Another top 10 in 2022

 

I once heard former Springbok coach Nelie Smith say that when he was a Springbok selector, once they had chosen the Bok team, they would pick another team from the players left out that could quite possibly beat their selection – and then relook at their choices.

In that spirit, and because my recent blog listing 10 schools sport highlights that stood out for me in 2022 got quite a nice response, here are another 10 that could well be better than my originals.

In chronological order:

1 In March there was a function at Jeppe to mark the end of Mike Bechet’s reign as 1^st team cricket coach. He was in charge of 1033 1^st team games in all, at Jeppe and Maritzburg College. He was the epitome of an old-school teacher-coach: stern, uncompromising and altogether ethical. But ever-caring about the players in his charge.

2 In May the racing lanes at Roodeplaat Dam were completely cleared of Water Hyacinth. It took a massive effort by the rowing community, over many months to get there. There was talk at one stage that there will never be rowing there again, yet in November the Gauteng Champs were held there. Quite amazing!

3 I attended the Golden Lions Craven Week capping ceremony in June. The team captain, Xander Schoeman, and the Lions senior provincial captain, Reinhard Nothnagel made speeches. They are both Monument boys and it showed. Their talks were based on the solid values you need to succeed as a rugby player, and as a man. They say good people make good rugby players – these two will go a long way.

4 The Craven Week was on again and the “final” was as good as any I’ve seen. Western Province beat the Blue Bulls 29-21 in a great advert for the game. It was WP’s 6^th “title” in 11 years and their stars, for a change, came from Southern Cape Town, not from Paarl.

5 At that same Craven Week, King Edward’s Thabang Mphafi was selected for the SA Schools side. He was the captain of the KES 1^st team and the school’s deputy head boy. He was at the school on a TAG Foundation bursary and would probably not have reached those heights if he had stayed at school in Welkom, where he came from. I’m not a fan of recruitment of rugby players by schools, but some programmes are more than just about results. TAG is one of those.

6 In July I watched the Jeppe vs Parktown derby. It’s Parktown’s centenary in 2023 and their theme is that they are not done yet. Jeppe won the hockey and rugby games quite comfortably, but they lost the spirit-in-the-stands war, and I’d say the politeness and charm of the boys on the day contest ended even. From what I saw Parktown is certainly not done yet.

7 The St David’s Challenge Cup football tournament was back in August. Norkem Park were beaten 1-0 by Jeppe in the final, but they made lots of friends over the weekend. It’s a development success story, a school programme supported by the community that it’s in, attracting talent and providing top coaching. The boys sang and danced and added energy, and they just never went away, in any of their games.

8 The very next weekend, St David’s hosted its Time Cricket festival and, this year, the teams played two two-day games each. St David’s director of cricket, Dave Nosworthy, is adamant that cricket skills and tactics are best taught in longer forms of the game and that the obsession with limited overs cricket is detrimental to the development of good players. You can’t argue with that.

9 In September there were three St Stithians old boys – Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder and Ryan Rickelton – in the South African cricket side that played England. Saints continues to breed international players – there is one in the current Ireland team and there was another in the Holland team that dumped us out of the T20 World Cup. Only one of the three is in Australia at the moment. Perhaps the other two should have been too.

10 Vlado Trninic coached the Gauteng U19 boys team to victory at the SA Schools tournament in December. It was his last provincial assignment. A few weeks before, at the province’s capping ceremony, a procession of the players he has coached at Easterns, St John’s College, OJ Eagles and Gauteng paid tribute to him. They included many internationals. The remarkable thing was that, almost to a man, they spoke of the impression he had made on them outside of the pool more than about what he taught them in it. That’s the mark of a good coach. He’ll be missed.

Ten of my school sports highlights of 2022

1 Let’s get the hardy perennials out of the way up front: St Benedict’s won the boys competition at the SA Schools rowing championships at Germiston Lake (Roodeplaat was hyacinth-choked) for the 28^th consecutive year in March, and ….

