Grey College begin quest to retain #1 spot

Bloemfontein side begin their season at President Steyn Rugby Day against Trio

Ethan Adams on one of his trademark runs in 2024 against Paarl Gim.

Photo credit: Premier Interschools

After two shocking results for the proud Grey College 1st XV in 2024, some navel-gazing in Bloem occurred, and they even brought in famous alumnus Morné du Plessis to speak to their stakeholders after their disastrous set of results against Paul Roos in Stellenbosch to end their season. The wet fields of the student town have been their kryptonite on two consecutive visits now since COVID. The record 36-3 defeat at the hands of the Maroon Machine was as surprising to schoolboy followers as their loss to Jeppe at Noord-Suid at the start of the season. They get a chance for redemption at the same tournament this year, but have to play that fixture on Markotter, not their favourite venue!

Grey have been the standard bearers of SA schoolboy rugby since democracy and will begin their quest to retain what they feel is their rightful place as #1 in the country on Saturday when they face Trio at the President Steyn Rugby Day in Bloemfontein. The Cherries will be in action in one of the curtain raisers when they take on Sentraal.

Grey were able to test out combinations and get an idea of their best XV with the NextGen XV Festival held on their campus in December. They won their three matches comfortably, without their expected 2025 lock duo of AJ Meyer and Claude Steyn. Their scrum was particularly impressive, as was their pace out wide with Siyabonga Kenny and Lamla Mgedezi proving tough to stop on the hard fields of Bloem in summer.

They will have an inexperienced pack this year, with only Meyer and Xander Smit returning from the 2024 side. They do have power in the front row and it will be interesting to watch Henru Erasmus as he moves from an excellent No. 8 at u16 level to the hooking berth - how will his throwing go? Joining Smit in the loose trio will be AJ Booysen and Adem Nieuwoudt, two great junior players who earned their stripes in the Cherries last year.

In the backs, there will be a tussle between Bernard Wessels and Sherwin Buys for the scrumhalf shirt, as they look to feed one of the early contenders for the SA Schools 10 shirt in JH van der Linden, the burly flyhalf who impressed in the unbeaten Cherries side last year. He has a massive boot and his accuracy in linekicking is impressive for a schoolboy. He is tough to stop when he takes the ball to the line and he should see plenty of front foot ball in the coming months.

Some questions for those outside the halfbacks. Who will they select to partner Ethan Adams in midfield? Thristan Maree or O’Ryan Kleyn? Will Mgedezi play on the wing with Kenny on the other? Is Toriq Schambreel the answer at fullback?

As usual, Grey have a gradual build up to Noord-Suid, with two chilled hitouts against Trio and Welkom Gim before their season proper starts on 15 March in what promises to be a physical tussle with Oakdale at home. In their final tune up for Noord-Suid, they travel to Krugersdorp to face Monnas, who have new faces at the helm in Reinhard Gerber and Jannie du Plessis.

On paper, Grey have a comfortable Noord-Suid - Noordheuwel (Dud factory) and Jeppe. On their return to annual fixtures, they make the trip to George to face Outeniqua who will surely still be smarting from nearly taking 100 last year!

At ABSA Wildeklawer they also have kind fixtures in the form of Helpmekaar and Garsfontein.

Key to Grey’s hopes of going unbeaten is the fact that three of their four ‘test’ matches are at home this year - Paarl Gim, Affies and Paul Roos. Their match in Paarl against HJS on the second weekend of May should be a humdinger.

Outside of these, their annual clashes with traditional Eastern Cape rivals Selborne and Grey High are likely to be routine wins.

I have already circled 16 August in the diary as a clash to be witnessed in person when Paul Roos make the trek to Bloem in what could be the coronation of the unofficial champion side of 2025.