‘Neath the Wynberg Mountain

‘We are here to make friends,’ said Neil Crawford, Rector of Grey College, to all and sundry when he returned to the school where he started his teaching (with me) many years ago.  There were a number of parents in the Bill Bowden Pavilion on the Thursday evening before the start of the 17th Grey / Wynberg Derby Weekend.  They were waiting for the sons to finish their final practice before the Big Game and nodded approvingly at these wise words.  Two of them were Old Boys who knew him well as they had been coached by him in the u14A many years ago at Wynberg .  They smiled knowingly as they well realised that this leopard couldn’t change its spots.  Memories of hundreds of hill-sprints up to the Memorial Gates after losing a game thirty years ago still remain forever fresh in their memories.

Chris Merrington, Social Media Manager of the School, saw a photo opportunity and requested both Heads be photographed on the Hawthornden Field.  Neil Eddy was given a rugby ball and whistle and charged with referee duties, while Neil Crawford and I were given instructions to pack down like two front row forwards in the scrum.

‘Lower!’ said the referee.

‘I can’t,’ said the Rector.  ‘I will fall over…’

‘I will hold you up,’ I offered, ‘but Chris must take the photo quickly before we both collapse.’

And so it proved to be.  As we retired to the Pavilion for a post-match team talk, the realisation suddenly hit home.  ‘What are you going to do with that photograph?’ asked Neil.

Let the games begin ...

Chris Merrington was dismissive.  ‘Oh, it will probably go sometime onto the school website,’ he said airily.

He lied.  It went out on Facebook that night and the comments poured in.  Some were complimentary about the view of the mountain in the background, others expressed surprise that a quality coach such as Neil Eddy had lowered himself to be involved in this contest; a number of rugby cognoscenti expressed concern that the future of schools’ rugby was in the hands of two people who clearly had no idea how to bind.

Then some bright spark had the idea (not cleared by the hierarchy) of putting it into the printed programme for the weekend.  No need for it to go on the website now – the entire planet has seen it!

Ever since Neil has been Rector, he has persuaded me to speak at the Grey Assembly the day before the match.  Normally he tells me as we walk onto stage.  Now it was my turn – but at least I gave him eighteen hours warning.  I informed him that assembly was at 12:30 the next day and he could give his words of wisdom – presumably that the point of the weekend was to ‘make friends’.

‘Fine,’ he said ‘but in the morning, I will first go for a walk up to Kirstenbosch as it is such a beautiful day.’

He arrived back half an hour after assembly. ‘Did I miss it?’ he said.  First blood to Grey.

I will remember that next year….

The initial results started coming in.  The Grey golfers were victorious.  So were their Chess and  Debating teams.  We watched the squash for a while and then wandered down to the Astros to watch the hockey.  Suddenly my phone rang.  It was Jeff Sternslow, organiser and self-appointed captain of the Old Boys’ Golf Team, who had spent the afternoon playing the Old Greys at Westlake.  He was ecstatic – not because of the narrow win by the Wynberg Old Boys – but because for the first time in the seventeen year history of the Derby, he had beaten Keith Clark.  All the golfers had come back to the Bill Bowden and now he wanted the two Headmasters to join them at the Prize Giving.

As soon as we arrived, Jeff announced that the Headmaster of Wynberg  would love to make a short speech.  He was right on the second part only – it was a short speech –  particular as I realised that he wanted to go through all eighteen holes of his personal victory in his follow up speech.  Neil and I slipped out before he had reached the half way mark because we needed to be on time for the first team hockey match.

Great Spirit on our Astros

What a scene greeted us there.  The surrounds of the hockey field were packed and heaving.  Chris Cresswell was in charge of the public address system and had the music blaring – most of it from the 70’s which would have been lost on 80% of the crowd.  Smoke from the braai fires added to the atmosphere under the lights.  The match was televised on Expresso TV with the commentator saying, ‘The whole of Wynberg came out to watch one of the biggest derbies in South African school sport.’

The match itself was a hard fought midfield encounter.  Expresso  TV called the first half ‘a cagey affair.’ The Grey defence closed down the speedy Wynberg forwards and scoring opportunities for both sides were rare.  As a stalemate looked likely, it needed a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock.  This was provided by Quintin Dreyer who eliminated  four Grey defenders before drawing the goalkeeper and  gifting Ryan Crowe with the opportunity of providing the coup de grace.

Grey threw everything into the last few minutes, but Rob McKinley in goals proved equal to the challenge.  1 – 0 remained the final score.  One boy wrote on Social Media later:  ‘We were so proud on our astros today that we could burst!  Wynberg Forever!'

Elation in the Wynberg Camp at the end of the 1st XI Hockey encounter

We went back to the Bill Bowden where a braai had been laid on for the two teaching staffs. Most of the Old Boy golfers were still there.  Jeff Sternslow, having finished going through all eighteen holes, had just left – exhausted.  Keith Clark was magnanimous in defeat but was already looking forward to the home encounter in Port Elizabeth in 2014.  ‘We will put him in the wind at PE Golf Course,’ he threatened.  ‘He will never cope with that.’

The rest of us will be avoiding Jeff for the next twelve months.

Saturday morning was another beautiful day under the watchful gaze of Table Mountain.  Surely when winter finally decides to come, it will be with a vengeance? 

