OLD BOYS of the 10
Michaelhouse loonies, Maritzburg College, the Baines House boys & more
Saturday: Michaelhouse vs Maritzburg College – Memories in the making
AT 3pm Saturday, 2 June 2018 the Michaelhouse first XV face Maritzburg College on Meadows.
KZN10.com asked Will Hardie to dig deep in the fog-enshrouded mists of time about his match.
“Hi Jono, the score was 25-6 on Goldstones back in 1985. Old BoysDay on Goldstones at College.
The Michaelhouse loonies (didn’t ask Will if that was a typo on his part but I asked myself: ‘Self, why you want to tamper with such an appropriate term for a loose forward trio? It is so appropriate for the DHS loose trio – Chris Farrant, Shaun Cross et al – who terrorised you (me) back in the day.”
Featured image: The 1985 Michaelhouse first XV
Ahem, enough of that… Let’s get back to Will’s tale:
Will Hardie is Meadows airborne, Sean Stringer sweeps, Bruce Herbert and Simon Camerer support;
“The Michaelhouse loonies were number 8 Rich Firth, flanks Simon Camerer and Wayne Witherspoon (capt and head boy). I had moved to lock for the ’85 season. Our packs were actually similar size – their captain was lock Arve Arntzen – but the difference was the Maritzburg College backline – Joel Stransky, Shaun Glover, Jem Thompson, Kevin Smith, Vos … Except we did have flyhalf/fullback Victor Anderson (Natal Schools ‘84 and ‘85) and scrumhalf James Wilson (also Nat Schools ‘84 – and ‘85, I think) which did help our cause a little.”
* Will’s son Chris, the regular House inside centre and first XI top-order batsman, hurt his back last week and will miss out on a match that every MHS matric boy wishes to play in, in his last school year.
The Michaelhouse first XV of 1985 played 18 won 11 lost 7 points for 263 against 222. “The closing games involved more of the consistency we were looking for. It was great fun,” says Will.
“This great bunch is now spread far and wide,” says Victor Anderson – a brilliant schoolboy sportsman. “Gordon Paterson – he was our legendary rugby coach in U14A and 1st team – incidentally, who started his coaching/teaching career at Maritzburg College and was a bit of a chip off the old block of the now legendary Skonk Nicholson) and Rich Pithey are in the Land of the Long White Cloud (New Zealand), I am in London and the rest, as far as I know, are all over South Africa.”
Flyhalf whizz kid Victor Anderson has a pot at the posts, in the MHS first XV Class of 85’s last match on Meadows… a 36-9 win over a St Andrews Grahamstown team that experienced a tough time with injuries.
Victor Anderson… “It looks like the three Baines House (Firth, Hardie and Stringer) boys with their hands on their hips are discussing whose picnic they’re going to plunder after the game. Actually, this was a mid-week game which meant it was straight back to the Memorial Hall for supper.”
Sean Stringer says: “Dead right! But with the number of cars in the background it looks like we were in for slim pickings.”
Mike Jeffery, Kurt Paetzold and Nick Van Beeck are sadly no longer with us but will no doubt be watching the match action on Meadows from up above with great nostalgia and memories of special times with special mates.
Thanks Will, Victor, Sean… Great memories.
For the House first XV Class of 2018 the memories of tomorrow’s match will, just like those of their 85 predecessors, linger for 33 years and longer. In the Year 20051 they’ll no doubt remember tomorrow’s match with the same clarity as Will and Co recall the happening of 1985.
That is the true magic of KZN10 schoolboy sport.
