An amazing statistic to come out of the line-ups for this weekend’s clash between the Sharks and the Cheetahs: no fewer than 12 of the 44 players on show attended Grey College in Bloemfontein!
The front row seems to be the area that is best represented. Both starting props for the Cheetahs, Wian du Preez and CJ van der Linde attended Grey, while Sharks replacement prop Jannie du Plessis did as well. Amongst the hookers the percentage is even higher, with only Craig Burden flying the Maritzburg College flag. The family connections are also quite staggering here, with Free State duo Adriaan and Richardt Strauss (old Greys) cousins, while Sharks hooker Bismarck (an old Grey) is the brother of Jannie. Another member of the Strauss clan, Andries, who plays centre for the Sharks and is Richardt’s brother, is not in the squad this week. Quite predictably, he is also an alumnus of Grey College!
The only other forward in either squad to have attended Grey is Free State flanker Heinrich Brüssow.
Amongst the backs, it’s more of the same, with the Sharks boasting old-Greys in the form of Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn, while the Cheetahs have Falie Oelshig, Tewis de Bruyn and JW Jonker amongst their ranks. It seems as though front-rankers and halfbacks are the primary export from the school that, as far as I know, has produced more Bok representatives than any other.
Extending the net even wider to encompass those who attended school in Bloemfontein in general, we have a few more interesting names. Sharks skipper AJ Venter attended Louis Botha Tech, while Hendro Scholtz and Juan Smith attendended Voortrekker and JBM Hertzog respectively. Jean Deysel went to Hentie Cilliers in Virginia, which is also in the Free State, as is Vryburg, where Albert van den Berg matriculated.
The Sharks, of course, have a fair few players who attended top schools in Durban or Maritzburg, with Burden, BJ Botha, Brad Barritt, Waylon Murray all schooled in the Province. Cheetahs locks Rory Duncan and David de Villiers were also both educated in Natal.
Both teams have their fair share of imports as well. Schools in the Eastern Cape were responsible for producing Keegan Daniel, Ryan Kankowski, Rory Kockott, Odwa Ndungane, Conrad Barnard, Meyer Bosman, Steven Sykes and Bees Roux. The last two actually attended the same school: Marlow Agricultural College in Cradock. Bosman is a old boy of Oakdale, which is the same school that injured Shark Johann Muller attended. Hennie Daniller, Eddie Fredericks, Jongi Nokwe, Hendrik Meyer, Bevin Fortuin, Adi Jacobs and Stefan Terblanche make up the Western (and Southern) Cape contingent.
Barend Pieterse in the only Pretoria alumnus in either side, having attended Waterkloof Hoër, while JP Pietersen, Jacques Botes and Duanne Vermeulen were schooled in various parts of the former Transvaal Province.
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Anyone who’s awake will notice that we have only 1 guy in our starting lineup that was schooled in KZN…
Interesting, that…
Who cares?
All that matters is that the Sharks win big to keep their miniscule semi hopes alive.
Lets hope that Adi can gel with The One in midfield. I’m a huge Murray fan, but he has been as attacking as a Buddhist on Durban Poison.
Lets hope for a few miracles…
Anyone who is awake would notice that JPP was schooled in Stellenbosch. 🙄
Talk about a stats overload on a Friday afternoon… 🙄
No he wasn’t. He attended JBM Hertzog, which is in Witbank last time I checked.
sorry – I mean Generaal Hertzog.
A State of Origon Tournament would be well-contested between the E.Cape and Free State. Even the Bulls poach from those two areas.
Oh Baby Baby!
Whoops! We did it again 😉
And did Rory Duncan not go to school in PE?
Villie’s right. Duncan went to school in PE, but varsity & u21 ranks in Natal…
Yep…Le Req…and we let him slip the net. Geez…he would have come in handy this season with our shortage of locks!
Villie – admittedly, I took a bit of a gamble on that one. I couldn’t figure out where the hell he did go to school. SARugby.net lists it as “Telford College”… the only one I can find reference to is in Edinburgh.
Villie, what happened to your school boys the last 2 weeks? The boys are losing face in the Border.
aaaaah, but on doing some reearch I see that Rory Duncan was BORN in DURBAN….
Ollie,
We were unbeaten up until a few weeks ago. What happened? I’ve missed the last few results!
Keegan went to Dale College, Rory to Selborne? & Odwa, Hudson Park East London.
Kanko to St Andrews
And Bobo captained Dale first XV but as a FLANK!