2 Northcliff High school won the Joburg co-ed schools A league athletics interhigh for the 24^th time in a row. There are still no contenders in sight for either of them.

3 The Easter Rugby festivals were on again, which was in itself a highlight. I was at KES, and what stood out for me was the Queens College old boys standing in a torrential downpour, singing their songs from the 1^st whistle to the last.

4 The Jeppe vs KES rugby double header derby clash is always special, but the 1^st meeting this year really stands out. It was thriller, won 27-26 in the last minute by KES. There were 22 black players across the two teams and the standard of rugby was fantastic, a triumph for successful transformation.

5 The Aitken Trophy final this year ended four hours after it began, due to lightning 1^st, then loadshedding. Jeppe scored in the final second to beat St Stithians 2-1, their 6^th consecutive title. What I’ll remember, though, was the sight of the Saints players going across to applaud the Jeppe supporters after the game ended.

6 The U13 Craven Week was at Monument in Krugersdorp and it was great to attend it again. The Golden Lions beat Boland in the “main game” after defeating Western Province on the second last day – the 1^st time WP had lost a game at the week in 10 years.

7 I was at a special event at KES in October. It was a farewell evening for Tutty Faber who has hung up his whistle after coaching at the school for 40 years. He has been an incredible servant to King Edward in number of different roles. It will be hard to imagine the place without him.

8 St Dominic’s School of Boksburg lost 10-8 to St Stithians in the final of the Saints stayers tournament in November, after beating Roedean 4-3 in the semifinals. It’s been remarkable story of improvement. I remember not too many years ago when they were cannon fodder at the Roedean tournament, just making up the numbers, really.

9 Central Gauteng won the boys and girls U19 titles at the SA Schools water polo tournament in Durban in December, and took the overall title, ahead of Western Province who have dominated this event for the last 10 years.

10 The year ended for me with a week in Stellenbosch at the Khaya Majola cricket week. There was no week in 2020 and I missed 2021 because of Covid. It was great to be back at the world’s greatest school cricket festival – it keeps that title, only just, despite some serious cutbacks in the production due to CSA’s financial woes. And there can be no better setting it for than between the Eerste River and the Hottentots-Holland mountains at the Maties’ Coetzenberg complex.

KES moves into 2nd spot on SA Schools cricket caps list

 

The South African Schools and Colts teams were announced at the end of the Khaya Majola Week in Stellenbosch on Sunday. In previous years, they would have played each other on the day after the festival ended, but that practice was dropped last year because of the Covid regulations in place and it was continued this year, along with the reduction to four days of play, to cut costs.

 Times are tough, clearly, but the changes have undeniably devalued the week and they threaten its status as arguable the best school-level interprovincial tournament in the world and South Africa’s strategic edge in youth development.

 That said, there are some very talented players in the ranks of the two teams named.

 Over the years, the majority of South African Schools players have come from a relatively small number of schools and the selection of Liam Alder of King Edward VII School takes the Johannesburg School into second sport on the list with 17 caps, ahead of St St Stithians and Grey College, who have both produced 16 SA Schools players since unification in 1994.

 Grey High School still tops the list on 24. They had no SA Schools selections this year.

 The top 10 schools are: Grey High School – 24, 2 King Edward 17, Grey College – 16, St Stithians – 16, Rondebosch – 13, Affies – 11, Wynberg – 12, St Andrew’s College – 11, DHS – 9, Hudson Park – 9, Maritzburg College, St John’s and Glenwood – 8.

