FRESH from a successful St Stithians Easter tournament, Grey High are preparing themselves for a new challenge when the Standard Bank Grey Rugby Festival takes place in Port Elizabeth on Thursday and Saturday (April 27 and 29).
Despite putting together three wins in the festival in Johannesburg, director of rugby Allan Miles says they know they need to switch their focus to the offensive they can expect from Jeppe and Parktown in their own tournament.
As the hosts of the two-day event, Grey will have a mark on their backs and their Johannesburg opponents would love to take an opportunity to prove a point this week.
Miles is preparing his squad for a full onslaught.
“They are two traditional rugby schools with a lot of pride,” he said. “They will really come at us and they will leave everything out on the field.
“We know that Jeppe have a strong group of grade 11s and they are capable of playing a fast and expansive game at the moment. If their approach to our game is the same it should prove to be an entertaining encounter.”
Grey will open their programme with the feature match against Jeppe on Thursday and then round off their schedule against Parktown in Saturday’s final fixture.
In the corresponding match last year they registered a solid 27-8 win over the Johannesburg team, but know that nothing can be taken for granted.
“Parktown are a physical and committed side,” said Miles. “We may have had the better of them in our last few encounters, but we know they will be out to prove a point. We could not have asked for a better fixture for the Saturday.”
Grey started their season with an 11-11 draw against the combative Marlow side in the Graeme Rugby Day last month, but Miles said the squad had shown much improvement since then.
“We have been able to settle on some important combinations and this has allowed some of our new structures to come through,” he said.
“The coaching team made up of Byron Schmidt (assistant coach – forwards), Jarryd Buys (backline coach), Francois Holder (biokineticist) and master in charge Fenner Barnard need to be commended for all of their efforts ensuring that the team was well prepared for the St Stithians Festival.
“A testimony to the good work that Francois does with the boys is that we are relatively injury-free from that tournament. This has put us in a good position for the Grey festival.”
Miles added they had used the rolling substitution to good effect at St Stithians, giving the whole squad plenty of exposure during the week.
“Every player in the squad of 23 was involved in a minimum of 20 minutes per match,” he said. “We referred to the squad as starters and finishers.
“Just before halftime we were able to put our full bench on. We could then rest our starters who would start the second half before being substituted again. The players bought into this idea which was very positive.”
Despite their wins over Westville, Maritzburg College and Durban High School, Miles said they would be constantly looking for improvement.
“I don’t think a team can ever be happy with where they are. There are still areas where we can make an improvement and these are being addressed continually.”
Fixtures for Grey High Rugby Festival
Thursday, April 27
(first teams unless stated)
Philip field
08.50: Hudson Park v Despatch, 10.10: Brandwag v DHS, 11.30: Muir v Parktown, 12.50: Queen’s v St John’s, 14.10: Daniel Pienaar v Dale, 15.30: Grey High v Jeppe
Pollock field
08.50: Daniel Pienaar U16 v Dale, 10.10: Grey Unicorns v Eezi Fana, 11.30: Grey U16 v Jeppe, 12.50: Ithembelihle v Louis Botha, 14.10: Pearson v St David’s
Police field
08.50: Brandwag v U16 v Selborne, 10.10: Pearson U16A v Grey U16B, 11.30: Dale U15A v Daniel Pienaar U15A, 12.50: St Alban’s U16 v Nico Malan, 14.10: Parktown U16 v Muir
Pyott field
08.30: Queen’s U16 v St John’s, 09.50: Queen’s U15 v Nico Malan, 10.50: Grey U15 v Hudson Park, 11.50: Brandwag U15 v St John’s, 12.50: Despatch U16 v Hudson Park, 14.10: Framesby U15 v Selborne
Gordon field
08.30: Grey U14B v Despatch U14A, 09.30: Grey U14 v Hudson Park, 10.30: Queen’s U14 v Nico Malan, 11.30: Framesby U14 v Selborne, 12.30: Daniel Pienaar U14 v Dale, 13.30: Brandwag U14 v St John’s, 14.30: Parktown U14 v Muir
Old Grey field
08.30: Pearson U14 v St David’s, 09.30: Parktown U15 v Muir, 12.30: Pearson U15A v Grey U15B
Saturday, April 29
Philip field
08.50: Muir v St David’s, 10.10: St John’s v St Andrew’s, 11.30: Jeppe v DHS, 12.50: Daniel Pienaar v Louis Botha, 14.10: Graeme v Ithembelihle, 15.30: Grey v Parktown
Pollock field
08.30: Grey U16A v Parktown, 09.50: St Alban’s U16A v Eezi Fani, 11.10: Dale v Pearson, 12.30: Brandwag v Hudson Park, 13.50: Unicorns v Despatch, 15.10: Selborne U16 v Daniel Pienaar
Pyott field
08.30: Nico Malan U16 v Jeppe, 09.50: Grey U15 v Selborne, 10.50: Graeme U16 v St John’s, 12.10: Grey U16B v Muir U16A, 13.40: Queen’s U16 v Despatch, 15.00: Brandwag U16 v Hudson Park
Police field
08.30: Dale U16 v Pearson, 09.50: Nico Malan U15 v St John’s
Gordon field
08.30: Graeme U14 v St David’s, 09.30: Daniel Pienaar U14 v Parktown, 10.30: Framesby U14 v Hudson Park, 11.30: Framesby U15 v Hudson Park, 12.30: Grey U14 v Selborne, 13.30: Grey U14B v Muir U14A, 14.30: Grey U15B v Muir U15A
Old Grey field
08.30: Nico Malan U14 v St John’s, 09.30: Despatch U14 v Eezi Fana, 10.30: Queen’s U14 v Brandwag, 11.30: Queen’s U15 v Brandwag, 12.30: Daniel Pienaar U15 v Parktown, 13.30: Dale U14 v Pearson, 14.30: Dale U15 v Pearson.
