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Rugby: Glenwood first XV vs Monument on Saturday
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.
MORE THAN JUST A JOB: Glenwood first XV head coach Derek Heiberg and peers take the time to understand and counsel each player in their care.
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.”
Glenwood centre Conan le Fleur scores in the 2018 win against HTS Drostdy at Kearsney Easter Fest. Photo Tracey van den Aardweg.
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/
Playmaker: Glenwood scrumhalf and 2017 SA Schools cap Jaden Hendrikse was outstanding for his school.
YEAH. I am shouting. Deal with it.
This is for me – and I hope you get value out of it too; on another Monday morning that as usual throws up all manner of ifs when’s and buts. And the Scourge of The Ages. Self-doubt.
There can be no experience more exhilarating and gratifying than creating meaningful change. Let today speak to the agent of change in you, the positor of innovation that does good for our world.
So if you are feeling uncomfortable, awkward and “out” of your inner calm, do not accept the world as it is, especially “your” world – the place that lives inside you daily and takes place around you. That horrible otherworldly thing that says you can’t, you are not good enough, you don’t matter.
Push back gently, take one careful step towards FIXING what is “not right”, and then take another, firmer step. BE utterly truthful with yourself. Explore the emotion, question whether it is real – and then heed its message and take action. Do not think further; TAKE. THE. ACTION.
Yes there are guaranteed to be hiccups and headaches and no-entry signs and all the little bits of nothing that derail us. There will ALWAYS be the keyboard ninjas who will try and suck your energy and focus. Be kind to them – IGNORE THEM.
How to ignore the drainers of all your “positive”? Remind yourself that when the motor car came on the scene at the twilight of the 19th Century, the equivalent of the modern-day keyboard ninjas sneered “Get a Horse”. Ja, the same bunch who thought the World Wide Web was just a flash in the pan that would not stay the distance.
YOUR JOB, YOUR ONLY JOB, is to stay focused, stay “stuff-you” focused on that little voice inside you, that keeps whispering gently, “It can be done”. Nelson Mandela is the rock star of “it can be done”. He said it: “It always SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE… UNTIL IT’S DONE.” (I loved shouting that).
Yes, there are so many uncertainties – and so much “stuff” that cons us into believing we’re wasting our time; so when this happens remind yourself that “this stuff” is nothing. Real stuff is when a friend passes away in the blink of an eye. Here now; next thing no longer. “THAT” IS REAL STUFF.
So get out there, embrace the uncertainty as an absolute, cast-iron certainty; ask the question, do not be afraid of the answer; you cannot take it personally; it is what the other person is living in that moment. They don’t hate you, they don’t despise you; they are just in a place where you cannot reach them in your space.
And please remember this: Teddy Roosevelt said it – and it is a “message golden” for every one of us; a message that I have tinkered and tailored… because I CAN… (shock, horror).
“It is not the critic who counts… No, the credit belongs to the warrior human who is actually in the arena, who is not afraid to get sweaty, dirty; accepts it will be bloody awful at some point; who makes a mistake, then another, and then another, but STILL continues to seek the outcome that is worthy. The warrior human in all of us that yearns to, but is so too often afraid to, “do the work” for fear of some idiot called failure.
The warrior human knows great passion for something; who goes all-in while knowing all-out that failure is possible, but DOES IT ANYWAY. Because it is worth it, because it is better to have dared to try than never to have known.
So DON’T SIT ON THE FENCE. Pick up the tools of your trade, BE FEARLESS, TAKE ACTION. Fall over, GET UP! Fall over again. JUST.GET.UP. Keep on keeping on with the unshakeable determination that, COME WHAT MAY, you are going to build something that makes you PROUD.
ENTER THE ARENA! LAUGH AT THE MONSTER!
Think less; you have done enough thinking to write the most boringly repetitive book ever. Chuck the worst of the “old you” out. Keep the good stuff that is there – AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE. Set yourself free of the junk-thinking and the worry about “what will THEY think”.
THEY, don’t care about you, so THEY are worthless. There are others who DO care. Very much.
Knock that old self down and build the real you from the ground up.
I hope you do. Because every single time you do, it helps make someone else better. IT GIVES HOPE. And hope is all we have.