 South African Schools

Juan James (Wynberg Boys’ High, Western Province, captain), Liam Alder (King Edward VII, Central Gauteng Lions), Jake Carstens (Hilton College, KwaZulu-Natal Inland), Nathan Jacobs (New Orleans Secondary, Boland), Tristan Luus (Hoërskool Waterkloof, Titans), Kwena Maphaka (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions), Bongile Mfunelwa (Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Province), Jason Muirhead (St Charles’ College, KwaZulu-Natal Inland), Romashan Pillay (Westville Boys’ High, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Ludwich Schuld (Hoër Volkskool Potchefstroom, North West), Richard Seletswane (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions), Liyema Waqu (SACS, Western Province).

 South African Schools Colts

Thebe Gazide (St Stithians College, Central Gauteng Lions, captain), Christiaan du Toit (Hoërskool Waterkloof, Titans), Maahir Joseph (Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Province), Ontlametse Kesiamang (Northern Cape High, Northern Cape), Christopher King (St John’s College, Central Gauteng Lions), Gerhardus Maree (Grey College, Free State), Leketa Dakalo (St Andrew’s School, Free State), Johnathan Muller (Grey College, Free State), Riley Norton (Paul Roos Gimnasium, Boland), Bonga Shezi (Durban High School, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Khayelihle Sithole (St Benedicts College, Easterns),      Bhamji Suleman (Laudium Hub, Titans)

 Western Province won the “main game” of the week on Sunday, beating KwaZulu-Natal Inland by 146 runs. This was WP’s 1^st victory in the week’s unofficial final since 2019. They have played in it seven times since 2012.

Summarised Scores- Day 4 

Western Province 218 (Bongile Mfunelwa 66, Juan James 38, Maahir Joseph 30; Jake Carstens 3/38, Matthew Urquhart 2/13, Ross Boast 2/36); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 72 (Jake Carstens 15; Asakhe Tsaka 4/19, Liyema Waqu 2/14). Western Province won by 146 runs.

 Titans 141 (Tristan Luus 39, Leo Sadler 34; Christopher King 4/25, Liam Alder 2/22, Kyle Glennostor 2/26); Central Gauteng Lions 144/3 (Thebe Gazide 40, David Teeger 39, Richard Seletswane 24, Reuben du Toit 24*; Tristan Luus 2/18). Central Gauteng Lions won by seven wickets.

 KwaZulu-Natal 205/9 (Mohamed Taqvi 48, Sagel Rajakumar 47*, Ross Montgomery 43; Nathan Jacobs 3/40, Riley Norton 2/31); Boland 209/8 (William September 55, Werner Brand 43*, Josh Jordaan 26, Gysbert Wege 23; Mohamed Taqvi 2/19, Ryan Jairaj 2/31). Boland won by two wickets.

 Free State 252 (Gerhard Maree 87, Samokelo Lepheto 66, Joe Meyer 45; Rico Fryer 3/43, Martin Bullock 3/53); North West 174 (Bathabile Masigo 32, Rico Fryer 28, Ludwich Schuld 21, Martin Bullock 21, Dewald du Plessis 20; Dakalo Leketa 5/33, Khanyisile Nondwangu 2/55). Free State won by 78 runs.

 Easterns 267 (Khayelihle Sithole 97, Kyle Enoch 27, Dewan Marais 26, Tian du Toit 26, Extras 22; Marno Coetzee 3/22, Gopolang Makitise 3/75, Naziel Adams 2/18); Northern Cape 238 (Naziel Adams 55, Jody Barends 53, Ontlametse Kesiamang 45, Extras 31, Deshwin Swartz 30; Tian du Toit 3/33, Luphumlo Mhlongo 2/38, Jeandré Byleveld 2/47). Easterns won by 29 runs.

 Eastern Province 208 (Casey Keevy 51, Corby van Heerden 41, Simnikile Soyaya 31, Matthew Beamish 31; Zandré Conradie 4/39, Ziano Lewis 2/40); Garden Route Badgers 188/7 (Zander Nel 61*, Thurstin Murphy 38*, Keenan Arries 29, Elro Spies 20; Lisa Numba 3/32, Aphiwe Mnyanda 2/31). Eastern Province won by 20 runs.

