The Glenwood first rugby team take on Monument at 7pm Saturday (24 April) in what is certain to be a fiercely contested affair between these two highly rated South African rugby schools.

It is the occasion of the Krugersdorp-based Monnas’ Centenary Rugby Tournament, sponsored by Blue Ribbon, and is sure to draw much interest from a schoolboy rugby-starved public. The matches will all be livestreamed so be sure to go to www.digitv.co.za and book your seat.

Next Monday, April 26, Glenwood firsts return to the Krugersdorp school’s Ras van Rooyen Field at 4pm in what is sure to be another bruising battle, this time against the Tzaneen, Limpopo-based Ben Vorster’s flagship team.

 

 

The Glenwood U16A side will also be at the Monument Centenary and they face Paarl Boys High at 2pm Saturday on the Jan Lange Field before tackling Monnas U16A at 2.30pm on Monday in the curtain-raiser to their first side’s match vs Ben Vorster.

Feature photo of Reinhard Jonker, Glenwood’s 2018 SA Schools centre. Jonker was the team-mate in that great Glenwood side that playmaker Jaden Hendrikse regularly turned to for on-field advice.

So as we look forward to how Glenwood do at Monnas this weekend, let’s look back to a snippet of my 2018 KZN10.com interview with Glenwood head coach and director of rugby Derek Heiberg who was talking about his outstanding 2018 side.

 

 

Derek’s admirable rugby philosophy will hopefully be reflected in the performance of the Glenwood teams over the course of this weekend.

In the interview, I had pointed out to Derek that his 2018 team’s ability to convert territory, pressure and possession into points was most impressive.

Derek’s reply was illuminating: “We always want to play at a high intensity, so there is a huge focus on our conditioning. But the challenge comes in that while you are playing at a high intensity the players’ skill level needs to match the intensity that we want to play at.

“So for us, we have tried to narrow the gap – and as a result we have looked at training methods to ensure that we train at the required intensity to put the players in situations where their skills are under pressure … and then look at how they adapt to the situation and what are the decisions they make. This has aided us in converting more of the chances we create in a game.”

 

 

Let us hope that we see more of the same at Monnas over the weekend.

*****

Glenwood and Monument met in April 2019 and it was a tough outing on Dixons for the home side from Durban, who went down 48-11. It came on the back of previous years where Glenwood have held the upper hand in the win stakes.

That 48-11 Monnas win was pivoted around a superb performance from their then grade 11 flyhalf Herschelle Goodman, whose clever running and use of the boot forced Glenwood to place much of their focus on plugging the 10-12 channel, which opened the gaps out wide.

Dear reader, if you could give me the score in the 19 May 2018 match between Glenwood and home side Monument I would appreciate it. Any other results between the two would also be welcome.

And let’s take a look at that fantastic Glenwood first XV from 2018, which was published in KZN10.com on 15 May that year. There may well have been players going to elevated status during the course of the year.

* 2017 representation & current school grade as at May 2018

GLENWOOD FIRST XV

15 Reinard Jonker (Craven Week. Grade 12)
14 Jean Roux (Grade 12)
13 Conan Le Fleur (Craven Week & SA Schools. Grade 12)
12 JC Conradie (Grade 12)
11 Joe Jonas (Grade 11)
10 Dylan Pretorius (Craven Week. Grade 12)
9 Jaden Hendrikse (Craven Week & SA Schools. Grade 12)
8 George Luzolo (Academy Week. Grade 12)
7 Lindo Luthuli (Grade 12)
6 Runako Brynard (captain. Grade 12)
5 Werner Coetzee (Grade 12)
4 Lunga Ncube (Academy Week. Grade 12)
3 Thabiso Mdletshe (Craven Week. Grade 12)
2 Ruan Olivier (Grant Khomo Week. Grade 11)
1 Jordan Clarke (Craven Week & SA Schools. Grade 12)

Two previous Glenwood rugby stories you might be interested in:

 

https://kzn10.com/glenwood-first-xv-the-process-that-leads-to-the-performance/

 

https://kzn10.com/glenwoods-jaden-hendrikse-is-a-special-talent/