Housemaster News 13th September

Hi

Please have a look at the dorm blogs, which after some serious cajoling from the Housemaster seem to be up to date. If your son is on the blog team, please give them a rocket if they do not put in their regular blog.

Newboy 7s Team "No.1"
Ennio Hamutenya missing due to injury

Senior A Finalists - "Pride" Drummond on the right
decided to try his hand at rugby after the previous
evenings disappointments on the hockey field.

After our last success on the basketball court last week, we decided that it was possibly charitable to let other House's take some of the silver ware on offer. Our senior hockey side lost most of their games, but considering that three grade 8s played in the side, it is clear we do not have too much senior talent in this arena. James Drummond (SA Schools) could only do so much on his own especially when much of his time was spent vocally deliberating umpiring calls!  In last Saturday's 7 aside rugby inter-house matches, we managed to make three finals in the u14, u19B and u19A sections. Three out of four finals is very decent. Our u15s played their best, but did not manage to make the finals. Both the senior teams played really well, but were beaten by speed for the most. They fought gallantly and scored some super tries along the way. They certainly gave of their best, but were ultimately beaten by better opposition on the day. However, it was left to the upstart u14 lads to do take some glory in winning their final against a strong School House side. They won comfortably mainly due to some extraordinary sidestepping skills from Ilyass Petersen, who at time had the crowd mesmerized, and also Cornel Smit's powerhouse running. The side did exceptionally well when one considers that two of their stars, Ennio Hamutenya and Sebastian Hanekom, had to miss the final due to injury - thankfully not too serious!  It was also wonderful to see that every 'Newboy' played at some stage! Three sides in the finals and one winner is not too bad for a little House! Once again, the boys themselves decided on tradition and stayed in as a House for Friday night and as a result we had by far the greatest support....again. Well done lads.

Jason Morris (Grade11) has been called up to the final Western Province 7s Trials - not surprisingly! We wish him luck.

The Grade 11s have been away for the last couple of days doing their work shadowing and I will be away with them until Friday on their leadership camp in Simonstown at Rocklands. It really is a special camp and I know the boys are looking forward to it. They have some stunning presentations to look forward to.

Next week we have the Soccer House matches which I know the boys thoroughly enjoy.

More House maintenance to be done this year. We are going to be replacing many of the old carpets, as much as budget can manage, install heat and smoke detectors, put in new curtains in all the dorms and complete the painting that is required. Shew...it never ends.

You can understand why we need to look for extra financial assistance for added extras like the quad synthetic grass which I know will add huge amounts of healthy fun and entertainment, and get the boys off their laptops!!! Please see my last post in this regard. Click on the link below.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6811432520294586360#editor/target=post;postID=6522937937982845256

I know most have been glued to their tellies watching the world cup. Those who watched the Springboks will have chewed their nails to the cuticles, if they were like me. Exhausting stuff.  Those who love New Zealand, here is an opinion sent to me by a friend living in New Zealand........make of it as you will. Next time you watch- watch them carefully!


 The Dominion Post


"If New Zealand go out of a consecutive World Cup because of another dodgy refereeing decision, they will have no one to blame but themselves. The All Blacks no longer even bother to bend the laws. They set out to deliberately cheat.
For only one piffling syllable, CHEAT is an awfully big word. "Who are you calling a cheat?" demands the card-playing gunslinger, just before the mandatory murder and the five aces sliding from the sleeve.
The All Blacks cheat in spades. Half of their tries in the Tri- Nations have been set up by blatant cheating.
Go back to the first South Africa game just before Wyatt Crockett scored in the corner. It is hard to believe that Richie McCaw could be four yards offside and get away with it, but there he is holding back the South African lock.
In the first game against Australia they are at it again. Piri Weepu set up the first try by going through a hole created by Ali Williams holding Quade Cooper to the ground.
In the buildup to the second try Ma'a Nonu sets a screen (much as they might do in basketball) for Kieran Read.
Every week Paddy O'Brien, the International Rugby Board head of referees, sends out a directive to the coaches about issues that have arisen from the weekend games. At this point O'Brien warned coaches about all the holding back and obstruction that was going on. He might as well have told the All Blacks to stop doing the haka for all the notice they took.
New Zealand were at it again on Saturday. There were just three incidents in the leadup to their first try, but the second try was exceptional. As Nonu was running through another black hole, a prone David Pocock was waving his arms in frustration. McCaw and Keven Mealamu had held him pinned to the ground for 14 seconds.
Even by the very high standards of the All Blacks, 14 seconds must have constituted a personal best. Does McCaw have an invisibility cloak that only television cameras can penetrate? Even Robbie Deans called him "a bloody menace" and that's when he was coach of the Crusaders.
Perhaps the funniest moment in Saturday's game was when the commentator opined that Brad Thorn had been "unfortunate" to bump into Williams. The ref was gullible enough to award an accidental offside.
Accidental? Don't make me laugh. The next time the All Blacks play a big game, watch what they do around the breakdown. They deliberately splinter off into offside positions to block the defence. It's about as accidental as the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.
O'Brien told me while he was in Italy for the Junior World Cup that no World Cup has yet been decided by a bad refereeing decision.
A couple of weeks later, Paddy was overtaken by events. The refereeing of the final of that Junior World Cup was one of the most unfortunate performances I have ever seen and certainly determined the outcome. I suspect this coming World Cup is an injustice waiting to happen, but don't blame the refs, blame the players and coaches.
One of the joys of that Junior World Cup, as O'Brien observed, was that the players haven't learned (fully) yet to cheat. O'Brien also knows that one of the biggest challenges senior rugby
faces going forwards is to stop the culture of cheating.
Is the batsman who knows he nicked the ball and refuses to walk a cheat? Is the footballer who dives in the penalty area a cheat? Is the rugby player who holds back an opponent a cheat? You bet they are. People call it "the professional foul".
No, it's just cheating.
Yes, I know other teams cheat, although none of them are as accomplished at it as New Zealand.
On Saturday Will Genia was the first to take up a blocking position on the All Blacks side of a ruck and was called back by the ref. Genia threw up his arms in apology – as if.
The former Australian coach Bob Dwyer, like most of the planet, believes that New Zealand lead the world cheating averages. He said: "Richie would be guilty six times of obstruction in every game. I think we have to keep criticising the New Zealanders and making people aware of what are illegal tactics."
In that context, I don't want to hear a single New Zealander whinge about a bad decision during the World Cup. The moment you set out to deceive refs is the moment you lose your right of appeal.
If you live by the sword, be prepared to die by the sword, and the cheating All Blacks wield the biggest claymore of the lot."
* Mark Reason is one of England's most experienced sports columnists. A long-time senior writer for The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in Britain, he migrated to New Zealand and now calls this country home.


That's it for this week. 

Take great care

Angus