Faith/Hope/Love. IT.IS.ALL>WE>HAVE
*****
Jono says, “Thanks Steve Case and Teddy R”.
Because I can.
Maritzburg College Old Boy Ryan Moon off to top-flight Swedish soccer club
In breaking news, Maritzburg College product Ryan Moon has landed a three-year contract with Swedish premier league club Varberg Bols FC.
The 25-year-old Moon, who is from Woodlands in Pietermaritzburg, leaves his current club Stellenbosch FC and is due to fly out on Thursday. The Sweden premier league, or Allvenskan, kicks off the new season next weekend.
Feature photo: Ryan is presented with a Maritzburg College Old Boys blazer by headmaster Chris Luman at a function in the school’s Alan Paton Hall in mid-2018.
Apart from his distinguished years at Maritzburg College, where he excelled in the Red, Black and White colours, Moon also learnt his trade at the Woodland and Pirates soccer clubs in Pietermaritzburg before making his debut for his local SA premier league club Maritzburg United in 2015.
Hardly a year later his exploits earned a move to traditional SA soccer giants Kaizer Chiefs.
In another local tie-up, Moon’s representative is fellow Maritzburg College Old Boy, the 29-year-old Gauteng-based attorney Modise Sefume, of Giyose Sefume Attorneys, who revealed to News24 today that negotiations have been ongoing in a bid for Ryan to realise his overseas dream.
Modise Sefume during his schooldays at Maritzburg College.
“We’ve been working on it a couple of months now,” said Modise. “The guy is excited, it is a big opportunity and he really wants to get there, get going and prove himself.”
Ryan leaves with the blessing of Stellenbosch FC and his immediate goal will be to break into the Varbergs starting line-up and help his new club to improve on last year’s 11th-place finish in Sweden’s premier division.
Ryan’s older brother Bryce has, like his younger brother, also played for Bafana Bafana. Their dad, Patrick, was also a prominent footballer.
Read more about Ryan in this earlier KZN10.com article
https://kzn10.com/maritzburg-college-old-boy-soccer-star-ryan-moon-on-pmb-fa-cup/
Maritzburg College Old Boy and Bafana Bafana striker Ryan Moon, seen here presenting his Kaizer Chiefs shirt to headmaster Chris Luman in mid-2018.
Return of inter-school rugby: Extremely low chance of Covid-19 player transmission during matches
In good news that coincides with the return of inter-school sports matches in South Africa, analysis the British government’s experts on virus transmission have undertaken on rugby matches indicate that Covid-19 is not being spread during the contact situations that occur during a match.
There were no known cluster outbreaks when elite UK rugby and other sports matches returned. Although no spectators will be allowed at inter-school sports matches in SA, this bodes well for our players.
The British government analysis further held that it is in the intermingling of people after the matches have ended that creates the primary risk of transmission.
Professor James Calder is the chairman of the British government’s committee on the return of elite sport.
He said there had also been no known cases of Covid transmission during football matches. This finding is surely heartening for a similar sports code, hockey.
The British government’s experts have undertaken a series of studies on the risks involved in playing contact sport and the recurring conclusion is that it is not the participation in outdoor sport itself that is the problem.
The actual danger comes from people not following the virus-transmission protocols when it comes to the activity of travelling to matches, changing into match kit for the matches and the socialising that takes place after matches.
Another professor who has been privy to the analysis has gone on record to say that the risks of virus transmission during sports matches played outdoors are extraordinarily low, far lower than the risks faced during the myriad human interactions that occur during the course of a day inside buildings.
Indeed, just the simple act of keeping the windows open (to allow for the air outside) while travelling together in a car or taxi makes a difference in lowering the risk of transmission.
It is widely held that the three ways of catching Covid come from droplets, surfaces or aerosols.
Professor Mike Weed says that it is becoming more widely acknowledged that it is aerosol (the suspension of liquid droplets in air) which is the most significant transmission method, and the professor said “it is virtually irrelevant outside.
The prof went on to say that in his broader study of how Covid-19 has been spread, there were “very few – almost negligible – examples of outdoor transmission in everyday life”.