 Limpopo 96 (Nlovo Sithole 33; Awangile Twani 5/14, Lesego Botha 2/15); Border 97/8 (Tre Gilbert 23*, Extras 22, Uzubenathi Kene 20; Ntemi Madimola 4/18). Border won by two wickets.

 Namibia Cheetahs 132 (Jack Parker 45, Zacheo van Vuuren 21; Curtleigh Koetzee 4/28, Rickus Kramm 2/22, Quinlan Visagie 2/38); Mpumalanga 101 (Jayden Schultz 26, Hannes Feuth 25; Gerhard Janse van Rensburg 5/29). Namibia Cheetahs won by 31 runs.

 Border Kei 45 (Extras 13; Junior Kariata 3/5, Francois du Plessis 3/6, Nico Pieters 2/9, Addo Iita 2/25); Namibia Welwitchias 46/1 (SW Kuhn 28*; Myekwa Sibonisiwe 1/16). Namibia Welwitchias won by nine wickets.

 

 

 

Its a WP vs KZN Inland Khaya Majola "main" game

 

The Khaya Majola Week ends in Stellenbosch today with Western Province meeting Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland on the main field – the Coetzenberg Oval at Maties – in the “main game” of the week.

 It will be the week’s unofficial final, although it’s a festival, and there isn’t supposed to be an overall winner. Although there was a period, from 1996 to about 2001, when the, then, Coke Week was a limited-overs knockout tournament, played in two sections with cross-pool playoffs, semi-finals and a final, a winner’s trophy, and classification games all the way down to last position. That later changed and the week reverted to the festival format, with the only prize (apart for SA Schools and Colts selection) being a spot in that final game.

 It was also decided to introduce other formats – time cricket and T20 – so a knockout tournament wasn’t possible.

 This year, it has been a four day festival of 50-over games only, so it could have been a tournament. It sort of panned out that way. The second day was washed out, so those results were disregarded and on the basis of the 1^st day results, WP met Northwest and KZN Inland played the Central Gauteng Lions, with the winners going though to the showpiece fixture.

 The Lions were the defending champions, having beaten the Titans in Potch last year, and they have been in more “finals” than anyone else, including eight times in the last 11 years. They aren’t there this year, though, and few can argue that WP and Inland don’t deserve to be the finalists.

 The fixtures for the final day are:

Western Province vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland (Maties A, Coetzenberg Oval); Central Gauteng Lions vs Titans (Maties B, Tassies Oval); Boland vs KwaZulu-Natal Coastal (Paul Roos Gim); North West vs Free State (Maties C); Northern Cape vs Easterns (Maties D); Garden Route Badgers vs Eastern Province (Van der Stel); Border vs Limpopo (Distell); Namibia Cheetahs vs Mpumalanga (Bridgehouse); Namibia Welwitschias vs Border Kei (Spes Bona).

It's been an unusual week as far as individual performances go. It certainly hasn’t been the runfest we have been accustomed to. There was one hundred made on Saturday – exactly 100 by Romashan Pillay of KZN Coastal against Easterns – and a further four half centuries, making it just three centuries going into the final day, although half a day was lost to the rain. The wickets were always going to be low and slow, and the howling wind on day one didn’t help. Then the rain on Friday slowed the outfields down on Saturday making run-scoring even more difficult.

 There will, we hope, be some sparkling performances on the final day.  

Summarised Scores – Day 3

Northwest 85 (Dewald du Plessis 37; Liyema Waqu 4/38, Abdullah Bayoumy 2/9, Cameron Fraser 2/24); Western Province 87/5 (Maahir Joseph 31, Juan James 27; Samuel Bobraine 2/19, Paballo Madisa 2/42). Western Province won by five wickets. 