Date: 2 June 2018
Venue: Meadows
Kick-off: 3pm
Michaelhouse first XV vs Maritzburg College
- Andrew Holt
- Mpho Mthethwa
- Brandon Jewell
- Dan Dillon
- Seun Afolayan
- Christian Opperman (capt)
- Torin Mecklenborg
- James Kiln
- Lance Reynolds
- Luc Pousson
- Toby Versfeld
- Thamsanqa Zakwe
- Dane Fisher (vice-capt)
- Michael Gomes
- Michael Brownlee
- Matthew Holt (sub)
- Liam Friend (sub)
- Luke Taylor (sub)
- James Armstrong (sub)
- Andrew Daly (sub)
- Liam England (sub)
- Philip Thomas (sub)
First XV rugby: Udo unearths Michaelhouse vs Maritzburg College 1986
SUPER SATURDAY 2 June 2018 at 3pm…. The theatre is Meadows at Michaelhouse… It’s House vs Maritzburg College first XV…
1987 Maritzburg College & SA Schools flyhalf and wicketkeeper/batsman Udo Goedeke – one of the handful of dual SA Schools rugby players and cricketers (the Red Black and White have 3 – Udo, Mally Thompson and Adrian Penzhorn) tells KZN10.com about the 1986 Meadows muscle-up as if it happened yesterday:
Featured image
THE FLYHALVES’ GARDEN: Udo Goedeke and son Kent earlier this year. Kent will be playing 10 for the Maritzburg College U16A’s vs coach Andre van Wyk’s Michaelhouse line-up at 12.30pm on Meadows tomorrow.
“Michaelhouse have always been great opposition… fair, clean… we’ve had lots of fun.
“Playing them on Meadows in 86, Michaelhouse had a strong team – 5 or 6 Natal Schools’ players – and were certainly the favourites. I think they sensed victory and all their regulars were keen to play. Injury and illness meant quite a few had to pass late fitness tests.
“It was very close at halftime – we lead 9-6… The second half was incredible… centre (SA Schools and later Natal and Transvaal) Jeremy Thompson really turned it on for us, it turned into the Jeremy Thompson Show – he ripped their defence apart.
“The College team’s contribution was awesome… It was a massive second half for us… To be fair I think the Michaelhouse injury and illness concerns pre-game was a contributing factor – they faded badly in that second half.
My opposing 10 was Mark Olivier, a very good all-round sportsman. We had lots of friendly tussles on the cricket and rugby fields.
“That was 32 years ago. A lot of the Michaelhouse/Maritzburg College guys that year are still good mates… That’s what is so special about KZN schoolboy sport, brings people together, long may it continue.
“Here’s to wishing all the Michaelhouse and Maritzburg College boys – whatever the team and whether rugby or hockey – everything of the best tomorrow.”
Thanks Udo – spoken like the sportsman you are; a guy who appreciates & understands the real value of sport.
Skonk, the Crow’s Nest… the Class of ’81 … Toffa’s tales…
“THE Red Black and White stands for family, friendship, tradition, shared values and an undying loyalty. I will never forget those days and still attend Old Boys Reunions from time to time… and re-live that special feeling each time.”
The Toffa Hattingh story is remarkable for many reasons. Coming to Maritzburg College’s Nathan House as a wide-eyed boarder in 1977 – knowing absolutely no-one, must have been the biggest possible shock to the system of a 13 year old. Yet four short years later Toffa left Maritzburg College as a hugely popular and deeply respected head prefect, Natal Schools’ lock forward, shot putt champion and a mean guitar player.
As Toffa’s time in the head prefect’s Crow’s Nest digs perched atop Clark House – and the Class of 81’s year – was nearing its close, the one and only Dave Dell, who was the senior teacher in charge of prefects, said in a meeting with us 1982 prefects-in-waiting that “Hattingh was the best Maritzburg College head prefect in 25 years.”
‘The fact that Skonk remembered my dad was extra motivation’
Featured image the Maritzburg College Foundation logo: Much of what Toffa says in this feature’s opening paragraph speaks of a culture, a community, its aspirations… captured in the success story that is the Maritzburg College Foundation. If you would like to know more, contact the Foundation at 033 345 9660 admin@collegefoundation.co.za or go to http://collegefoundation.co.za/
Toffa and his dad, Boet Hattingh (1951 first XV flyhalf) donated these special pieces of memorabilia to the Maritzburg College Museum, situated in one of the 155-year-old school’s venerable red-brick buildings – a structure that the boys of decades back coined the ‘Crystal Palace’. Insets in the picture frame nearest Toffa feature his head prefect’s badge, a photo of Toffa’s dad, as well as one of his brother-in-law, head of Maritzburg College mathematics Piet Snyman, who coached the Maritzburg College first XV during a four-year period, from 2009 to 2012.