Adviser to the Scottish government, Professor Devi Sridhar, said the focus must be on the areas where it has been proven that there is a higher risk of transmission. “We need restrictions where we know transmission occurs more often and less restrictions where it is safer. Outdoor transmission is minimal, we know.”
**********
You probably know this already, but just for the record, the South African government’s department of basic education (DBE) has officially sanctioned the return of inter-school sport. No spectators will be allowed.
Based on the DBE’s directive in the government gazette:
The following activities are permitted and may resume, without any spectators, subject to compliance with hygiene and safety measures to prevent and combat the spread of Covid-19 (C19), and with social distancing measures pertaining to gatherings:
school sport matches
physical education
extra-curricular activities
inter-school, district, provincial and national school sport tournaments.
A C19 compliance officer must be appointed for each venue
there must only be one controlled entrance to the venue
all participants must undergo health and temperature screening before warm-up or event
any person who enters the venue must undergo the health and temperature screening
hand sanitisers must be available at the entrance gate and every person who enters the venue must sanitise their hands
participants and officials must sanitise their hands before and after a match or event
a person who leaves the venue temporarily and returns again, must again undergo the process of health and temperature screening, and hand sanitising;
for contact tracing purposes only, a register of all officials and learners from visiting and hosting schools who are attending a school match or event must be kept by the hosting school for at least 21 days and must contain the following information of officials and learners:
Full names
residential address
cell phone number, telephone number or email address
contact details of the person or persons living in the same residence as the person attending training or a school match or event
a digital registration and health screening platform, such as the teacher connect application, may also be used to assist with the administration of the registration process contemplated in paragraph
if a person has C19 symptoms or presents with a temperature above 38 degrees Celsius, that person must be refused access into the venue
the number of persons, including participants, referees, adjudicators, technical officials, volunteers, medical team, media or broadcasting team, and stadium workers, permitted at a venue at any one time is limited to
a maximum of 100 persons, for indoor venues
a maximum of 250 persons, for outdoor venues
if the venue is too small to hold 100 persons indoors or 250 persons outdoors, observing a distance of at least 1,5m from each other, then not more than 50% of the capacity of the venue may be used, subject to strict adherence to all health protocols and social distancing measures.
teams, technical officials, volunteers, relevant stadium staff, medical staff and registered members of the media or broadcaster team must leave the venue as soon as their responsibilities are completed
social distancing and the wearing of face masks must always be maintained by persons who are not participating in matches or events;
participants must always wear face masks, except when participating in an event
technical officials must report before the start of any event or competition for a C19 regulations and protocol briefing session and screening
all ablution facilities must be sanitised regularly and kept clean as per C19 protocols
entry to the ablution area will be regulated to adhere to social distancing protocols
all sports equipment must be sanitised before and after use.
Source: Telegraph, Government Gazette, Stock
Hilton College Old Boy & Yuppiechef co-founder Andrew Smith… from 1 Bug Zapper sale to R470 million in cash
IMAGINE, if just for a metaphorical moment, you’re confined to “my” (outrageously make-believe) 1998 Hilton College matric class on a sultry early afternoon, a reluctant non-participant (you’re wrong side of the window after all) in the somnolent haze of a gorgeous summer’s day in the breath-taking KZN midlands… and… (sigh some more) your thoughts wander away (if only just for a moment) from my fascinating insights into the intricacies of linear algebra concepts…
“Yuppiechef,” you silently say to yourself, “in 8 years’ time (2006) I’m going to start Yuppiechef with a Maritzburg College guy I’ve never met and by the time I hit 40 YC will be sold to Mr Price for around R470 million cash (on 15 March 2021)!”
Now I hear you, dear reader, say: “Okay Jono, stop being somnolent, you are acting somnolently and are experiencing somnolence. Nothing worthwhile happens that easy, dear boy.”
Paul, Andrew and Shane.
So true. And now that I have, hopefully, got your attention (and just before I lose it forever) here is a glimpse into the success story that is Hilton College Old Boy Andrew Smith, who graduated from Hilton 23 years ago having obtained the school’s top academic marks in his 1998 matric year.
‘If you don’t actually enjoy the process and enjoy the journey of what you’re doing then you’re lost’
A degree in computer science beckoned but the idea palled after a few months when compared to the lure of a senior programming job with a tech business in the KZN capital.