Boland 173/9 (William September 41, Nathan Jacobs 38*, Riley Norton 28; Leo Sadler 3/22, Tristan Luus 2/56); Titans 174/3 (Christiaan du Toit 77, Bhamji Suleman 72*; Riley Norton 3/37). Titans won by seven wickets.

Central Gauteng Lions 157 (Thebe Gazide 34, Neil Timmers 28, Richard Seletswane 20; Nathan Beaumont 3/20, Matipa Denenga 2/18); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 161/5 (Jason Muirhead 76, Jake Carstens 44*; Kwena Maphaka 3/39). KwaZulu-Natal Inland won by five wickets.

KwaZulu-Natal Coastal 220/5 (Romashan Pillay 100, Aryan Gopalan 42, Evan Fouché 31; Martin Khumalo 3/42); Easterns 148 (Simele Maye 44, Jeandré Byleveld 35; Sagel Rajakumar 2/10, Ryan Jairaj 2/11, Aryan Gopalan 2/23). KwaZulu-Natal Coastal won by 72 runs.

Free State 205/9 (Foster Lubbe 68, Khanyisile Nondwangu 31, Thabiso Nkoe 27*, Samokelo Lepheto 27; Simnikile Soyaya 3/39, Aphiwe Mnyanda 2/43); Eastern Province 103 (Casey Keevy 38, Ashley Ostling 22; Johnathan Muller 4/13, Foster Lubbe 2/13, Dakalo Leketa 2/17). Free State won by 102 runs.

Border 135 (Tre Gilbert 62, Ryan Denston 23; Kamvalihle Qusheka 2/5, Liyabonga Malefi 2/6, Charl-Francois Marais 2/13, Ewald de Jager 2/21, Thurstin Murphy 2/24); Garden Route Badgers 111 (Thurstin Murphy 32, Extras 27, Liyabonga Malefi 26; Tyler Stagg 3/25, Ryan Denston 2/23). Border won by 24 runs.

Mpumalanga 102 (Sphumelelo Madonsela 21, Hannes Feuth 21, Extras 20; Tumiso Seetelo 4/23, Monnapule Jansen 2/13, Paseka Jonker 2/24); Northern Cape 105/3 (Igsaan Alexander 43, Kgotso Motlwai 37). Northern Cape won by seven wickets.

Namibia Welwitchias 104 (Jandré Botha 25; Khaif Patel 2/4, Ntemi Madimola 2/16, Masilo Moremi 2/18, Gideon Goosen 2/43); Limpopo 105/5 (Shelton Ngobeni 45; Nico Pieters 2/21, Ben Burger 2/22). Limpopo won by five wickets.

Namibia Cheetahs 254 (JC Balt 70, Gerhard Janse van Rensburg 54, Extras 34, Hansie de Villiers 24; Esam Mpafa 5/60, Faiz Shaik 2/39); Kei 114 (Ntsika Ngqukumba 26, Extras 29, Thabiso Rebert 20*; PD Blignaut 3/11, JC Balt 3/22, Dirkie Theunissen 2/8). Namibia Cheetahs won by 140 runs. 

 

 

The rain came down at the Khaya Majola Week, and the makers of plans got going

 

The 2^nd day’s play at the Khaya Majola Week in Stellenbosch was called off at about 12 noon on Friday when the heavens opened up. It’s not supposed to rain in the Western Cape at this time of the year, I’m told, but it certainly did, and it was a downpour to rival those we’ve had on the Highveld in the last week or two.

The organisers eventually sent the boys back to the hotel at lunchtime , with instructions to be ready to return within 30 minutes ,should it clear up. They want the boys to play, at any cost, at these weeks, which is part of what makes them special.

The disruption brought challenges. The abandoned games couldn’t be used in the calculations when deciding who plays who – strength on strength – on the last two days, and the limited time out on the field has aggravated the headaches the selectors were facing anyway, having to pick SA Schools teams at a four day tournament.