‘One Skonk story was about a lock forward with a bit of a boep called Vanderplank’
Christopher Willem Hattingh… the moniker “Toffa” stuck from toddler years when “Christopher” was a bit of a mouthful for young Hattingh, so in the manner so endearing of little kids young Christopher decided that Toffa was a better bet when introducing himself.
Brought up on his mom and dad’s trading store in deepest Zululand somewhere near-ish to Nongoma, Toffa’s primary school days were spent in an establishment where standards 1 (grade 1) to 5 (grade 7) consisted of a handful of rural children in a single classroom. Toffa’s gran was the teacher, most of the lessons were in Afrikaans. There was no team sport, obviously, so no rugby, no nothing apart from a bit of fun in the back yard with his mom, dad, and considerably older sisters Sally-Anne and Louise.
Toffa was in my standard 6 class. Knowing Toffa had no-one in the KZN capital to visit after the boarders’ compulsory morning church on Sundays, I invited this deeply sensitive, lost soul (okay, that’s a bit of writer’s licence) to come have Sunday lunches with the Cooks. Gradually, step by step, this country boy grew in confidence and blossomed into the esteemed young man who was chosen to lead the Maritzburg College pupil body in a quick-as-a-flash four years’ time.
‘… the ball hit the crossbar and bounded back onto his big belly…’
Now a senior member of the SA Air Force, who started his military career as a Parabat, here’s the (primarily rugby) story I invited Toffa to tell:
“The 1981 Maritzburg College first XV played DHS home and away. We won both. The atmosphere was unbelievable… The game was over in what felt like seconds. The away game was extra special as it was my last game for College, my last game in the Red Black and White. I remember crying my eyes out as I ran onto Van Heerdens…
“I cannot recall any major parts of the games or the people… just know we were always about team effort. Individual performance was secondary. The fact that we did not wear numbers also struck a chord with me. Team first, we are one.”
‘Skonk was the greatest… Best scrum coach ever’
When asked to jog my fog-enshrouded memory as to who were regular members of the unbeaten 1981 Maritzburg College first team, Toffa didn’t hesitate for a second:
”Fullback Clive Cole, right wing Keven Stander, centres Kevin Torlage, Ross Cooper (Mike White), left wing Mike Wessels, flyhalf Henry Coxwell (captain), scrumhalf Brett Walker (vice-captain), front-row Cliffy Torlage, Buster Mackenzie (hooker) and Lance ‘Skove’ Gold, locks (Mike) “Rab” Bode, (Dave “Toti” Waters) and myself, flanks Wayne Glover and Dave Slater-Kinghorn, Boetie Potgieter eighthman.”
Four members of that unbeaten side went on to play Craven Week – the devastating halfbacks Coxwell (vice-capt) and Walker, centre Kevin Torlage, and Toffa at lock. The talk amongst a number of knowledgeable KZN schoolboy rugby observers was that centre Ross Cooper might well have made that 1981 Nat Schools side had it not been for the injury that sadly cut short his season.
Let’s get back to Toffa and what it meant to him to represent the Red Black and White: “To play for a school that many generations of College boys had played for, was particularly special. I was coached by the same guy that coached my dad 30 years before, Skonk. The fact that Skonk remembered my dad was extra motivation.
“Skonk was the greatest. Would talk a lot and use examples from previous teams and players to make a point. Best scrum coach ever. I believe the current Boks could still benefit from his techniques.
“One Skonk story I always remember was about a lock forward with a bit of a boep called Vanderplank…
“Skonk wanted us to remember to follow up on kicks at posts. He said that Vanderplank religiously followed up on every kick and never had any luck … Until one day when the ball hit the crossbar and bounded back onto his big belly. He managed to hold on and fell over under the posts for a try. So Skonk’s lesson: “Always chase after a place-kick.”
Toffa says Skonk always spoke isiZulu and had a knack for spotting talent: “I remember one year (1980) he just disappeared from firsts and seconds practice on Goldstones… went walking down to the 5ths and 6ths practice. He returned with a small player from the 5ths (Louis Oosthuizen) who ended up playing first team flank.