Villie, they went down to Queens and Selborne. Apparently both matches were great to watch
why did I think Bobo went to Rondebosch?
yeah – he did go to Rondebosch. Villie, you’re not confusing him with Plaatjes, are you?
My dad went to Selborne. Was taught maths by Brent Russell’s Grandfather. Hated him (The grandfather, not Brent).
My dad went to Pretoria Boys High, just like me 😉
Villie, you actually are right. Bobo must have left Rondebosch before matric to go to Dale.
Nope…Bobo went to Dale, he was our captain and was a terrific flanker. I watched him loads of times. Plaatjies went to school in PE!
Really Ollie? I’m surprised they lost to Queens. They had a win against one of the BIG schools aswell….it was either Rondebosch or Wynberg. Can’t quite remember!
Queens – alma mater of both Dick Muir and our own Whindy
Bliksem, one really has to question the facts & integrity of Rob’s articles…
HB,
Must be a good man, your old man. 🙂
Villie, yep apparently both matches only being sealed up in the last minutes.
Rob…we must have been typing at the same time.
Ollie….are you a FISH? 😉
Post 19…..whaaaaaa!!! not QUEENS!!!! 😕
PS – my husband went to Dale!!!
Didn’t Bobo do like post matric at Rondebosch?
Me2, tell him he has my condolensces and that nobody is perfect. 🙂
My sentiments exactly ME2! 😕 😆
26 – whereas YOUR articles are bloody hard to find in the first place 😉
My dad got busted smoking on the beach during the school holidays and never went back to school!
I’m listening to MM’s latest podcast. I didn’t know that BJ and Jannie were having a barney…
Villie, indeed I am.
Ollie…accept MY condolences on behalf of my husband!! 🙄
Bobo left Dale in standard 8 and finished at Rhondebosch. I was in matric when he was in std 7 playing flank for Dale. Magic bloke and a brillinant player. He left for CT the year after i finished.
I also went to Queens for 9 years. We parted on difficult terms….
Rory went to Grey High.
hehehe
Rory Duncan? Went to Grey High? In PE?
OK – I’m not going to bother changing the article. Too lazy 🙂
All these great players should be playing for the “Spears”>>> 😈
Rob …which Rory R we tlaking about here? Rory D or Rory K?
I know Rory H went to Pinetown Boy’s the alma mater of Steve Athertone & those Italian bothers who played in the WC the year we WON 😆 😆 😆
😳 Pinetown Boys’. 🙄
Rory H? Who’s Rory H?
I’m confused now…
hehehehehehe….1 Rory that has never played rugby in his life & therefore has no buggered up knees, ankles, sternums, hamstrings etc. etc.!!! 🙂
Great, now there’s some f*cknut blue bull ignoramus blethering at me in Afrikaans… What is with these people? Have they no basic skills?
What are you on about?
Never mind Rob…we had to put up with a LOT WORSE last year 🙄 BUT there are some really nice BB supporters who chat to us sometimes!!!
Ollie – Rob is blog jumping 😆
Ah, what blog are you on Rob? Little mans?
Some great article titles today Rob…..not to mention the content…….good work chap!
sharksrugby
Hi Me2 et al!! 😀
thanks DP
Rory H was a presenter on KTV in the 90’s. Come on Rob….
Cutitta brothers are the italians.
kette knows them from her school days in Pinetown. (She was at Ptn GIRLS though) 😉
Rob, where the hell is the forum there?
Hi Ice
Hey Ollie!!
Guys – did you see how I dropped in the SB…just because I predicted with my heart!!! Even Cru-el is close to me now!! 😯 😯
Hi Ice!! got your message!
KSA – just knew there was something special about Kette 😎
Afternoon all
Thanks Me2 😎
63 🙂
When did you matriculate? Kette’s sister was there 2 years before they split.
Kette was not even aware of the split as she was not in school yet when the Girls and boys formed seperate schools 🙂
finally joining the land of the living again after ‘someone’ got us up at some ungodly hour to attend a triathlon 👿
know what you mean about predicting with heart vs mind Ice, it sucks 🙁
Ollie
on Sharks rugby the forum (chat) is below each article. Unless it has changed in the last few days.
Ag Kette’s just grumpy coz her afternoon snooze was only 2 hours long. 😉
hey kette!! You a laatlammetjie? 😉
Yeah…its sad when you are wishing for favours from opposing teams in order for your team to go through… 😕
And I swear…If there was one game we could (and should) have won – it was the Saders game… 👿 They played shitty and we even shittier.. 🙄
Time to take the Ketties to the pool.
