the fourth team in the finals after their victory against a spirited Piet Retief.
One of the big surprises was the victory of Frikkie Meyer against Oos Moot. Oos Moot is not having the best of seasons and was one of our biggest losers on the weekly Rankings. Maybe the match against Pretoria Boys High at the Bulls Prestige Evening on Tuesday took its toll on Saturday.
Noord Kaap travelled to Menlopark just to see a victory disappear in the last few seconds of their match after Menlo's fly-half converted a penalty in the last seconds of this match. Cameron Hufke was the catalysator in the Noord Kaap's enterprising play and will have to be closely guarded. The Eldoraigne vs Helpmekaar match started very slow with Helpmekaar showing early season glitches. Having established an early lead, Helpies was leading 24-0 at half time. The second half delivered better rugby but fortunately or unfortunately Helpmekaars dream team was definitely rusted.
The Western Cape Region is slowly coming to life with Stellenberg one of the first of the big guns to play a match. As expected the set pieces were solid but handling and decision making a bit rusty.