“The Red Black and White stands for family, friendship, tradition, shared values and an undying loyalty. I will never forget those days and still attend Old Boys Reunions from time to time… and re-live that special feeling each time.”
Thanks Toffs – for me personally you brought back memories that were quite emotional in parts.
*Prop forward Bertram Eustace Vanderplank was born in Melmoth (in Zululand terms not too-oooo far from Toffa’s childhood place lol) on 29 April 1894.
Mr Vanderplank of Eshowe Rugby Football Club and Natal (1924) was the fourth member of the 15 young men of the Red Black and White to represent the Springboks…
At the age of 30, Bertram propped the Bok scrum in a pair of Test matches – against the 1924 British Isles (now British &Irish Lions).
Bertram Eustace’s’s Bok debut was on South Africa’s own House of Pain… the Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth on 13 September 1924. His second – and last – Test match in the Green and Gold colours of South Africa was on the gentler turf of Newlands.
Clearly the Vanderplank determination that Skonk spoke of bore its just reward post-school…
In the beginning… Jono’s painful memories of the DHS U13A rugby side
IT was the year circa 1977.
Michael Osz on the left wing – beyond blistering pace – Leighton Higgo on the right – unbelievable strength and explosive power – loose forwards like starving, rabid Rottweilers with an insatiable appetitefor scrumhalves and flyhalves… an absolute stormer of a DHS U13A pack…
DHS Old Boy Andrew ‘Shedders’ Shedlock – Springbok water polo and Shedders Cricket Academy just a couple of his many achievements.
As a 13-year-old second former (grade 8) this is what I saw. And, painfully, felt in the return match on Van Heerdens, lol .
When you’re playing against a side that’s so much better, this is what you can feel – so very, very real to an impressionable young mind.
Thankfully I was injured for that first Maritzburg College vs DHS U13A match in 1977. The venue was Snows, the rugby and cricket field just below Goldstones…
In my Merchiston Prep School standard 5 (grade 7) year I’d never, ever, encountered such beasts. Well, on that welcome-to-the-big-wide-world-of-high-school day on Snows, with tries still 4 points, School U13’s ran riot, especially Mike Osz and Leighton Higgo, all the way to the 40-plus to zilch endgame score and then some.
The return match on Van Heerdens… I was unfortunately fit.
The late Ken Elliott (who went on to become a much-loved and respected Maritzburg College headmaster) was our coach. The MC U13A captain – quickest off the mark and our best tackler by a country mile – was one Henry Gordon Coxwell. With much good sense, Mr Elliott decided that H should move to fullback, primarily – I surmise – to contain the Osz/Higgo threat. Yours truly, right wing that year, though more accustomed to playing flyhalf in Merchiston Prep days, was moved to 10…
Well, it was absolute mayhem… The monstrous DHS U13A pack got plentiful front-foot ball – primarily thanks to (the late) Andrew “Waka” Carl and his front-row cohorts along with fellow tight five cronies Chris Edwards and Steve Meyer… and this time their loosies, Messrs Farrant and Cross, didn’t bother to give their backs a run – numbers 6, 7 and 8 skipped going to the tryline through A (Jimmy Cook), B, C & D on to Osz/Higgo… They wisely decided much better to go from A to Z in one move. The result? The sum of 40-odd points to zero, nada, again.
Does my Maritzburg College age-group tale of woe continue?? “No!” he cried! The next year, on Lamonds, just below College Road, one Arthur Wormington (the multi-talented sportsman who, remarkably, went on to vice-captain the SA Schools’ hockey team just 3 years later, just 2 years after taking up hockey) slotted a drop-goal for College U14A to win by one slender point.
Arthur ‘Worms’ Wormington (right) with Michaelhouse Old Pumpy Lambert at the Boks vs Japan 2015 Rugby World Cup match in Brighton.
And it gets even better… The U13A Maritzburg College vs DHS annus horribilis of 1977 evolved into back-to-back Red Black and White first XV victories for the MC Class of 81.
