At the 2026 FNB Craven Week, 10 HTS Drostdy players were in the starting XV of the Boland team. Meanwhile, nine of the starting players in the South Western Districts (SWD) side were from Oakdale Landbou.
Both have made strong cases for being the best teams in their respective regions.
Thanks to brilliant rolling mauls and general set-piece dominance, the Riversdal locals won last year’s affair 31-7. The Donkies will need to prepare for those tough set-piece battles again, especially the rolling maul.
This time, though, they meet in Worcester, at 13:00 on Saturday.
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It’s been a good season for HTS Drostdy, who have won seven of their nine games. They’ve been an offensive powerhouse, averaging 48 points while conceding an average of 20 per match.
Oakdale boasts a pretty solid defensive record this season. They’ve conceded 30 points or more only twice, going down 7-38 to Grey College and 13-49 to Paarl Gimnasium.
Eighthman and captain Jacobus de Villiers started for the SA Schools team, which he made for a second successive year, and played ferociously against SA Schools A. He’s one of the best ball carriers in the game. More often than not, it takes two or three players to bring him down.
He also possesses impressive stamina, as he’s one of those players who looks like he still has another half left in him when the full-time whistle has blown.
Inside centre Jano van Deventer is a key playmaker for the Worcester locals. He’s also a reliable kicker, so the home defence will need to focus on limiting his influence on the game.
Oakdale is favoured, but should Drostdy pull off a win, it would be only a minor upset.
Hoërskool Bellville has shown constant improvement throughout the season. They went from losing their first five fixtures of the year to winning five of their last seven. They host Hoërskool Hermanus at 12:20 on Saturday.
While the Kwaggas ended the second term with a 17-38 loss to Wynberg Boys’ High, they played with strong intensity and came away from the clash with their reputations enhanced. Inside centre Xandru Büter scored two tries that day and is expected to be an equally dangerous threat on the weekend.
Outside centre Juda Stevens is the most lethal of the Hermanus backs. He and left-wing Carlin September are prolific try scorers.
It has been many years since the teams last met, which makes it difficult to forecast the flow and result of the game. However, based on recent form and results against the same opposition, Bellville appears to hold the edge.
Hoërskool Brackenfell will feel well rested and confident going into Saturday’s early afternoon kickoff against Monument Park High. It’ll be their first match in six weeks, and they’ve been winning more regularly as the season has progressed.
In their most recent outing, they scored a 53-24 victory over Bosmansdam High near the end of June. That marked only the second time in the last two seasons that they have scored more than 50 points.
Monument Park will need to structure their game around maintaining possession, so that they can minimise the dangerous Brakkies‘ phase play.
Teams:
HTS Drostdy (likely): 15 Anwill Jacobs, 14 Tristin Syster, 13 Brent-Leigh Ekstraal, 12 Willvino Paultin, 11 Darren Makeza, 10 Jano van Deventer, 9 Wernerd de Villiers, 8 Simamkele Lahlekile, 7 Joniel Claasen, 6 Werno Ramsauer, 5 Jean-Louis Matthee, 4 Eugene Walker, 3 Jurick van der Berg, 2 JP Lotriet, 1 Juann Jansen van Vuuren.
Oakdale Landbou: 15 Caleb Williams, 14 Luan Mortlock, 13 Myburgh Eksteen, 12 André van der Merwe, 11 Nathan-Lee Gordon, 10 Mark-Hein Fourie, 9 Mich van Eden, 8 Jacobus de Villers (captain), 7 Liam van der Berg, 6 Bernard Badenhorst, 5 Rico Ferreira, 4 Ruan Groenewald, 3 Francois le Roux, 2 Muller Geldenhuys, 1 Kyle Burger.
Hoërskool Bellville: 15 Devanté Vlotman, 14 Marlon Claasen, 13 Caylem du Plessis, 12 Xandru Büter, 11 Liam Kuyk, 10 Marno Botes, 9 Juvan Rousseau, 8 Cade Mong, 7 Henré Kleynhans, 6 Zandro Stramrood, 5 Corné Smit, 4 Liam Genis, 3 Zander van Wyk, 2 Ryno Higgs, 1 Alex Cronje.
Hoërskool Hermanus (likely): 15 Jesse Arnoldus, 14 Obinna Enenchukwu, 13 Juda Stevens, 12 Giano Da Kosta, 11 Carlin September, 10 M-Jay Matinka, 9 Alden May, 8 Regan Gotze, 7 Liam Prodehl, 6 Ronnie Williams, 5 Tony Martins, 4 Xalyin Bazier, 3 Antonio Booysen, 2 Tinus Bisagie, 1 Ethan Richards.
Hoërskool Brackenfell (likely): 15 Ruan van Tonder, 14 Damian Kruger, 12 Michael Buys, 12 Jordan Engelbrecht, 11 Migile Carelse, 10 Yusuf Hannibal, 9 Hayden Fortuin, 8 Seth Braaf, 7 Derose Manya, 6 Jason Joseph, 5 Hanré van Dijk, 4 Manya Prayer, 3 Joshua Wallace, 2 Joshua Defreitas, 1 Eckard Esterhuyse.
Monument Park High: N/A.
