SACS vs BISHOPS Preview

PREVIEW: DIOCESAN COLLEGE (BISHOPS) vs. SOUTH AFRICAN COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL (SACS)

On Saturday SACS travel over Campground Road to meet local rivals Bishops on the Piley Rees. SACS were humiliated at home in the first round fixture and will be looking to restore some lost pride.

When the teams met at SACS in May the gulf between the teams was massive and it reflected on the scoreboard. The Bishops team were dynamic and confident while their pack outweighed their opponents by over 10kgs-a-man. The likes of JP Smit and Sam Mitchell had a field day, using their SACS counterparts as speedbumps in a twelve try romp.  Bishops went on to complete a solid first half of the season with a resounding win over Rondebosch. Six Bishops players were selected for the WP Craven Week team and Mitchell for the Academy side.

Bishops came back from the holidays with injuries to key players and a difficult fixture list. There term has not got off to a good start with comprehensive defeats at the hands of Paarl Boishaai and Paul Roos. They will be looking forward to hosting SACS on Saturday and getting their season back on track.

SACS had a forgettable first term but ended the term with a credible defeat at the hands of Wynberg, which gave the team renewed confidence in their ability. Since coming back from vacation they have picked up where they left off and put in two more credible performances against Paarl Gim and Boland Landbou.

Going into this weekend’s game the team will be a lot more positive and while overturning the first round defeat would be first prize, it may a be a bridge to far, and a performance worthy of the SACS 1stXV jersey will be what the players want to deliver for their supporters after letting them down badly last term. The SACS 1stXV have been ravaged by flu this week so preparations have been badly hampered but by this stage of the season the team know their structures and it’s more important to have what is now a settled side take the field on Saturday.

The weather promises to clear up and the Piley Rees drains well so we should see a good open game of schoolboy rugby on Saturday. One that will definitely not be as one-sided as the team’s previous encounter earlier this year. Kick-off is 11.30am.

Teams: TBC