If my cobweb-covered memory serves me correctly, in that MC U13A side of 77 so ruthlessly vanquished by that DHS mean machine, were a few Red Black & White who went on to play in the Goldstones- and Van Heerdens-victorious Maritzburg College first XV of 1981.
The salad days of matric 1982… the years haven’t been kind to Jono…
There may have been more but definitely among them were Henry Coxwell, Ross Cooper (I think Ross played in at least one of them before injury cut his 81 season), Mike “Rab” Bode and Mike White… and a lock by the name of Toffa Hattingh…
‘It will always be an immense honour to wear the Blue and Gold’
In the aftermath of home side DHS first XV retaining the Skonk Nicholson Cup with a 45-30 win over Maritzburg College on Saturday, 19 May 2018 in an exciting match spiced with high-tempo adventurous running rugby, at-times astonishing combination play, intelligent tactical and clearance kicking plus superb shots at posts with the boot, it’s always a treat to hear the stories of Old Boys who represented the Blue and Gold or Red Black & White in those epic traditional KZN derbies from many (and not so many!) years ago.
Here’s Lyle Matthysen – a School man through and through who is an integral part of the DHS coaching staff – current (2018) captain and number 8 Mpilo Gumede, last year’s dynamic loose forward and captain Pepsi Buthulezi and fellow 2017 playmaker (at 9 or 10) supreme Sanele Nohamba (all 3 SA Schools in 2017) just three of the many Durban High School boys that have benefited in one way or another from the intelligent “Skylo’s” input.
Pepsi’s DHS Team of 2017 played some of the most exhilarating KZN schoolboy rugby you are ever likely to see.
A player who made a deep impression on Lyle: Pepsi Buthulezi, the 2017 DHS captain, loose forward and SA Schools cap.
Photo Neville Bailey
“Thanks Jono, I coached Sanele and Pepsi as U15’s and have been involved with them from the start of there 7’s careers, so it was extra special to be part of them with the 1st team last year.
Another School first XV player who Lyle has a lot of time for is School’s 2017 wizard scrumhalf Sanele Nohambe, who delivered some of the most complete performances seen at KZN & SA schoolboy level last year.
Photo Neville Bailey
“I played DHS 1st team in my matric year. Unfortunately I suffered concussions, therefore I only managed to gain 9 caps; however it was still enough to keep the number 15 fullback jersey.
“I played against College on Van Heerdens and we lost 31-13. We were simply physically out-muscled by a very strong College team. A standout for College was (front-ranker) Nick Schonert who has now played for the English Saxons.”
This special rivalry also creates strong bonds across the school divide
“In my Grade 11 year I played for the 2nd XV and played against College twice. The first game on Van Heerdens was extremely special as it was the first time that our floodlights were turned on. We lost the game, but it was an absolute humdinger with the score ending 8-7. The atmosphere was something I had never experienced before. However the second fixture at Goldstones wasn’t that great for us and we caught a proper smack! I definitely felt the effect of Goldstones that day!”
“A standout player for my first XV in 2009 would be been our captain and inside centre Justin Christoforus. A real no-nonsense, hard-running centre known for his defence!”
Of course, this special rivalry also creates strong bonds across the school divide –
Here’s Lyle to tell it: “Very good College friends of mine would be Ant Pissara and Dean Pengelly. Myself and Dean were both at Durban Prep so our bond continued as we went to high school. Ant was equally passionate about College as I am for DHS, so the banter and camaraderie made us really good friends.”
Ahead of the match today, these were Lyle’s last words: “DHS is the oldest school in Durban. No matter what happens, win or lose, it will always be an immense honour to wear the Blue and Gold. To this day, it is still one of the proudest moments of my life – playing for the 1st XV.”
Mpilo Gumede, the 2018 DHS captain & No.8 who played for SA Schools last year, leads his team out at this year’s Grey High Rugby Festival.
I love Lyle’s last paragraph – it says so much about Lyle the person and so much about the heritage of DHS rugby.