In the background, plans were being made – the ground staff will be on post at 5am on Saturday to make sure the fields are playable come starting time, and the organisers are already contemplating shorter games than the scheduled 50-overs format, should the starts be delayed. And they were trying set up the best possible contests for day 3, even though no-one has played a lot of cricket yet.

Over the years, I’ve often likened the Khaya Majola Week to a military operation. Today I saw how it’s conducted. CSA’s manager of youth cricket, Niels Momberg, is the CO, stern and perfectionistic; the indefatigable Morgan Pillay, the week's permanent secretary, is his executive officer, making things happen, and the brilliant Hannes Nienaber - co-opted cricket fundi - is the head of intelligence – an endless source of statistics and historical context for them to base their decisions on.

It's the beating heart of the world greatest school cricket tournament, and it was something to behold.

Summarised scores Day 2 – All the games abandoned because of rain.

Eastern Province 126/0 (Zac Micklewright 65 not out, Ashley Ostling 54 not out), vs Boland.

Central Gauteng Lions 76/4 (Richard Seletswane 37 not out), vs Titans.

Garden Route Badgers 100/4 (Elro Spies 42), vs Namibia Welwitchias.

Limpopo 166/10 (Zack Duvenhage 61; Paseka Jonker 3/17), vs Northern Cape.

Free State 109/5 (Liam Dohery 24, Khanyisile Nondwanga 24), vs Kwa-Zulu-Natal Coastal.

Border 95/3 (Chloe Van Schoor 25), vs Namibia Cheetahs.

Western Province 145/2 (Maahir Joseph 69 not out, Meeka-eel Prince 38), vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland Inland

Mpumalanga 124/5 (Yalin Koul 42, Hannes Feuth 36 not out), vs  Border Kei

Northwest 188/3 (Dewald du Plessis 51 not out, Bathabile Masiga 54, Rico Fryer 42). vs Easterns

Saturday morning dawned clear and sunny in Stellenbosch. Praise be.

Today’s Fixtures

Titans vs Boland, Western Province vs North West, Central Gauteng Lions vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Free State vs Eastern Province, Easterns vs KwaZulu-Natal, Garden Route Badgers vs Border, Mpumalanga vs Northern Cape, Namibia Welwitschias vs Limpopo, Namibia Cheetahs vs Border Kei.

The Khaya Majola Week's in Stellenbosch and, aside from the weather, it's as good as it gets

 

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You’ve got to find something to complain about if you are from Joburg and you are watching cricket in what has to be the most spectacular setting for a cluster of fields anywhere in the world, even if it’s just the weather.

 I’m at the U19 Khaya Majola cricket week, which is being played mainly at the University of Stellenbosch, but also at other grounds in and around the historic town, including Bridge House in Franschoek – on my list of the most beautiful school sportsgrounds in the country.

 I spent the 1^st day at Maties on Thursday, and it was magnificent. You know that chequered pattern they achieve by criss-crossing the direction of mowing the grass? Apply that to the biggest lawn you have ever seen in your life. Then in the centre of each there’s a pristine square with those three sticks at each end that tell you this is the site of the special game (just like the circle in the middle of a field tells you it’s for the beautiful game), and you have an idea of what it looks like at ground level.

 But it’s up above that makes this place really special. The ground lies between the Eersterivier and the foothills of the Hottentots-Holland mountains and the Jonkershoek nature reserve and they are so close you can almost touch them. When compiling a list of the most beautiful places to watch sport, as I’ve done – see here -  the Western Cape has the unfair advantage of those mountain backgrounds, but at the Maties Coetzeberg complex they aren’t in the background, they’re right there!

 I took a walk around the edge of that vast lawn on Thursday and the ground starts rising just metres beyond the Southern boundaries of the of the main oval and the D fields, and the kloof vegetation starts there too. There were spectators on camping chairs in the shade of the trees there, between the pristine lawns and the craggy cliffs behind them.

