Tasty feast of schools derby action
THE Eastern Cape schools sports menu will serve up several fascinating dishes this weekend, with a number of major derbies on the programme.
From a purely rugby viewpoint, the big clashes will take place in Uitenhage, Port Elizabeth and King William's Town, while Despatch will host DFM Malherbe in their annual sports derby today and tomorrow.
On a seven-match winning streak, Brandwag will be looking to extend that momentum when they host Humansdorp rivals, Nico Malan, in Uitenhage tomorrow.
The home side probably have the edge, but Nico Malan will be targeting a Uitenhage double after sneaking a 19-17 result against Daniel Pienaar last weekend.
At Grey High, the home team will need to come off the high of beating Grey College when they face arch-PE rivals Framesby. This is as big as it gets among the PE schools and Framesby, who last beat Grey in 2011, would love to silence the home fans tomorrow.
However, if Grey are able to repeat last week's outstanding commitment, they should complete an unbeaten run against EP schools this season.
In King William's Town, Selborne will put their unbeaten Eastern Cape record on the line when they play Dale for the second time this season.
With a 28-7 win from the East London encounter, Selborne, who have only lost to Grey College and Affies this year, will be looking for a big finish to the season as next weekend they host Grey High.
In Despatch, there will be a strong rivalry across the board when the hosts take on DF Malherbe in a variety of activities.
Starting today, the schools will meet in cross-country, tennis, chess and debating contests, while the rugby, netball and hockey matches will be played tomorrow.
The derby culminates with the first team rugby match at 3.30pm tomorrow.
The schools rugby fixtures, subject to change, are: (home teams first, 11.30am start unless stated):
Alexander Road v Westering, Otto du Plessis v Andrew Rabie, Brandwag v Nico Malan 12.30, Cillie v Ithembelihle (12.00), Marlow v Daniel Pienaar (2pm), Grey High v Framesby (3.30pm), Humansdorp v Newton Tech, McCarthy Street v Uitenhage, Molly Blackburn v Ndzondelelo, Ukhanyo v Solomon Mahlangu, VP v Muir, Dale v Selborne (3pm)
- Neale Emslie