Northwood Old Boy on today’s Durban North hockey derby and more
“IT’S wonderful to see that the leadership of the two schools have finally allowed this fixture to take place on a regular basis as it allows boys who grow up in the Durban North area to compete against each other on the sports field.”
The words of former Natal and Springbok hockey goalkeeper Wayne Philips – a brilliant nationally-selected indoor keeper to boot – The Northlands Old Boy has put in an incredible amount of time, effort, coaching acumen and organisational skill into growing the sport in and around his home turf, Durban North as well as further afield.
Wayne is a student of the game and one of the most progressive thinkers on the sport you’ll find anywhere. So, as to Saturday 19 May’s much-looked-forward-to Durban North derby between Northwood firsts and their Clifton College counterparts, which sees the push back at 11.15am on the Riverside 2 Turf, the Northlands shot-stopper of 1979 and 80 vintage has this to say:
“There have, I think, only ever been two previous hockey matches between the two, including last year. The game that I recall was the derby around 5 years ago that saw the cracker Northwood team – top 3 in SA coming through 3-0. Matt de Sousa was the talismanic Northwood captain of that team – and the difference between the two teams on that particular day. Matt scored twice I think and set up one in the 3-0 victory. The two teams were evenly matched on the day save for two or three moments of Matt’s brilliance that separated the two teams. Clifton were very early in their cycle as a focused hockey school at the time of that game. Then politics seemed to intervene and this fixture has I am almost certain not been played since, until last year.”
Wayne has high praise for the respective directors of hockey and first team head coaches.
“There are some exceptional individuals currently moving into the KZN Coastal (Durban) sports structures and Shaun Baker/Keegan Pearce are not exceptions. Both are visionary sports and specifically hockey people with international experience and vision who seem to be taking a long-term view. They both understand the bigger picture of school sport which is to develop players by working the process and not always focusing on results.
“Both recently joined their respective schools (early in 2017) although Baker probably had more of a re-building job to do than Pearce when he joined? It is exciting to watch the talent under their tutorship within the two schools developing and benefiting the local clubs Riverside, Varsity College and Crusaders – and in turn hockey in general.
“(The Clifton captain) Matt Lewis began his career at Riverside when he was six years old, went through our mini (11 and younger) and youth (14 and younger) hockey ranks, then started in our men’s senior 5th team and is now in the 1st team, so has been through the club’s ranks.
Clifton first team hockey captain Matt Lewis closes in on St Charles College skipper Matt Mortimer in the Durban school’s 4-0 on Saints Astro last Saturday.
“Hockey as a sport is growing globally and Durban North is no exception, it’s difficult to believe that as recently as 20 years ago, Durban North never had one KZN Premier league team – both Crusaders men’s and women’s teams as they were at the time (subsequently to become Riverside HC) being promoted to KZN Premier League in 1989 and 1991 respectively. Now there are four out of eight teams in each Super league – men and women – from Durban North! So undoubtedly the growth of hockey within and amongst secondary schools in the area – like Clifton, Northwood, Danville and Our Lady of Fatima is benefiting the sport.
“One further comment. I was never really a top-achieving school hockey player – made KZN U14 in my first year then never played for KZN Schools again! The club game really bit me – initially introduced to Gongs HC while at school by Keith Hosken my school hockey master at the time and played in teams captained by Gordon Bradfield, and then Varsity hockey by Gerry Latouf – and that is where I began to make strides. Hence my passion for club hockey!
“But I was Northlands/Beachwood/Northwood’s first ever SA hockey player. Seems like I got in just in time as a whole lot – Kevin MacNaughton, Gregg Clark, Ken Forbes, the Paton brothers and a few others – all followed quickly after that, probably once Durban North club hockey began to gain traction I reckon?”
Thanks Wayne, you have provided much insight into the then and the now – the remarkable growth of the sport in the Durban North community. Be that as it may, I am sure you will be anticipating a contest of note today!
DHS vs Maritzburg College 1st XV epics… 1987-1989… Ivy’s memories
‘The atmosphere is electric… bashers flying every time College score is a sight to behold’
It’s SUPER SATURDAY 19 May 2018… 255 St Thomas Rd, Musgrave, Durban… the age-old Derby…
Durban High School’s (1866) Old Gold and Maritzburg College’s (1863) Red Black & White…
DHS first XV versus Maritzburg College first XV… kick-off at 2.10pm… on Van Heerdens.