 Which brings me to the weather. The worst conditions to be out and about in, when it’s not cold and raining, is when it’s stiflingly hot, or when the wind is blowing you off your feet. Guess what? We had both in Stellenbosch on Thursday. All day long.

 I’m carping, of course, it was great to be watching cricket at this level again, after one year off and one with no spectators due to Covid, Stellenbosch is as good a place as it gets for that.

 And there were players on day 1 who caught the eye. Potch Volkskool and Northwest batsman, Ludwich Schuld, was the standout. He made 119 not out, against a vaunted Easter Province attack, off just 95 balls, including 10 sixes and four 4s. He is certainly one to watch.

 There was one other hundred on the opening day – Ontlametse Kesiamang got 102 for Northern Cape against Border Kei. There were another six half centuries made on a day that generally belonged to the batsmen.

 There were two five wicket hauls – the Lions’.Kwena Maphaka took 5/36 in their win over KZN Inland, and Nsaka Mattye took 5/19 for Limpopo against the Garden Route Badgers (formerly SWD).

 The win for the Central Gauteng Lions over KZN Coastal, and Western Province’s 186-run victory over Free State meant that they are early front runners for spots in the unofficial final come Sunday.

 Summarised 1^st day scores

 Western Province 248 (Bongile Mfunelwa 91, Juan James 40, Fayaad Daniels 23, Extras 23, Jordan Neill 21; Jonathan Muller 3/39, Khanyisile Nondwangu 2/22, Sicelo Matayi 2/32); Free State 66 (Foster Lubbe 18; Asakhe Tsaka 2/13, Cameron Fraser 2/15, Fayaad Daniels 2/24). Western Province won by 182 runs.

 Central Gauteng Lions 181 (Richard Seletswane 49, Siya Radebe 38; Aryan Gopalan 2/8, Romashan Pillay 2/27, Bonga Shezi 2/40); KwaZulu-Natal 121 (Evan Fouché 35, Ryan Jairaj 28, Extras 28; Kwena Maphaka 5/36, Christopher King 3/17, Liam Alder 2/19). Central Gauteng Lions won by 60 runs.

 Eastern Province 187 (Russell Petersen 49, Olwakhe Goqorza 41, Ashley Ostling 25; Tumelo Makume 3/29, Corné Prinsloo 2/32, Martin Bullock 2/32); North West 190/3 (Ludwich Schuld 119*, Dewald du Plessis 43). North West won by seven wickets.

 Boland 225 (Cormey van der Watt 66, Nathan Jacobs 53, Thando Prusent 25; Extras 23; Dirkie Theunissen 2/25, Salamon Nuuyoma 2/37, Alex Volschenk 2/37); Namibia Cheetahs 94 (JC Balt 26; Thato Msizi 3/22, Cormey van der Watt 2/4, Riley Norton 2/8). Boland won by 131 runs.

 Titans 224/9 (Divan Engelbrecht 39, Steve Stolk 35, Tristan Luus 32*, Mohammed Aslam 28, Morati Lefhiedi 20; Matthew Urquhart 4/39, Ross Boast 2/59); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 225/8 (Jason Muirhead 62, Jonathan van Zyl 43, Matthew Urquhart 35*, Jake Carstens 25; Safwaan Sujee 2/32, Divan Engelbrecht 2/52). KZN Inland won by two wickets.

 Northern Cape 247/7 (Ontlametse Kesiamang 102, Extras 41, Marno Coetzee 27, Kgotso Motlwai 26; Harry Makuleni 2/43); Kei 59 (Extras 18; Jody Barends 4/10, Tumiso Seetelo 2/4). Northern Cape won by 188 runs.

 Garden Route Badgers 128 (Zander Nel 41, Extras 34; Nsuku Mattye 5/19); Limpopo 84 (Ruben Vosloo 27; Ewald de Jager 4/12, Charl-Francois Marais 2/14). Garden Route Badgers won by 44 runs.