* Btw if you are fast becoming seriously irritated-stroke-confused by my (nevertheless) mindful meanderings take a quick look here
https://kzn10.com/massive-success-for-hilton-and-maritzburg-college-old-boys/
before getting back to this story.
Shane, Paul and Andrew.
Andrew then moved to Cape Town and struck up a friendship with a 1992 Maritzburg College Old Boy by the name of Shane Dryden and LiveAlchemy was the result, an agency that offered web development and marketing services.
‘You need to find the intersection between an opportunity that
exists in the market, something you’re good at, and something you enjoy’
On the side, in around 2005, the duo began selling a medley of products online – the first one being the Bug Zapper, an Eskom-propelled racket-stroke-bat that swatted incalcitrant flies with deadly abandon. It was the first goodie the pair ever sold (albeit to Andrew’s mum) and the seed of today’s Yuppiechef mega-success was born.
Dr Nemesis’s note to reader: the inescapable agent of every errant fly’s downfall, said Bug Zapper, obviously worked… a million bucks’ worth of The Nightmare on Bug Street were sold to grateful online customers.
‘The only way to success is to get into the kitchen and get on with it’
After the intrepid duet had sold assorted bits and bobs across space that is cyber, Shane came up with the idea (like all good Maritzburg College boys… sorry, had to slip that in…) of flogging kitchenware the same way and on that self-same platform.
“We wanted to build a brand of our own,” Andrew is quoted as saying. “In 2006 we had the skills but no money, so e-commerce was an accessible business to start. Shane had a passion for cooking, and we knew the local wholesalers of one brand, so we launched with 32 products.”
From the lounge of Andrew’s Cape Town home (in Plumstead), the Maritzburg College/Hilton combo chose 3 spare days to get things going. On Day 3 the website went live. Products were packaged, plans made, in that lounge. The only time they had to spend on this new venture was after their day-job work was done.
A grand total of 10 sales to family and friends plus 1 sale outside their immediate circle was the slender dividend after 4 months. It took 12 months to realise a modest total of 200 customers. With no spare cash, new stock could only be acquired once stock-in-hand had been bought and paid for.
It took 5 years before work for their LiveAlchemy clients was wrapped up. It took 5 years before the pair could reasonably draw a monthly salary from the proceeds of Yuppiechef sales.
A warehouse in Cape Town’s Westlake finally relieved the congestion in the Smith family lounge. At last, full-focus could be applied to what had become “Yuppiechef” – a name dreamt up by Shane while lying in bed on a Sunday morning.
Around 2017, Andrew had said in an interview (with Roberta Thatcher, I think): “Ten years on, we look back at our journey and ask, ‘Why did we do it that way?’ The truth is that you cannot plot your success on a timeline and simply pick and choose the events that you think made the most positive contribution. Understanding how magic really works is elusive and perhaps everything that we’ve done in the last decade has had an invaluable impact.
“A lot of successful people can point to their hard work and their genius and their great team, but they leave out the fact that you have to be in the right place at the right time. We have benefited a lot from good timing.”
It certainly was an excellent time to start something in e-commerce in South Africa. And the success of shows like Masterchef; that rock star of kitchen matters… Jamie Oliver; had brought a sexiness and sense of cool to cooking.
Shane and Andrew had seen the future… what was happening in countries beyond our shores… it was online… they had a crystal-clear insight into the way that South Africa would be forced to catch up with the world.
“You are dealing with all the same things as traditional retailers, your shop front just happens to be a technical store. So it’s sourcing the right products and then having them on the shelf to be able to start marketing, telling people about it and then serving them. Customer service is key.
“Most of our customer service is just employing people who care… and creating a culture of really, genuinely, caring about our customers.’
‘Customers who have a problem and get it solved
have a bigger lifetime value than customers who never have a problem’
Andrew says if you don’t actually enjoy the work, it’s going to be very difficult, because so few businesses get off the ground as quickly as the founders think they’re going to. “A lot of the time in your own business it’s years and years and years before you make any money. And then more years before you make enough money to stop doing whatever your other work is.”