Deo Fretus (In God We Trust) hosting Pro Aris et focis (For Hearth & Home).
Ivan Pistorius played for DHS first XV in 1987, 1988 and 1989… Ivy remembers those epics…
Ivy Pistorius… DHS first XV flyhalf/centre 1987 to 1989.
“In 1987 our first fixture was against College at Goldstones and I remember the match very well. Their side was captained by Brenton Catterall who at lock was a beast of a man. They also had the likes of Grant Reid, Udo Goedeke, Andrew Godfrey, Ian Vynne and Warren Wilson. We lost 19-4 … I still remember how hard the field was… Never before had I tackled so much .
“Our ’87 side was captained by prop Hague Thomson and had John Slade as our only Natal Schools player. We had 4 grade 11s in that team – Deon Von Beneke, Nigel Strachan, myself and Grant Sheppard on the wing. The return at DHS was a close game with us losing 7-6.
‘…1987 I remember how hard Goldstones was. I’d never tackled so much before…’
“In 1988 our team was captained by flanker Deon von Beneke with me being vice-captain. Leading into the College game both of us were unbeaten and we played this match over a long weekend. I remember the crowd was huge and College totally outplaying us to win 28-10. Maritzburg College were captained by Andrew Ralfe and had the likes of Wayne Sharpley, Wayne Huinink, Andrew Godfrey, Brett Emberton, Rick De Villiers and Ian Vynne. I remember the return game well at College where we lost 8-13 in a top game on Goldstones. We had 3 Natal Schools players Bruce Layzell, Costa Mamaliades and Deon Von Beneke.
Van Heerdens 1988… Red Black White 1st XV by 5 tries to 1…
“In 1989 we played College on our DHS Founders Day. Our team was captained by number 8 Thomas Jankovich and we had the likes of Lionel Andreou, Richard Allen at flyhalf, me and Doug Wayt at centre and the talented Andrew Purnell at fullback. College were captained by Bruce Lesur and they had Clinton Rhodes, Ross Veenstra, Duncan Macdonald. We were motivated!!! And on 3rd June 1989 we beat College 13-7 with a try from Lionel Andreou and 3 penalties from Andrew Purnell.
The 1988 DHS first XV… In 1989, on Van Heerdens, the 13-7 win over the Red Black & White – on School’s Founders Day – snapped a 9-year 17-match drought.
‘The whole school doing the war cry on the field… beating College for the 1st time in 9 years’
Inspiration for School’s young men of future generations…
“It was the only game College lost that year and we had 2 Natal Schools players Lionel Andreou and captain Tom Jankovich. In the return game I did not play as I was injured against Hilton two weeks before.”
‘There is something very special about playing against the Red, Black and white of College.’
“The atmosphere is always electric and the sight of the bashers flying up in the air every time College scores is a sight to behold. We use to have approximately 30 teams playing College and as our oldest rivals there was always mutual respect for each other.
DHS first XV players (l-r) Robert Chrystal, Ivan Pistorius, Robin Buchanan and (14 ) Andrew Crawford .
“I was fortunate to play 46 matches for the DHS first rugby team with 35 being consecutive. I missed the St Stithians Festival and the last 2 matches against Northlands and College. If it had not been for the knee surgery I had after cricket season and the injuries in the last 2 games I would have played 50 matches for the DHS first team, which would have been a big milestone for me.
“I hope I have given you some insight into how special it is to have played against College – and to only beat them once in the 5 derby games I played shows what a great rugby school they were and still are.
“Thank you for letting me share my fond memories with you. DHS vs Maritzburg College – as the 2 oldest schools in KwaZulu-Natal – will always be a very special occasion. GO SCHOOL!”
The boys of Durban High School will be giving it all for the Old Gold.
Regards
Ivan Pistorius
DHS (Class of 1989)
Thanks Ivy – You have conjured up special memories… Bring on Super Saturday!
More exciting news to come
