Bishops Platinum Blue 2018 full mag crop

U16C by Keith Warne
“WE’RE GOING TO GET
slaughtered!” My unfortunate
thoughts as what was left of my
team, after being rather seriously
decimated by all sorts of illnesses
and maladies in the preceding
week, ran out under the poles to
face a seriously intimidating Paul
Roos team. We had worked hard at
practices but with the number of
last-minute changes I feared the
worst. Even though we were playing
at least one team down (their U16
Es) they looked as if they could
easily take on our Bs. So, going 5
points up within no time was a
surprise to day the least! That it
came after some impressive
rucking, ball retention and straight
running simply added to our
amazement, as Mike, Harry and I
tried desperately to claim
responsibility for the brilliant rugby
we were witnessing. A welldeserved
28-12 victory was
the unexpected result.
That game however proved,
unfortunately, to be not only one of
the few highlights this season but
also somehow set a rather strange
precedent. Some two weeks later,
as we ran out against one of our
local opponents after a week of
spectacular practices and with a full
squad, I found myself thinking, “This
is going to be good!” However, it
was not to be. We played like a
shadow of the team that defeated
Paul Roos and only seemed to kick
into gear late in the second half and
were resoundingly beaten. This
pattern unfortunately seemed to
become our modus operandi and
we came away with only three wins.
A season of underperforming
when we should have shone and
surprising brilliance when least
expected left us mostly rather
frustrated. Mention must be made
of the hard graft up front from the
likes of Luke Beachy-Head, Francis
Bayly, Sadock Magai, Zimvo Mahlati,
Jean-Luc Fourie, Luke Negrine, Sam
Bury, Nick Koch, Liam van
Schalkwyk, Will Makin and Daniel
Mudge. Regular backline
performers: Ben Gukelberger, Sam
Hanssen, Jake Stewart, Lawrence
Masha, Max Nixon, Jonathan
Border, Rayan Hendricks, Matt
Dinan, Andrew Koen and Chad
Francis. Well done, lads - I’ve
thoroughly enjoyed the season.
Take the few things we’ve worked
on with you through to opens;
Tackle low, run straight, draw the
man, pass the ball! Don’t drop your
heads. Enjoy yourselves. You looked
great when you got it right! The Wild
Boys are waiting for you.
Coaches Harry Makin and Mike
Peters worked enthusiastically and
tirelessly all season producing the
most technically aware and wellstructured
defence and attack I
have seen at this level. Thanks,
gentlemen – it has been quite a
season and your hard work has
been appreciated.
2018 SQUAD
Luke Beachy-Head, Francis
Bayly, Sadock Magai, Zimvo
Mahlati, Jean-Luc Fourie, Luke
Negrine, Sam Bury, Nick Koch,
Liam van Schalkwyk, Will Makin,
Daniel Mudge, Ben
Gukelberger, Sam Hanssen,
Jake Stewart, Lawrence Masha,
Max Nixon, Jonathan Border,
Rayan Hendricks, Matt Dinan,
Andrew Koen, Chad Francis.
Above: Sadock Magaithe in the C’s game against Strand High School, which they
narrowly won 15-12.
PLAYING SUMMARY
Played 10; Won 3; Lost 7; Points
for 115; Points against 281
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