Jono’s note to self: So many more aspects I would like to mention here, but there are still my pieces on Shane Dryden and the third member of the Yuppiechef movement, Andrew’s classmate Paul Galatis, to come, so let me save that for later. I think the Andrew Smith quote below is a nice way to end this one.]
“A big part of the meaning of everything for me is finding out what am I uniquely supposed to be doing. What is unique in me that’s not in anyone else. And you can call that, ‘What have I been created to do’, or ‘What am I destined to do’, or ‘What has luck made me good at doing’?
“But whatever it is, to understand yourself and understand what you offer to the world is something I don’t think a lot of people do. If I understand who am I and what am I better at than anyone else at doing (and what should I avoid doing because I really suck at it) I’m going to be the biggest contribution to the world around me.
“Very often that journey of self-discovery leads to the discovery of an even bigger meaning and purpose in life.”
*****
What I know you’d like to know about Andrew Smith –
# He’s married, likes making biltong and can’t live without a decent coffee machine… “the ritual of trying to make the perfect cup is part of the enjoyment”
# He’s not particularly into cooking; his wife is the cook and baker; his home is known for chicken pie and lemon meringue
# He gets great pleasure in picking out good beers and whiskey and enjoying them with family and friends while breathing in the Cape Town sea air out on the patio
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Next up its Yuppiechef co-founder Shane Dryden, the Maritzburg College Class of 1992 Old Boy, then it’ll be a turn to take a pot-luck-look at the third member of the Yuppiechef Big Three, the 1998 Hilton College head boy Paul Galatis, who was Andrew Smith’s matric classmate and joined YC 2 years after its inception.
From flyswatter to R470 million: Hilton & Maritzburg College Old Boys’ massive success
A Maritzburg College Old Boy (MCOB, Class of 1992) and Hilton College Old Boy (’98) have taken a business concept that began in the lounge in 2006 to an approximate R470 million cash sale as of yesterday.
Mr Price is the buyer, while the 2 founders, MCOB Shane Dryden and Old Hiltonian Andrew Smith, along with a second Hilton College Old Boy, Smith’s 1998 Hilton classmate and head boy Paul Galatis, are the three primary beneficiaries, their being the 3 directors of Yuppiechef, the hugely popular Online kitchen and homeware retailer.
Dryden and Smith along with their Yuppiechef management team, will continue to operate the business for Mr Price.
Hilton College Old Boy (Class of 1998) Andrew Smith.
Smith, who received the highest academic marks in his matric class year at Hilton, and Maritzburg College Old Boy Dryden are the 2006 founders of Yuppiechef, while the third and only other director is Galatis, who joined in 2008 and brought design skills and e-commerce marketing knowledge to complete the Yuppiechef recipe.
The concept of selling kitchen and household goods Online that began in that Plumstead, Cape Town lounge 14 years ago has almost taken on a life of its own. A fly swatter gadget, that was bought by Andrew’s mum, was their first product and first sale.
Flags and handy kitchen implements then became 32 e-commerce kitchen products, 11 sales were made in the first 4 months (10 to family and friends), and after 12 months the sum total of huge endeavour and smart work was only 200 customers.
Maritzburg College Old Boy (Class of 1992) Shane Dryden.
It took 5 years before they could actually pay themselves a salary. E-commerce was the only way to go as they did not have capital. They could only order more stock once they had been paid for what they had sold.
Dryden is the natural foodie among the trio, always having had an interest in the subject, and of one Sunday morning he came up with the name “Yuppiechef”.
All in all, a fantastic achievement for these Old Boys of Hilton and Maritzburg College. A KZN10.com congrats to Shane, Andrew and Paul.
Hilton College head boy in 1998 Paul Galatis.
Yesterday, Yuppiechef said on their website, “We’re still going to be the same Yuppiechef in name and people and the way we work. Our co-founders, Andrew and Shane, will still be leading us, and we’ll have our same teams and managers firmly in place.
“Some of us have been around for a long time, helping craft the company that Yuppiechef has become, and some of us are privileged to have come more recently to work for a brand that customers have shown so much love to over the past 14 years. We all take our responsibilities seriously, and are committed to making Yuppiechef the best that it can be.
