Jake White and I

Thanks to Global Trading for their generous sponsorship, five of the High School coaches attended the Jake White’s Winning Ways Coaches Academy. The academy held at Paul Roos in Stellenbosch over three days and nights was the first of a number of courses being held around the country for the coaches of rugby. The lectures included Dr Sherylle Calder two time World Cup medal holder on visual performances, former springbok physiotherapist Clint Readhead, Balie Swart on scrumming techniques ,Dr Henning Gericke on the psychology of the game, Prof Derik Coetzee on all aspects of players’ conditioning, also Discovery and nutrition. Then drills, skills and lectures by the experts Eddie Jones and Jake White rounded off each night.

The lectures included practical demonstrations with question and answer time from all present. Balie Swart making use of our coaches Tim Rawbone and Brad van der Westhuizen in a scrum coaching demonstration.


Congratulations and our best wishes go to the three players that made the Western Province Academy team, Rajn Smid as lock, Joel Carew as loosehead prop and Justin Filies as left wing. Once again our school has also produced a Craven Week player with hooker Gary Topkin representing Western Province in the Craven week being held in East London in July. Gary scored his first try against the Boland Craven side on Tuesday in a friendly warm-up match which saw province run out victorious by over 50 points. The players will be training and playing matches for their province leading up to the weeks and will therefore be unavailable for selection for their school sides against Bishops 20 June 11:20 , and the Cape Schools week being played at SACS against Grey 27 June 12:00 , Selbourne 29 June 09:00 and Muir 1 July 12:00.

Although this is a blow to the team, we are pleased that they have been recognised by the province. This also offers opportunities for players who have been on the edge of 1st Xv rugby getting an opportunity to play at the highest level.

As we hit the mid season break, it is good to look back at the performances of our teams and revisit areas that we feel need attention. The senior teams have performed well and have shown their strength against all opposition, our u16 and 15 age groups battled flu and injury to maintain a winning edge and will have the coaches working extra hard to produce positive growth and winning skills with the players available come the new term.

The sponsorship of a new scrumming machine by old boy Denis Nic will ease the load on the larger machine and can be used on fields as a teaching device as it is designed to ski on the grass rather than dig into the turf. Teams can now practice running their backlines off the machine as well as teaching the eighth-man, flanks and scrum-half how to work the hinge or vacuum area around the scrum.

Once again the Impact Concussion programme has shown its worth over the high school’s examination period as doctors were able to have data to assist their diagnosis of player’s concussion in games. Player’s exam scripts and marks are carefully analysed by staff in the case of a boy suffering from concussion.

A gentle request from the coaches is that the parents watching the games comment about their own son’s performance and refrain from negative comments and shouting at the players from the side-line. We ask that parents watch their own child and when they come off the field win or lose, comment on their own performance, stressing and emphasising their positive play. The game is hard enough without parents slating a player’s poor performance.