 Namibia Welwitschia 146 (Simon Sikongo 31; Suhail Patel 4/44, Curtleigh Koetzee 3/11); Mpumalanga 147/3 (Jayden Scholtz 55*, Hannes Feuth 52*; Addo Iita 2/11). Mpumalanga won by seven wickets.

 Border 172 (Bradley de Kock 40, Tre Gilbert 33, Extras 33; Adam Kruger 2/8, Liphumlo Mhlongo 2/32, Tristan van Schalkwyk 2/47); Easterns 174/6 (Kyle Enoch 43, Khayelihle Sithole 42*, Extras 25, Dewan Marais 22). Easterns won by four wickets.

 Friday’s fixtures:

Western Province vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland, Central Gauteng Lions vs Titans, Boland vs Eastern Province, Namibia Cheetahs vs Border, Free State vs KwaZulu-Natal Coastal, Mpumalanga vs Border Kei, Northwest vs Easterns, Garden Route Badgers vs Namibia, Welwitchias, Northern Cape vs Limpopo,

Red cards aren't stopping the head to head contact

 

The 1^st round of matches in the Heineken Cup have led on from the Autumn Internationals, and URC before that, when it comes to red cards issued in head-to-head contact situations.

The decisions have been pretty consistent and the referees have learnt to use vocabulary and sentence structure that justifies their actions and conforms to the mandate put in place by World Rugby who insist on harsh sanctions and that the decisions are judged in isolation – context counts for nothing. The intentions of the offending player, the dynamics of the game situation and sheer bad luck, count for nothing. Bang a head and you’re gone!

Everyone seems to have come to terms with it. You are hearing the commentators and pundits say things like “the way the games being refereed – that’s a definite red.” And seeing that it’s being consistently applied, no team should be worse affected by the way it’s being blown than any other.

And it’s in the interests of player safety, we all know. The problem, of course is that the results of matches are being affected. The top coaches and teams are clearly adapting and working out 14-man game plans and we are seeing teams win despite receiving a red card. But in most cases, red-carding a player is effectively awarding the result to the other team.

The question is why is it still happening so often, given that the players know they aren’t going to get away with it, and that it’s probably going to cost their team the game? If World Rugby’s intention is to change player behaviour, they aren’t succeeding.

The answer has to be that it’s just about impossible, the way the game is being played now, to avoid these incidents. The players aren’t changing their behaviours because they can’t.

Take two other foul play situations which have become automatic red-card offences – the spear tackle and the taking out of a jumping player in the air. At some stage it was decided, in the interests of safety, to use red cards to remove them from the game. And it worked. You do still see them from time to time, but not nearly as frequently as you used to. The players have changed their behaviour - because they can. Kick-chasers are waiting for the catcher to touch the ground before tackling him; and tacklers are backing off when they meet no resistance and the opponent is about to be lifted and dumped.

So, why hasn’t it had the same effect in head-to-head contact? It’s because in the other situations some deliberate action was required commit the foul (almost always) and the player can deliberately not take that action. Not so with head contact. In almost every case the contact was unintentional. Sure, the tackler could have gone lower, but then he would be giving the ball carrier an invitation to offload. He’s doing his job, which in the modern game is to stop the momentum of the opponents and try to set up a turnover. He's certainly not going out to head butt anyone. Sometimes, in the process (and it happens in the wink of an eye), factors combine to create contact to the head. It’s then reviewed in slow motion, and it looks pretty bad on occasion.

That’s happening, and the red cards aren’t stopping it. We can keep on with the protocol, hoping that eventually it will work, but that’s a little bit insane (by Einstein’s definition). Games are being lost because of cards, the poor referees and TMOs are being made to look stupid, and the crowds are staying away from games in their thousands.

We can’t have players trying to decapitate each other, obviously. Now’s the time to for someone clever to come up with a solution that eliminates it without ruining the game. This one’s not working.