“If you’re one of our customers already, thank you for your support so far, and if you’re not, we’ll keep on trying to win you over.
“There’s a lot more good stuff coming!”
Klopp, the Kop and Liverpool’s multi-faceted fall
The alarming drop in form of reigning England Premier League (EPL) champions Liverpool is one of the talking points of the moment in football. It can happen to all teams, even the "best" teams, not least our schoolboy sides, so it is informative to take a look-see.
Even on a normal, ho-hum day there is so much being written about Liverpool it is virtually a full-time job (seriously, you will know what I mean if you tried) trying to keep up with all of it, particularly as there are so many divergent but valid viewpoints being bandied about.
So, I’ve tried to cobble together at least some of it, but by no means have I captured it all.
"Anfield, with people and without, is completely different," is how Man City boss Pep Guardiola termed it last month, echoing a sentiment that has been publicly and privately expressed by Liverpool's players. The famous Kop stand at Anfield is a formidable opponent on its own. It could be argued that the Kop bereft of Kopites is akin to a 1- or 2-0 lead for a visiting team.
The 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Fulham at Anfield on Sunday was the team's 6th successive home defeat. No other title-defending EPL team has ever suffered such a large fall-off in points at this stage of the season.
A major factor has been the number of injuries to important personnel, predominantly in key positions, which has seen the club featuring 19 different centre-back combinations during this campaign. Midfielders have been shifted out of their usual slots to fill the void at the back, which in turn has exacerbated the pressure in the more attacking zones of the field.
With the pressure, other cracks are also becoming prominent, including the players' mentality and attitude as well as questions surrounding the decisions made by manager Jurgen Klopp.
The chances of retaining the EPL title are almost gone and even a top-four Champions League berth next season appears to be fading fast for Liverpool, who now lie in 8th place on the log.
The Telegraph's football journalists have delved into the topic with the thoroughness that one has come to expect of this prominent UK news website. Chris Bascombe, for example, reports of the criticism levelled by the club's former player Jamie Carragher, ex-Liverpool captain and manager Graeme Souness, as well as fiery ex-Man United skipper Roy Keane.
Carragher said the club as a whole had not dealt well with adversity, Keane described it as crisis time and Sky pundit Souness called the decline unfathomable and that Liverpool had not shown Fulham the respect they deserved.
“It beggars belief how a team can go from being so good, to [being] so average,” Souness expounded. “People talk about the manager, but Jurgen Klopp has learned a lot about his dressing room. It's about players. Some of them have not stood up to the challenge.”
Klopp has, to his credit, not harped on using the injury situation as a handy scapegoat for the club's plight yet one cannot help but feel for the manager in this respect. On a family level, too, Klopp has suffered much; the death of his mom perhaps even more deeply felt by his being unable to attend her funeral.
The 53-year-old Jurgen Klopp throws his hands up in disgust at yet another Liverpool hiccup.
If one looks at just a few aspects of the slippery slope Liverpool find themselves on, the numbers are startling:
* 8 home games without a win; on just 1 occasion (the 1951/52 season) have they ever had an even longer winless streak at Anfield
* the 6 home losses equals the same number of consecutive home defeats suffered in the '53/54 season. Four home losses in a row is the next-highest
* 8 defeats in their last 12 EPL games; as many defeats as in their previous 121 EPL matches
* 115 goalshots at Anfield (not including penalties) with zero actual goals to show for it; which leads to a truly remarkable statistic: the longest drought for a home side on record
* Fulham's win on Sunday is the first time since October 2010 (Blackpool on that occasion) that a newly-promoted team has won at Anfield
Given the situation, perhaps the best chance left to retain Champions League football at Anfield will be for Liverpool to win the current competition - and that journey continues today when they take a 2-0 first-leg lead into their meeting with RB Leipzig in Budapest in the round-of-16 return match, both sides intent on earning a berth in the quarter-finals.
Apparently FSG (Fenway Sports Group) the owners of Liverpool still back manager Klopp, the man who as recently as 45 days ago, was closing in on an unbeaten home run spanning 4 years and who as recently as Boxing Day 2020 was at the helm of the EPL log-leaders.
