Grey College 2024 Season Review
Defeat to Jeppe shocked SA schoolboy fans, as did their capitulation to PRG
One could write a thesis extolling the virtues of the Grey College rugby programme, listing the players they churn out each year who go on to have successful rugby careers in the professional ranks. But Grey, since time immemorial the standard bearers of SA schoolboy rugby at all age groups, have quite possibly been overtaken by PRG since COVID. The two Interschools in the mud in Stellenbosch in 2022 and 2024 proving to be a harrowing experience for a school that seldom loses a game, at any level.
In 2022, PRG didn’t lose a single game in the juniors and their 1st XV dispatched Grey comfortably. This year, PRG won 24 out of 28 games, proving that Grey College just cannot play in the wet and find the transition from bone-dry fields in Bloem to the wet in the Western Cape winter a code they simply cannot crack. It is hardly a ‘crisis’ in Bloemfontein as none their four main sides (14A, 15A, 16A, 1st XV) finished outside the Top 3 in 2024 – the production line of talent keeps rolling apace. But they did feel the need to hold an inquest of sorts and resorted to bringing old boy and SA Rugby legend Morné du Plessis in to placate the stakeholders.
For the first time in ages, the Free State selectors could select the entire Grey 1st XV for the province, such was the number of players of colour they had in the backline. This helped them reach the unofficial ‘final’ where WP outplayed them on the day, exposing some of their ‘stars’ as TikTok Warriors and without the substance needed to play top level rugby.
They had four players in the SA Schools side and two in the SA Schools ‘A’ side. Heinrich Theron, the brilliant lock was injured for Craven Week but was called up to the SA u18 group for the u18 International Series.
Grey started the season with their usual tune-ups against local opposition In the form of Trio and Welkom Gim before heading to Noord-Suid. They pumped KES by 50 in their first clash and then everyone knows what happened against Jeppe.
You feared for Outeniqua, who faced Grey next after the Jeppe embarrassment, and they were well and truly put to the sword as Grey threatened to raise their bat, winning 92 - 3!
Grey continued this winning form through to their final game of the season, notching impressive wins over Paarl Gim, Affies and another massive score against Monnas along the way. There were some warning signs though, as they made heavy weather of wins over HJS and Grey High in Bloem, both sides taking the game to them and setting a blueprint for how to nullify their threats.
In a much anticipated clash to determine the #1 school in South Africa in 2024, Grey went down to Stellenbosch on a mission to stop PRG from achieving their first unbeaten season since 1991. Remarkably, Grey had achieved TWELVE unbeaten sides in this same period!! It was a horror show for Grey, who were without their three best players in AJ Meyer, Pieter van der Merwe and Ethan Adams and it showed. They left the Markotter with their tails between their legs and with much head-scratching for the off-season.
Grey will only have three 1st XV regulars back next year, but they will be complemented by a strong 2024 Cherries side and some good u16s who stood out at Grant Khomo. They always seem to unearth a massive, dynamic loose forward and are like the All Blacks of yesteryear, capable of going the length of the field to score from turnovers, and clinching late wins. AJ Meyer, the tyro 5 lock, is exceptional and together with Ethan Adams provide outstanding quality who will stroll into the SA Schools side in 2025. Their clash against PRG in Bloem at the end of next season will be box office.
Before then, Grey host the Global Schools Challenge, presented by NextGen XV, in December and this should give a few insights into some of the top runners and riders for 2025.
If we could get SuperSport Schools to rotate the commentators so that we are not subjected to Johan Smith commentating on his alma mater that would be GREAT! The man makes one’s ears bleed with his myopic views, and he eggs on his colleague Adri Hechter too. #mute
Grey College 2024 1st XV - Critique
Dian Venter
Venter played Emile McGeer out of the loosehead jersey early in the season and never relinquished it. A solid enough player, he perhaps owes his place in the team to seniority as Grey tend to pick matrics in their front row each year. He is off to Shimlas next year.
Liam van Wyk (c)
Van Wyk enjoyed a remarkable rise in his open years at Grey. Having played u16B hooker, he forced his way into the 1st XV starting lineup in 2023 and made the 2 jersey his own for two seasons. An excellent lineout thrower, dynamic in the loose and great at the breakdown, van Wyk can look back on a stellar schoolboy career as he contemplates life at the Sharks from 2025.
Danie Kruger
‘Boer’ played for the Cheetahs at every age group from u13, demonstrating excellent pedigree. Deputy Headboy, he is a top academic and seems a well-rounded individual who should bring a lot to the junior division as part of the 2025 WP cohort. He struggled on occasion this season in a Grey College pack that were not as overtly dominant as usual. Perhaps he can have some lessons with fellow Old Grey Neethling Fouche at HPC next year.