Hopefully my connection speed is better when i come back from the pool 👿
Ice
No she’s not laat her family is just BIIIIIIIIG 😆
😆 Ice, its actually quite funny, am the youngest of 4 and without planning, each of us is exactly 4 years apart – makes it easier when trying to remember how old your siblings are 😆
ANOTHER game we SHOULD have won was the brumbies, that was just shocking 👿
71. OHHHHH 😯 😯
The ketties…
Who had to do triathlon kette?? 😕
KSA & Kette….only came to Pinetown after I got married, I tuaght for a while at Ptn.Snr. Prim….my son went to Ptn Snr & then Ptn Boys’!
#73 KSA, first in years, he got a new bike and everything for his birthday next week, didn’t help though cos he didn’t have a good race 🙁
Kette – yes…somehow we seems to have a couple of ‘minor” teams (in a respectful way) that is our achilles’ heel…Reds, Lions, Brumbies….IMO!! Its af we have a mental block when we play them…
Sorry was interuppted..meant to add I was teaching @ PSPS when the school split 😮 😀
#74 KSA talks like he’s a Ptn boy but actually although he was born in Dbn, he went to HS in Kroonstad 😆
Me2 – when was your son at Ptn Snr & PBHS, my brother went to PBHS ….
78 – Ice – funny u should mention that…we were discussing that last night…we just never seem to “step up” when we play those teams
#77
nope we’re a Ben Pine & PHS family 😀 from siblings to cousins to nieces and nephews now, my kids are the first to break the tradition 😥
#76
its crazy, you look at their performance and think ‘cool they’ll be a walk in the park’ and then we play them and its just madness that we have such a hard time 😮
He left @ end of 1998….I think! 😳
Kette – I also taught @ Ben Pine….did Mrs meyer teach any of u in class i/ii….btw I’m NOT Mrs.Meyer 😀
#82
😯 way after me then, I was 1992, but that was around the time my nephew was there, is it still the good school that it was all those years ago ? I am horrified when I see the way some of the girls at PGHS wear their uniforms now and behave in public 😯 lttile to no school pride 🙁
#83
Mrs Meyer was my class 1 teacher, the Mrs Meyer that lived on Jellicoe and had a son and a daughter, daughter Jane was best friends with my second sister Alison
must go, kids are ready to swim now and KSA is waiting
see you all in a bit
Small world Kette…Jane, Stuart & Nancy are my nieces & nephew 😀
I was teacher/librarian @ Ben Pine in 1973/74 (I think *blushes* again)
So KSA is also a Taurus??? Good people , us… 😉
OOps….PSPS -73/76: Ben Pine -77/78 🙄
You in NG, Me2?
Sorry Ice…it’s these “senior moments”…I have along life to look back on 😆
No Man New Germany.. 😀
Class 1 🙂
Only us Natalians know what that is
Ice..another SM hehehe!
Not New Germany….Pinetown!!!
Did u live there?
Rob ..now we all “grades” not even any “Standards” now…in more ways than one 🙁
We’re all lower grade now 🙂
U stay were u are Rob, at least your kids will get a good education…my daughter really enjoys teaching in England (teachers little ones) 🙂
Must say it is really nice to be able to come on here when we have idiots on Sharks blog….like right now!!!
Me2 – No – but a friend of mine which reminds me so much of you, did. (I think about that same age as well) She was also Mila’s day mom. They have emigrated a year and a bit ago to UK and is now in Sweden. Her daughter was a good swimmer.
Cheers all – have a great weekend – AND GO SHARKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉 😉
Me2 – where does your daughter teach?
Ice..My son used to play tennis for New Germany Club, as a junior & then at senior level.
You lived in the northern areas of Dbn if I remember correctly??
Rob..where’s your home town??
why are so many people writing up Beast and Mujati for Bok places this year? Are they eligible?
Me2, Sevenoaks in Kent
Rob..u not going to believe this….in Clapham!!!!!
She did supply for 3 years..so has taught all over London but when she decided to get a more permanent post, she turned down a job at a private school & another school near Ryans Park (I think)to teach the slum kids in Clapham…said they needed her more than the others…my kids just have this thing about helping those less priviledge than themselves 🙂
Rob I think Beast may only be eligible NEXT year…if I remember correctly he told us, in a blog interview, he had 2 years to go.