One wonders how Klopp would be feeling if Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was his boss. The man who holds the purse strings at Stamford Bridge fired Carlos Ancelotti a year after his Chelsea side had won the Double.
Jose Mourinho was hired, sacked, re-employed and then fired again by the Russian despite not losing a home league match for more than 3 years. And it's not just a Chelsea trait.
Claudio Ranieri was ejected by Leicester City a bare 9 months after piloting them to a storybook English Premier League title.
If one looks at his managerial career, Klopp has found it difficult in previous times of adversity. Of course, that has been the plight faced by many a manager who has tried and failed to stop the rot.
The German was the darling of the Rhineland around 2004 when he engineered Mainz to promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time ever. He was in charge three years later when they were relegated and was further unsuccessful in getting them back to the top-flight of German club football.
At Borussia Dortmund, Klopp took the club to the Champions League final 8 years ago and just 18 months or so later the German side were relegation-threatened in the Bundesliga.
Klopp emotional as Mainz are relegated from the Bundesliga in 2007.
Another source of concern is that it has not so much been the defeats themselves, but the nature of those defeats that have caught the attention of many.
Outplayed is an unequivocal word, but one cannot prevent that adjective entering one’s thought process when applying one’s mind to the manner in which they were (well-) beaten by Burnley and Brighton. Not very long ago, it might be fair to say that the 2 B’s would barely have measured up to once-mighty Liverpool.
What this turnaround in fortunes has clearly shown is that a hiccup or series of hiccups is quickly grasped and exploited by those who appear hungrier on any given day, particularly against a team that is driven by Klopp’s attack-minded philosophy.
Let’s hope the house of cards does not descend from collapsed mode into complete disintegration.
Time will tell.
Images Rex PA AP
New Maritzburg College director of rugby ‘humbled and excited’
In the first of what are to be regular monthly newsletters to Maritzburg College Old Boys and other stakeholders, the new Maritzburg College director of rugby Hein Kriek said that “in the long run 2021 will be a year of assessment, adjustment, alignment and recalculation with[in] the changing landscape of schoolboy rugby in a Covid-19 society.”
Hein enthused at the prospect of joining the College family and being an integral part of “the rich rugby history that runs through the veins of the school”.
“In these challenging times with Covid-19 looming over our heads around every corner, our beloved sport of rugby at schoolboy level has taken a massive blow. To start 2021 much in the same manner as 2020 ended is not the ideal situation…”
Hein said that the current circumstances would require a flexible approach and a determination to capitalise on whatever opportunities may arise during the year.
Maritzburg College’s new director of rugby Hein Kriek (left) conducted an absorbing workshop with the school’s 30-strong group of rugby coaches at the Kent Pavilion and adjacent Goldstones last Friday evening. Photo c/o @MaritzCollege
The new director of rugby complimented former director of rugby Kevin Smith (now director of College business) for the “excellent work” he had done and expressed a desire to build on what had already been put in place.
Hein said further that “the challenge and question is: ‘How do we take the next step to get to the next level?’ ”
The goals would be to build on the current College rugby model and tie that in with long-term player development. “Development for our coaches is also of the utmost importance; to equip them with the toolkit to guide our players.”
Hein also touched on an issue that is no doubt playing on the minds of his counterparts across the country. How to identify the young talent of soon-to-be high school age when there was no schoolboy rugby to speak of last year… and quite conceivably precious little this year.
Nevertheless, the new College rugby man said that every effort would be made to unearth a fresh group of youngsters to wear the Red, Black and White.
Hein cautioned that with the national school year’s commencement having been delayed to mid-February the short-term rugby programme for the boys did present a challenge.
“Our elite players will be active in the High Performance programme (strength and conditioning) with a skill session per week on the field run by the coaches.”
“Boys will be encouraged to participate in other non-contact sports that will be running in term 1 and this will also be the ideal opportunity to start the academic year on the right note.
“The holistic development of the boys is paramount in the success of our rugby programme.”
With a solid foundation having been laid, it is clear that the future of Maritzburg College rugby is in good hands.
Photo c/o @MaritzCollege
* Hein is a teacher, an educator who among a host of sports-related qualifications, possesses a B.SC degree in human movement science, an honours degree in sports science (both from Pukke) and a masters degree in sports directorship from Salford University Business School in England.
