Winelands powerhouse Boland Landbou have had their fixtures for the upcoming tour to Ireland confirmed. With international tours being put on hold for the last few years it is truly an exciting prospect to have a South African team go over and compete with some top young Irish talents.
ABOUT BOLAND LANDBOU
One of the most respected rugby programs in South Africa, the boere (farmers) are known for their tough and uncompromising style of rugby. An agricultural college situated in the talent basket of South African school rugby Paarl, the school was founded in 1962 and their motto Bewaar ons bodem (Keep our soil) shows just how close their ties to their farming roots are.
Four Springboks have been produced by the school so far with the first being Attie Strauss in 1984 and he was followed by Deon Carstens (2002), Hottie Louw (2002) and Derick Hougaard (2003). One of their crowning moments came in 2002 when they won the SANIX World Schools Championship.
WHAT TO EXPECT AND WHO TO WATCH
Despite having under 300 learners the program is still revered, virtually ever single Landbou boy plays rugby and they are a passionate bunch who play the game hard but clean. In recent years we have seen them rely less on the size of their mammoth forwards alone with some extremely exciting backline prospects being produced such as Canan Moodie and Darren Hendricks.
Faasen Laubscher will be their anchor in the pack, a huge prop forward renowned for his excellent scrumming it will be interesting to see how he goes against Irish props who are themselves renowned for their size and ability. Another player in the pack to keep an eye on is loose forward Jaccus Pretorius, a menace at the breakdown and an absolute work horse he will no doubt want to make his presence known on your.
In the backline EPD squad members Adriano Prag and Jandre Genis are speedsters who are absolutely lethal with ball in hand. Both possess excellent foot work, it will be extremely interesting to see how they adapt to the conditions. Freddie Dreyer a hardman in the midfield will also look to stamp his authority on the game, we are hearing great things about the young centre and it will be a big opportunity for him to shine.
THE OPPOSITION
26 March – Greystones RFC
A well respect club who have produced numerous internationals including legendary prop Nick Popplewell, Tony Ward and of course South Africa’s most beloved adopted Irishman John Robbie.
It will be a great way for the Landbou team to get used to the conditions before going onto their next opposition.
28 March – Presentation Brothers
Without doubt the highlight of the tour will be the game against Munster powerhouse Presentation Brothers. Founded in 1878 the school has produced a whopping 57 Ireland Under 18 internationals, 13 Under 20 internationals with 15 of their old boys having gone on to represent Ireland at senior level with names such as Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer being amongst those who have walked the halls of Presentation Brothers.
They along with fierce rivals Christian Brothers are the most successful teams in the Munster Schools Cup historically and we ranked them 14th in terms of our all time rugby programs ranking.
30 March – Castletroy College
Although dominated by the aforementioned schools Castletroy are still a respected program within the Munster region although their first and so far only Cup win came back in 2008. One would expect the school to give it their all against the boys from Landbou and we hope to see a game played within the rugby spirit and new friendships and memories to be formed rather than focus on results alone.
1 April – Corinthians RFC
To close off the tour the boys will be playing against Galway based Corinthians RFC. Part of the All Ireland League we hear their academy is competitive within the Irish club system and being founded in 1932 shows that the club has a long history within Irish rugby.
It will be a great way for them to close off their tour and we are confident that lots of great rugby will be played and hopefully some of these boys will meet each other later on in their rugby careers. Whatever the results the fact is that global school rugby is back with a bang and we are looking forward to it as much as we are sure fans of the grassroots game are.
