Grey College unbeaten at NextGenXV Fest

Hosts send out warning to rivals for 2025 as their dazzling backline stole the show

Ethan Adams ended a brilliant 2024 with more clips for his highlight reel.

Photo credit: Premier Interschools

Overview

The inaugural NextGenXV Global Schools Challenge was hosted by Grey College and the Premier Schools competition included Grey High, Oakdale, Strathallan School (Scotland), Denstone College (England) and an U18 invitational team from Hamilton Rugby Club competing on three matchdays between 14-18 December.

Grey College enjoyed an unbeaten run as they won all three of their games convincingly, with their exciting backline doing most of the damage as they scored 23 tries, conceding just two. Electric left wing Siyabonga Kenny was the tournament’s top scorer with five tries. Young centre O’Ryan Kleyn scored in all three games and was joined on three tries by No. 8 AJ Booysen.

Grey High beat Denstone College (England) and Strathallan School (Scotland) in their opening two games before coming unstuck against a physical Hamilton u18 side from Cape Town, going down in a 19 – 17 thriller on the final day. Utility back Meyer Prinsloo scored three tries in the week to be named in the Team of the Festival.

Oakdale kicked off the Festival on Saturday with a shock defeat to Strathallan, finding a half-time deficit of 17 - 0 too much to overcome. The men from Riversdale put things right with comfortable wins over Hamilton and Denstone in their other two games. Jacobus de Villiers, their young No. 8, was in fine form as he scored four tries.

Grey College review

The hosts were without two locks in SA Schools representative AJ Meyer and his likely 2025 1st XV lock partner in Claude Steyn, as well as Thristan Maree who should start at fullback next year, but they were far too strong for their opposition over their three games.

Forwards

They will have a small (by their standards) pack next year, but as always they are all incredibly mobile and powerful and link so well together and in concert with their backline. It is quite frightening to see the cohesion of their side in the second week of December!

The return of Meyer and Steyn should sort out their lineout issues and if Henru Erasmus (FS Grant Khomo No. 8 and SARU u16 EPD in 2024) wants to start at hooker, he will need to improve his throwing considerably in the coming months, but he has only just moved there from the back of the scrum so he will get better and probably offers more around the field than rival Tiaan Fourie.

David Hayidakis looks like a strong and agile loosehead who scored a cracker on Day 3, showing great hands and strength to carry two defenders over the line. The tighthead berth will be a shootout between Marinus Oosthuizen and JG Badenhorst - Grey normally go with their matric in the pack and my money would be on Oosthuizen to get the nod.

The loose forwards pick themselves in Xander Smit, Adem Nieuwoudt and AJ Booysen who form a solid combination that complement each other well in their high-tempo gameplan. Smit is all-action but a bit light at 1st XV level - he makes up for that in aggression and workrate. Nieuwoudt is a good ballcarrier, while Booysen is a classic, rangy Grey No. 8, blessed with skill and speed.

Backline

Their backline was deadly all week - they have threats everywhere you look and any set piece in the opposition 22m spells trouble. Sherwin Buys looks to be ahead of Bernard Wessels at 9 with his superior pass and at 10 I think we might have the SA Schools flyhalf in Jan Hendrik van der Linden who kicks like a mule and has a real physical presence, especially when taking the ball to the line.

Ethan Adams is unstoppable and will be heavily marked, which only creates more space for players around him. Adams’s centre partner could be O’Ryan Kleyn who had a brilliant week, scoring in every game - impressive for an u16, playing two years above his age group! Siyabonga Kenny is a deadly finisher on the left wing - SA Schools also beckons for him. On the other wing I think Lamla Mgedezi would be unreal. His counter-attacking from fullback in the Festival was mindblowing, beating defenders for fun. He isn’t the biggest and could get exposed in 2025 at the back and Thristan Maree is likely to be their 15.

They will be a fearsome prospect on dry fields! Kick on their back three at your peril.

Day 1 v Hamilton u18 (40 - 7)

In their opening game of the festival, they took a while to get going against Hamilton u18 but came through in a dominant second half display, the highlight of which was Ethan Adams' double Hand of God on two hapless defenders who must be grateful they don’t have school next year to be ridiculed by schoolmates on TikTok.

Only leading 7 - 0 at half time owing to several elementary errors, the Grey backs got going in the second half as their vastly superior fitness showed, running the ball from deep and making defenders look silly one-on-one. Jan Hendrik van der Linden underlined his status as the potential SA Schools 10 in 2025 with a commanding display that included 5 conversions and two tries as he took the ball to the line effectively, using his powerful frame.

Day 2 v Denstone College (62 - 0)

Grey humiliated Denstone College from England to the tune of 62 - 0. In terms of the Festival rules, the game should have been blown at 50 - 0 but Grey are ruthless so they played on. If there wasn't a 30-minute break for lightning to disrupt their rhythm it could have been much more. Denstone never looked like scoring and their clutch of Leicester Tigers u18 representatives were put to the sword. The scrums were wild as all four Grey props gave their opponents a lesson in the art of scrummaging as they sent them back at a rate of knots, scrumming well beyond the 1.5m allowed at school level.

