Artikel soos gehaal vanaf website http://www.rugby365.com/schools/news/2741701.htm
Dirkie Uys - Tigers of the Wheatlands
Tue, 31 May 2011 12:42
Stand-in captain Jason Kriel prepares to lead the Tigers out
About 100km out of Cape Town on the Cape-Namibia Route (the N7)
lies charming Moorreesburg. Set in the heart of the Swartland, halfway
between Malmesbury and Piketberg and about 100km from Cape Town,
it is well known for its essential contribution to the nation's
wheat supply.
However, over the last year and a bit, it has been attracting ever-increasing
attention in a totally unrelated sphere: the performances of the
1st XV of the local high school Dirkie Uys.
First, a bit about this school which traces its roots all the way
back to 1875. The intervening years have been spent ensuring that
it offers facilities and opportunities which would be the envy of
many schools in far larger communities.
For example, although the school is relatively small, catering
for around 300 learners, it boasts its own music academy, DUMA,
which offers highly-qualified tuition in a variety of instruments
and presents regular performances by its large number of prospective
virtuosi, whose numbers include young would-be musicians drawn from
all sectors of the local community.
The home-from-home atmosphere in the beautifully maintained separate
boys' and girls' hostels is enhanced by the relatively small numbers
of boarders, who enjoy first-class facilities, including a separate
hostel splash pool!
The learners have a surpringly broad extra-mural programme which
allows virtually every individual to find his or her niche. The
school can boast outstanding recent performances in activities as
diverse as swimming, biathlon, chess and karate, in several cases
at more than just provincial level. Little wonder learner participation
in sport, including the well-trained First Aid squad, is estimated
at 97%.
Then there's the tantalising carrot of regular local and overseas
tours to serve as added motivation to its sportsmen. The Under-19A
and B Netball sides toured Malaysia and Thailand earlier this year
and, on the night of the rugby matches against Charlie Hofmeyr,
parents and friends of the school were cooking up all sorts of tasty
delights to boost funds for an Under-19 cricket tour to the Netherlands
in 2012.
Proud principal Daniel Ross, the widely-respected author of several
economics text-books and chief examiner in the subject in the Western
Cape, notes that, despite having only some 129 boys at the school,
they field five separate rugby sides, several of whose players also
turn out for the hockey teams on Fridays. A distinct feather in
the school's cap is the personal mentoring twenty of the school's
rugby players receive on a regular basis from locally-based coaching
guru Alan Zondagh.
The personnel behind the rise of the Tigers are as diverse as one
could expect to find. Local doyen Anton Volschenk has been the motive
force behind rugby at both the school and the local club for decades.
He and right-hand man Faf Joubert provide the solid foundation from
which the two young First XV coaches are confidently taking their
side in a bold new direction.
Johan Jacobs, who boasts a Master of Science degree in Genetics,
and newly-graduated Stephan Basson are both the right side of thirty
and together have developed a high-powered attacking style which
has drawn admiration from many quarters. At the Tony Stoops Rugby
Festival in Goodwood in April, the side was awarded the cup for
the team producing the most attractive rugby. Realistically, no-one
else stood a chance.
There's no need for those clichés about players being prepared
to walk through fire for their mentors: one anecdote says it all.
When Jason Kriel, whose inclusion in the 2011 Boland Craven Week
side was announced on Saturday, was approached by a WP powerhouse
at elite group trials last year with an offer to join that school,
he immediately declined, stating simply that it would be absurd
even to contemplate such a move at the end of his Grade 11 year.
You can't buy loyalty like that.
Kriel apart, scrumhalf Flippie Jacobs has been selected for the
2011 Boland Academy week side and Dirk de Jager, who plays fullback
for the 1st XV, will be attending the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week
as first-choice scrumhalf for the province. Many consider popular
captain No.8 Dirk Kotzé, currently injured, particularly unlucky
not to have received higher recognition.
With first-team stalwarts lock Bradley Merrick, wing Wian van Schalkwyk
- forced to miss a recent game because he was competing at the Boland
Chess Championships! - and flyhalf Du Toit Maree all still in Grade
11, the immediate future looks remarkably rosy.
As the lights are turned off at the town's Gene Louw sportsgrounds
and the only sound disrupting the peace is the trumpeting of one
of the many freight trains that visit the railyards at the edge
of town, it is difficult to reconcile the tranquil rustic ambience
with the frenzied excitement and deafening warcries of the previous
hours.
But then, these Tigers need their sleep too, to recharge their
batteries, until they feed on their next opponents!
By Tony Stoops
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