Heinrich Theron
Theron is a proper player! Groomed for success from an early age, he stood literally head and shoulders above his peers at Grant Khomo in Kimberley in 2022 and continued that trajectory in his two years as the enforcer in the Grey pack. He was ruled out for a number of games this year and missed Craven Week but that was never going to affect his path to the Bulls after school – a well trodden one indeed. He will play big rugby in the future.
AJ Meyer
There is plenty to like about AJ Meyer and he has already had the type of impact in the Grey pack that JF van Heerden had in his matric year in 2022. Again, Meyer is part of the Navigant stable, and he will almost certainly end up at the Bulls, especially considering that his brother Lukas is in Pretoria, captaining the Bulls u21 side. AJ has a far higher ceiling than Lukas though.
Xander Smit
The son of ex-Bok Philip Smit, Xander, like his brother Jean-Henri who is at the Sharks, has been shortchanged in the height department when one looks at his father. According to the Craven Week programme, he weights in at 88kg which is very generous. He plays to the ball like a classic fetcher and doesn’t shirk the physical side, but he struggles in collisions. He gets his hands out of the tackle well, promoting the offload. Varsity Cup may be his ceiling.
Juliun Cosmo
Grey always seem to produce a monster loose forward who runs like an outside back and looks like a lock. Cosmo came from nowhere to be one of the star performers every week for his side this year. Typical of the player that Wessel du Plessis loves to sign from Grey, he is athletic, mobile and physical and is a coup for the Bulls.
Liam Santos
Santos came to Grey from Limpopo and was excellent in u16. He faced stiff competition in the loose forwards last year and worked his way into the team as possibly the shortest No. 8 in Grey’s history this season. Very good at the breakdown, he was a solid player and another who could thrive at Varsity Cup but perhaps no further.
Philip McLaren
McLaren was highly rated by many keyboard warriors on social media this year, but he had a day to forget on the biggest stage against PRG which showed his fallibility. He has a crisp pass and gets to the breakdown quickly, but his kicking game is poor and it was exposed in the muddy conditions on Markotter, as was his temperament. At least he is a brave defender, which sets him apart from a lot of scrumhalves around the country.
Alzeadon Felix
At one stage this season I was sure that Gayton McKenzie was going to be called in to solve the ‘injustice’ of Felix being dropped from the SA Schools side to the SA u18 ‘A’ side. There may even been a case opened at the Human Rights Commission. Again, thankfully many ‘kenners’ of the schoolboy game were made to look foolish as he was mercilessly targeted and exposed as a fraud by PRG. Caught in possession leading to Samuel Badenhorst’s opening score, he also kicked the ball dead, threw a pass into touch and one of his kick-offs didn’t go the requisite 10m. He cannot and will not tackle and honestly, I fear for his physical safety going into senior age-group rugby. Off to the Lions in 2025 to add to their vast number of tiny backs in the junior sides.
Ruben Cilliers
Cilliers is a big winger but nothing I saw of him made me think he will go far in the game. He was solid on defence when he needed to be but follows a list of Grey 11s since COVID that have just been average.
Pieter van der Merwe
Van der Merwe played u13 Craven Week for the Cheetahs as a hooker, before moving to the side of the scrum in high school, finally settling at 12. He is a crashball specialist, despite not being the biggest of schoolboys. He will need to expand his skillset as he moves to the Bulls in 2025 if he hopes to feature at URC level or higher in the future.
Ethan Adams
‘The Tank’ (cringe!) scored some brilliant tries this season as his strength and power from his wrestling background came to the fore. Deceptively quick for someone with such a short and stocky lower body, he was impossible to stop close to the line. Already weighing 105kg and only measuring 1.74m, how much bigger can he get before he loses his pace and becomes a block who is just a one-trick pony? He will be heavily marked in 2025.
Pretorius Ekeji
The definition of an athlete, Ekeji is massive for a schoolboy winger, already tipping the scales at just over 100kg. Like his brother Paschal, he is still raw, but he has all the physical attributes to make it at the top level. His defence isn’t terrible but he can be guilty of running too upright and his aerial skills need to improve to be taken seriously as a top-class winger. He joins the Stormers in 2025.
Heinz Stockenstrom
Stockenstrom was another who had his flaws exposed by PRG. A diminutive fullback who is not the bravest, he was run over by Matthew Kleyn on the wing for one of PRG’s tries and his ‘tackle’ effort on Samuel Badenhorst in the unofficial Craven Week ‘final’ was an instant red flag for me. He was at least a reliable goalkicker, but as he isn’t blessed with out and out pace there is lots of work for him to do at Shimlas next year if he wants to be a pro down the line. George Whitehead anyone?
NextGenXV 1st XV ranking: 3
Craven Week Reps: 19
NextGenXV u16A ranking: 2
Grant Khomo Reps: 26 haha