Adams scored his obligatory try off a short line from a lineout, but Siyabonga Kenny stole the show on Day 2 with a hattrick, his pace and step proving far too much for the hapless Denstone defence.

Day 3 v Strathallan School (43 -5)

In the final game of the Festival, Grey again bullied UK opponents up front, especially at scrum time on their way to a commanding win against a side with a handful of Scotland u18 representatives. Grey took a 21 - 0 lead into the break but didn’t have it all their own way. Strathallan had FOUR lineouts on the 5m line and lost all of them. You just cannot do that against Grey!

The second half was dominated by Grey as Kenny scored a brace but Strathallan did get a consolation in the second half with a try after some concerted pressure in the red zone. The game was blown three minutes short as Grey were denied the chance to raise another half century.

Grey High review

Grey High took a very young squad to Bloemfontein as they sought to try out combinations and test some players against boys two years older than them. There were some nice signs in the opening win over Denstone College as they fronted up to a much bigger pack, but in the second game they played some braindead stuff against Strathallan, needing a very late try to win it. Playing in their 22m with a gale at their back was bewildering.

Their final game against a very big and physical Hamilton u18 side, who had several Craven Week reps, was a bit of a shocker as they went off piste and played completely the wrong game when faced with a pack so much bigger than them. It was encouraging that they problem solved their early scrum troubles as the game wore on but were too wasteful as they threw away a flurry of chances at the end to pull off another late win.

Despite the defeat, valuable lessons were (hopefully) learnt and there could even be a new starting loosehead out of a guy who started the tour as an understudy lock! If John Els can shore up his scrumming and continue with his impressive ballcarrying Grey could be onto something here. Meyer Prinsloo was good in the first two games but a terrible error in his 22m led to a try and he was incredibly selfish at the death when going for glory which cost his side. Grey were the smallest side at the Festival and will need to play a quicker tempo and move teams around in 2025.

Oakdale review

The shock of the week was the much-fancied Oakdale side going down to Strathallan in the opening game of the Festival. Oakdale were woeful in the first half as they gave up a 17 - 0 deficit and although they took the lead briefly in the second period (22 - 17), too many errors and penalties meant a surprise reverse first up for the farmers. They were much improved in their next two games as they looked to play more direct rugby with their massive pack of forwards dictating terms.

Kai Pratt is a monster on the loosehead. His scrummaging is solid as his defence but his ballcarrying is where he comes into his own. He has an unbelievable fend and will be tough to stop in 2025. Diaan Augustyn, the giant 4 lock who is still u16 was lethal in collisions, but needs to improve his workrate. If he sheds a few kilograms in the off season he will be a huge asset for this side. Jacobus de Villiers, another u16, fully deserved his place in the Team of the Festival. He scored four tries and was involved in everything. Just like his brother Paul, he has a real jackal threat too and a lot should be expected of him next year. Even at 16, he was winning collisions against boys two years older than him.

In the backs, Lee-Winn Pretorius is a hard-running wing who, if given the opportunity, could get a lot of tries next year. The same can be said for his teammate on the other wing, Wayne Ganniwa who looks to be a deadly finisher and can look forward to two years of 1st XV rugby. Fullback Reinhardt Viljoen loves contact far too much but he is a good player. His low centre of gravity makes him hard to stop when he comes into the line and he has deceptive pace when given space at the back. He needs to be more reliable with his line kicks.

Oakdale will be a tough nut to crack as always in Riversdale and if they can improve their conditioning in the pack, then they could have a magic year in 2025.

Results

Day 1

Oakdale 22 - 24 Strathallan School (Scotland)

Grey College 40 - 7 Hamilton u18

Grey High 31 - 19 Denstone College (England)

Day 2

Grey College 62 - 0 Denstone College (England)

Grey High 17 - 14 Strathallan School (Scotland)

Oakdale 41 - 17 Hamilton u18

Day 3

Grey High 15 - 17 Hamilton u18

Oakdale 33 - 7 Denstone College (England)

Grey College 43 - 5 Strathallan School (Scotland)

Team of the Tournament

1 Kai Pratt (Oakdale)

2 Evan Mucka (Grey High)

3 Marinus Oosthuizen (Grey College)

4 Marcus Lee (Hamilton u18)

5 Fin Charles (Denstone College)

6 Xander Smit (Grey College)

7 Bertie Wood (Strathallan School)

8 Jacobus de Villiers (Oakdale)

9 Jandrian Goosen (Oakdale)

10 Finlay Anderson (Strathallan School)

11 Siyabonga Kenny (Grey College)

12 Meyer Prinsloo (Grey High)

13 Ethan Adams (Grey College)

14 Luc de Villiers (Grey High)

15 Lamla Mgedezi (Grey College)