The cross country runners started off the day’s activities with a relay of eight runners taking on the 3.8 kilometre course round the school.  In the absence of Migyle Stevens, Luthando Siboya was our number one runner.  Justifying his selection as a WP athlete, he led his team from the front and was overjoyed with the result at the end.  ‘My last run against Grey,’ he enthused.  ‘What a way to finish.’

The u14A rugby game summed up so many games of the weekend.  After being 10 – 0 up, the Wynberg side went down 10 - 15.  Sit back at your peril chaps – these are two proud schools who don’t know when they are beaten.

I watched the 15B match - which was a humdigger refereed by Peter Murison.  With two minutes to go, the game was still scoreless.  Wynberg finally managed to barge over and Peter signalled the try in front of the Grey reserve bench.  ‘Knock on!’ shouted the Grey boys in unison.

Peter, who was unsighted, saw a boy whom he taught.  ‘Was it knocked-on?’ he asked.

‘Yes, Sir,’ replied  Mthandazo Mweli  unhesitatingly -  to the consternation of the celebrating Wynberg team.

Peter reversed his decision.  ‘Five yard scrum.  Grey ball,’ he said.

Only possible in schoolboy sport officiated by a quality schoolmaster….

The sporting gods took note though.  The clearance from the scrum was kicked straight down the throat of Lutho  Mlunguza on the wing who burst down the line to score the winning try in the corner right on time.  Even Roy of the Rovers couldn’t have scripted it better.

With the main match kicking off at 3.30, the spectators started pouring in after lunch. One old boy complained that he could only find parking at the ‘other side of the Girls’ School’.

‘If you weren’t such a skinflint, you could have paid R10 and parked on our school fields,’ I replied. 

‘If I had known, I would have gladly paid R20 and not had to walk up that hill,’ was his response.

Right then.  Regard it as done.  R20 next time.  That probably won’t worry the lady driving the blue Toyota, who when asked for a R10 donation by the duty prefect at the gate, asked him what he was going to do about it as she drove straight passed him.

Bruce Probyn, previous Head of Wynberg, was in the V.I.P. tent.  He was responsible – with Roy Simpson, the then Rector -  for organising the original trip up to Grey in 1996.  ‘We took up 15 busses of boys that year,’ he reminisced.  ‘We stopped for lunch at York High School in George who gave all our boys hotdogs and cooldrinks.’

That first trip involved the Junior School who have only taken part sporadically since then.  Various other activities have been added over the years – music, fishing, surfing amongst others – in an annual event which has become an iconic experience for thousands of Wynberg boys.  The beauty of it is that boys in C, D and E teams can have the opportunity of touring as well.
Bruce Probyn must be a proud man when he saw the fruits of his efforts seventeen years later.

Wynberg's 2nd XV en route to a win

This match was also televised on Expresso TV.  ‘Another wonderful day at Wynberg at a packed Hawthornden Field,’   enthused the commentator.  With a successful second team result in the curtain-raiser, the scene was set for a memorable first team game.

As has been the case in previous matches this season, Wynberg defended manfully as Grey went into a 15 – 3 lead and the history of the previous games on the field was looking to repeat itself.  However, as the commentator pointed out, Grey were taken aback in the second half by Wynberg’s belief that they could win the game.  They were ably supported and encouraged by the most positive Wynberg support of the season.  The cheerleaders deserve a High Five!

Going for posts: Karl Martin readies for the winning penalty

With eight minutes to go and trailing by two points, Wynberg was awarded a penalty just inside the Grey half.  Backing himself, fullback Karl Martin stepped up to take responsibility.  The ground went completely quiet.  ‘Newlands can learn from this,’ said Ray Connellan, previous coach of the Wynberg 1st team who was sitting next to me. To the joy of the partisan home crowd, it bisected the poles as did another penalty a few minutes later.  Wynberg had won their first game against Grey at home.  The commentator had the final word:  ‘What a rugby game.  The season can’t get better….’

The final whistle - and the school erupts ...

As the Wynberg boys poured onto the ground to mob the players and sing the school song, the Grey captain, CJ Velleman,  went out of his way to thank the referee, Joey  Klaaste-Salmans.   In an email later, the referee had this to say:
I wish to highlight the actions of the Grey first team captain on Saturday. Not only was he an absolute gentleman on the field but he composed his players when they needed it most on the field. I walked straight off the field once all the WBHS boys ran on but he ran 50 – 60 metres to shake my hand and say thank you. I wasn’t expecting him to as I knew that this must have been hard (the loss) for him but he did. In my mind, it was the highlight of Saturday afternoon. It is obvious that he was representing a school with strong values and traditions. I wish to thank him and his team for a great game of rugby and for never giving up.

Sharing the moment ...

That is surely the real reason why we play sport at school. A sporting gesture such as this when disappointment must be acute, is the sign of an emotionally intelligent young man from  a quality school.

During the week after the game, a Grade 8 boy sent me an email:  ‘To be honest with you, Sir,  I’ve never been so proud in my life then that moment on Saturday, 27 April 2013 when the final whistle was blown and Wynberg had beaten Grey 19-15. Sir, my career at Wynberg is not finished until I put on the 1st XV jersey.’

The final word must go to Daeyaan Wilson, Matric boy in McNaughton House.  When all the excitement had died down and the crowds were drifting off, he sat on his own on the benches savouring the moment of his last Grey experience as a schoolboy.  He told me later that he just wanted to remember the scene – the sun going down, the shadows on the mountain, the excitement on the field, the spirit of his friends on the bank.

I knew what he meant.