Clearly a rugby man to the nth degree, Hein has attained a number of highly regarded rugby coaching qualifications at international level and attended numerous top-drawer rugby courses worldwide.
Hein’s outstanding rugby coaching history includes positions held at top club, school and senior level.
Here is a brief breakdown:
* Forwards coach and technical adviser to Hamilton’s Sea Point RFC, who became national club champions
* Western Province Craven Week coach
* Two years as South African Schools coach
* First XV coach and head of coaching at Paul Roos, who were crowned Sanix World Youth champions
* Forwards and defence coach with the Pumas Currie Cup team
* Forwards and defence coaching consultant in Europe with the Czech and Netherlands national rugby unions
* KZN10.com wishes Hein and Maritzburg College rugby everything of the best.
#OnwardAndUpward
#CollegeFire
#RedBlackWhite
@MaritzCollege
Let’s hope interschools matches on Goldstones are not too far away. Photo Martin Ashworth
Skonk’s spirit lives on at Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College Geography teacher, deputy headmaster and rugby legend J.M “Skonk” Nicholson passed on 10 years ago on Sunday, age 94.
While he co-authored Geography textbooks, was a teacher loved by his learners because he always had a story to tell that was laced with his trademark wit and often-subtle-but no-less-impactful meaning, it is his passion for coaching rugby that lingers longer in the mind.
This was a gift that surely comes from grace. It inspired generations of College boys who aspired to pull on the Red Black and White rugger jersey.
Skonk’s rugby passion was so strong as to be infused with a spiritual force. It generated an energy, a devotion among his players that few have equalled.
The “Skonk Factor” also served to create a rugby culture at Maritzburg College that forms a central tenet in the 158-year-old school’s ethos.
Maritzburg College is about so much more than a single sports code, but the role that rugby does play in the school’s existence deserves its due.
Skonk’s quietly spoken, measured words had a wisdom and authenticity that few could miss.
Allied to his understated yet plain-to-see charisma and presence, the distinguished DHS Old Boy also had an immeasurable understanding of the nuts and bolts that make up the sport of rugby.
It was a remarkable ability.
The intricacies of the game, a game that can be made incredibly complicated and convoluted in the wrong hands?
Skonk understood the complexities like a chess Grand Master; he understood the conundrums; he had an impeccable grasp of the technical detail in rugby, be it at scrum time (a guru he was), lineouts, positional play or speed to the loose ball and its all-important consequent recycling…
Yet perhaps Skonk’s greatest gift was his ability to simplify, get to the core point, and then relay it in clear terms to his young players.
Information overload is anathema to a teenage schoolboy. Skonk knew this all-too well. Clear, concise, instructions… every schoolboy can live with that.
The outcome was score upon score of devoted players who will keep the spirit of Skonk alive through the myriad stories they have to tell to the generations to come who are blessed to hear them.
What stories of Skonk do you have to tell?
It is good to remember… schoolboy rugby
Following my interesting little story yesterday…… https://kzn10.com/two-remarkable-school-sports-records/
…… I have just recalled another slice of nice stuff that I think you could find interesting:
IF… my memory is correct… An interesting fact is that since the beginning (not sure the year) of Natal Schools’ Craven Week rugby selections, Maritzburg College lead the way as far as most Nat Schools caps (players selected) is concerned, then Glenwood then Michaelhouse.
Michaelhouse featuring in third place is a noteworthy achievement when one considers the relatively small intake of boys compared to the bigger schools.
That 1984 to 1987 Michaelhouse first XV era was an interesting one. Serious talent and the ability to respond well to adversity (the illness-plagued 86 side deserves special mention).
Guys like the multi-talented Victor Anderson, his scrumhalf James Wilson, big Bob Mitchell, 85 captain Wayne Witherspoon, Richard Firth, 86 captain Bruce Herbert, lock/loosie Will Hardie, flyhalf Murray Gilson, 9 Murray Collins, Ross Armstrong, gifted athlete Mike Jeffery, flyhalf Mark Olivier, the versatile loosie/midfielder James Arnott, etc etc
It is good to remember, in that there is much to learn.
