SARL today announced the training squad that will be used to select a President’s XIII to play against the Eastern Eagles at the AJ Swanepoel Stadium in Ermelo this weekend, the 25th of October. The weekend is full of rugby league activities, with three big matches on the day, as well as a School’s Clinic. The President’s XII form part of the national squad preparations for the upcoming tour against the British Community Lions in November 2014.

As part of this preparation, Ermelo is hosting a rugby day with two invitational matches and a provincial match.

Program for the day:

9:00 Schools Clinic
12:00 Northwest Warthogs vs Bisons (invitational match)
14:00 Eastern Eagles vs SARL President’s XIII (invitational match)
16:00 Northern Bulls vs Tuffshield Panthers (provincial match)

The day is proudly sponsored by Big Five Harley Davidson in Nelspruit, Tuffshield, GWM Ermelo and Highlander Newspaper (media sponsor)

There will be Harley Davidson’s on display and also a big, roaring Harley Davidson Roar for the main match., beer garden, food stalls na d a jumping castle for the kids.

Training Squad for SARL President’s XIII: 

Ronald Botes, Theunis Botha, Wayne Burger, Jean Coetzer, Pieter de Jager, Corne Gerber, Robin Howell, JP Hubert, Sindiswa Mbokane, Christo Nelson, Waldo Nelson, Jeandi Oosthuizen, Hein Pretoruis, Rudolf Prinsloo, Nardus Raubenheimer, Ryno Steenberg, Dries van der Merwe, George van Rooyen, Quintin van Zyl, Steynberg van Zyl, 

Brian Griege from Australia (RLIF / NRL / Asian Pacific Conference) has been busy mentoring and coaching various clubs in Mpumalanga during the past 3 weeks.

During his stay - he will also be assisting the Coaches and Referees in Gauteng and Western Cape as well as assist the Rhinos Development with specific aim for next years WC Qualifiers.

Below are some snapshots of his visit to Mpumalanga Panthers region to date.

The Rabbitohs, a newly formed club from the Northwest Province, recently completed a two match series against one of the Rhino Cup Teams, the Brakpan Bears.

Both Matches were played with the type of intensity and aggression that the Brakpan Bears are famous for as they always use their physicality and speed, and are always up for a tough game.The first game on the 4th of October was played at the home of the Brakpan Bears at Bosman Stadium, where the newer Bunnies playing a more junior side from the Bears. The game was very tough, and fast, and the Bears managed to keep the Rabbitohs in check for most of the match. However, the Rabbitohs have some serious speed in their team this year, and managed to run in a few late tries as the Bears took strain as a lot of their players need to still reach match fitness this early in the season.

The game ended with the Rabbitohs 56 points versus the Bears’ 22

The second game was played on the 11th of October with a more experienced side in Potchefstroom, Northwest Province, to help develop the game in the North West Province. The Northwest Province is the newest province to join SARL and is a very important province in the development of the game throughout South Africa. Being the month of October, the Rabbitohs also played in pink shorts to show their support for the fight against Cancer.

The second game was hard and fast, the young Rabbitohs playing against one of South Africa top sides who are in with a chance of winning the Rhino Cup this year ( South Africa's premier Rugby League tournament ). The Bunnies were able to keep their composure after huge rampaging runs from the Bears, and was able to get numbers to tackle and try and subdue the huge Bears forwards. With the Rabbitohs able to get some momentum on attack and giving the ball some air after some great work form the Bunnies pack, they were able to get behind the Bears defensive line and keep the score score board ticking over. The Bears never let up and played right up until the end, giving the Rabbitohs some much needed game time and defensive practice as the Bears were relentless on attack.

The game ended with the Rabbitohs scoring 52 points and managing to keep the Bears to 6 points only.

The Rabbitohs coaches and management were very happy with a lot of the juniors stepping up and showing they can handle the pressure of playing a top side and make the step up to be a very competitive team in South Africa. The Bears also showed some strong potential off a squad currently building for the National Club Championships.

A special thanks must go to both teams for their efforts in developing the game in the Northwest Province, thereby spreading the game of rugby league to all regions in South Africa.