Mary has a friend who lives also live in Kent…not sure of the place. She was there last weekend and said the weather was wonderful!
Is the standard of education in the Pom public schooling system anything better/worse to what one would get at a good “model C” school in SA.
So KSA is also a Taurus??? Good people , us…
Comment 88 of 102, posted at 09.05.08 15:56:06 by I’ce (TKMITFM) Edit
Very full of shit though
Salmo… probably worse, but the standard in SA is slipping alarmingly.
Samanoid, I dont have kids but from my mates and colleagues that do, schools, and specifically getting into the right school, is a huge thing.
Funnily enough some of the best schools in the UK are free and, as in SA, some are shitty quality and others are absolutely fantastic.
I tell you what, there are some schools in this country that I would be afraid to go within a mile of.
Vin has it right… it’s a bit of a lottery. One of the major reasons for settling where we did is because the schools here are very good. Kent also still has grammar schools, which are basically the only “streamed” schools left in this country.
I don’t rate your chances of getting a decent education at a government primary school in SA anymore. I might be wrong, but if we’d stayed in SA, we would have had to somehow afford private education right from Grade 1…
Agreed!!!
one of the top independent schools in the entire country is right on my doorstep here. I would need to sell both kidneys to afford a year’s tuition, though, so unless young Caitlin gets a scholarship one day, I’m afraid it’ll be out of the question.
113 – what with? 😉
I havent heard many good things about the Pom public schooling system (mostly from Saffas teaching there) but have in the last 2 years home hosted some Pom kids from English public schools and was really pleasantly surprised with the kids – they were very normal and left a good impression. They were from small to medium sized towns and not from the cities which may have played a roll.
yeah – I think you are likely to get shit schools inside cities. That’s probably a universal truth.
Also, I think a lot of Saffers that go to the UK for “experience” as teachers will end up teaching in London… so that would explain their experiences.
Rob – with KSA’s last remark!!
I think as with most things in life, one should try hard not to generalise. As Saffers, I think for the most part we’ve had a pretty good standard of education, but those who were raised and educated in the townships might argue that they didn’t have it so good.
Not getting onto a political soapbox here, but at least the British have never intentionally excluded any of their population from schooling.
Me2 😆
Is your Hubby a Taurean? or maybe a few of your children? 😆 😉
oh right – yeah. My daughter is also a Taurus. Man, but she’s impossible some days 😉
#107
I didn’t say it though 😉
can tell u all, that the schools (Pre school to year 5) in even the poorest areas have teaching aids, equipment etc. that some of the so called Model C schools would die for. And, what’s more, the number of kids in the classes are about 25 and manageable, especially since they have “teacher assitents”….not 30 to 40 kids per classroom designed for 20!!
No KSA…my brother!!
yeah – exactly. We are hoping to send Caity to a school where there won’t be more than about 15 kids to a class.
Me2 😉
its scary, couldn’t imagine teaching in SA again after experiencing teaching overseas, nevermind putting my kids in school, my niece and nephew arein a model c that is still ok and the model c schools I taught at before leaving were not half bad but then that was 7 years ago so …..
I had a bit to do with township, farm and homeland schools years ago – and that any form of education could take place in them was a miracle waiting to happen. The sad thing is that it doesnt seem as if much has changed for these schools.
there are still bloody good schools in SA… but I fear that as time goes by, the standards of those will inevitably be dragged down too.
I mean, come on… kids getting 13 distinctions in matric?
Can you imagine if your predictions are true then 1 day soon there wont be anymore Sharks, Bulls, etc to write about or support.
salmo – I’m not thinking about that. La la la la la. I can’t hear you. 🙂
rather, there will be no more Sharks – only Bulls 😉
Actually by all accounts those Pta schools – Affies, Boys High, Waterkloof, Menlo Park etc are all thriving so your prediction is propbably spot on.
I’m off, (going to source a blue rugby jersey).
Good rugga results to all …. only applicable to Sharks supporters.
cheers Salmo.
Also on my way.
Affies and Waterkloof aren’t really schools, you know 😉
Comment 116 of 134, posted at 09.05.08 16:54:36 by Salmonoid
Most saffas teaching in the UK end up in ghetto schools, mostly becasue the English okes are teaching in the posh schools and therefore the only vacancies, and hence the reason for their recruitment, is to fill gaps in schools most English don’t want.