ELSIES RIVER UNITED RFC PREPARES FOR 2011 SEASON

ERURFC's off-season training programme commences Thursday 28 October 2010 at 18:30 at Elsies Park. The programme will include pool work, strength and stamina training and training sessions will be on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays during the month of November 2010, with special sessions as the need arises. During the off-season training the club will also participate in 7-a-side and 15-a-side tournaments, one [1] of which will be the Goodwood 7's on Friday 26 & Saturday 2 November 2010 where prize money is R 25 000 for the winner of the senior competition & R 12 500 for the winner of the Under 19 competition. The Club has entered one [1] senior team & one [1] Under 19 team for participation in the Goodwood 7's tournament. All senior and Under 19 players are to report for the off-season training programme.

ERURFC YOUTH RUGBY: A SUCCESSFUL 2010 UNDER 19 TOUR TO NAMIBIA [Report by David Skippers]

Elsies River United’s under-19 team embarked on a historical tour to Namibia earlier this month. This was the first time, since the Club was established in 1992, that any team from the Elsies River United went on a tour outside the borders of South Africa. The tour group consisted of 21 members and comprised 17 players and five officials. The 17 players were: Lazlo Henkerman, Revonne Saayman, Alfonzo Moses, Jason Daniels, Edgar Swarts, Selwyn Abrahams, Grant Lesch (vice-captain), Tre-Leigh Jacobs, Kegan Karriem, Grant Fischer (captain), Tashwell Waldeck, Clayton de Klerk, Kurt Dodgen, Chesne Dreyer, Romano Fritz, Brandon Minnaar and Craig Marman. The officials were William Alexander (Director of Rugby), Martin Lesch (Youth Rugby Convenor), David Skippers (coach), Winston Abrahams (manager) and Mike van de Heuvel (tour organiser).

The tour group departed on their Namibian adventure on Monday 27 September 2010. The tour would be highlighted by several pranks. After overnighting at the Kokerboom Motel, in Springbok, on that first night, tour manager “mr A” informed his fellow officials that he was convinced that the place was haunted because: “Daar ‘n klomp geeste my deur die nag uit die slaap uit gehou het. Hulle het aan my deur en by die vensters geklop en as ek daar kom dan is daar niemand nie. Die blerrie plek spook!” Of course the boys swore that each one of them were sound asleep throughout the night when asked about these strange occurrences the following morning. Ja, right! The tourists passed through border control without any glitches, the following day. They arrived at the Bird’s Mansions Hotel, in Keetmanshoop, later that afternoon. The tourists would be based at this hotel for the duration of their stay, in Namibia, travelling to their other destinations, by bus, for the various matches.

 The first match of the tour took place, on Wednesday, 29 September 2010, in Mariental, which is about 225 kilometres from Keetmanshoop. The team was hosted by Mariental High’s first XV and struggled in conditions which were alien to them. It was an extremely hot day (36 degrees in the shade!) and the team battled to get into rhythm.  At half-time, the hosts were leading 14-0, albeit largely due to some dubious refereeing decisions! Despite this Elsies showed tremendous character and struck back with some enterprising play and soon the scores were level at 14-all. Mariental scored another try but Elsies wasn’t going down without a fight and with two minutes left, in the encounter, the teams were deadlocked at 19-all. Elsies’ great comeback was spoiled by a try by Mariental from the final move of the match, this after the tourists were undone by a tighthead, in the final scrum of the match. For Elsies, Grant Lesch, Tashwell Waldeck and Craig Marman scored tries and Grant Fischer succeeded with two conversions.

The team returned to Keetmanshoop where it was more of the same the following day, when they were hosted by the Keetmanshoop-based PK De Villiers High’s first XV. It was like déjà vu, with more blazing hot conditions and once again the team were trailing 14-0 after a poor start. They fought back bravely and at half-time, they were trailing 14-7. PK De Villiers’ play an enterprising brand of rugby but Elsies held their own, despite the heat. With five minutes left in the match they were behind 28-22 and on the attack close to their opponents’ tryline. However, poor decision-making saw the hosts winning turnover ball and they proceeded to score a runaway try to seal the match 25-22. Elsies’ points came via tries by Tashwell Waldeck (2), Grant Fischer and Brandon Minnaar. Fischer also slotted a conversion. This defeat meant that the tour’s success depended on the final tour match against Jan Mohr High, in Windhoek.

At least there was a break for the players, on the Friday and this day was spent travelling the 550 kilometres from Keetmanshoop to Namibia’s capital city. The night before the match the touring party booked into the Rehoboth Spa Holiday Resort, which is about 90 kilometres from Windhoek. The side was determined to end the tour on a winning note and aiding their effort was the fact that the match kicked off at 11.30am in the morning. This was crucial as it meant that the fixture would not be played in such searing heat as the two previous matches which both started at 3pm, in the afternoon, when the heat was at its worst.  Most of Jan Mohr’s team was not available to play and their team would include several under-20 players from the Windhoek-based CATS RFC. This did not deter the Elsies boys who were spurred on by a moving motivational talk on the team bus by Elsies River United’s legendary former first team winger, Eddie Londt, who was also in Windhoek, on holiday. Once again, Elsies came from behind, the only difference being that they managed to win this encounter against arguably their strongest opposition of the tour. After trailing 17-7 at one stage, Elsies fought back and took control of the match and with five minutes left on the clock they were leading 32-17. A consolation try, by the hosts, close to the end meant that Elsies finished the match and the tour with a fine 32-24 victory. Captain Grant Fischer led from the front, scoring two tries and also kicking a penalty and two conversions. However, the hero for the tourists was Tashwell Waldeck who crossed over for a hat-trick of tries. The win ended the tour on a positive note and every player was a great ambassador for their Club and the broader Elsies River community.

After making the long trek back from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop, the team took the long journey back to Cape Town and arrived home on Sunday 3 October 2010. Every player and official of the tour group enjoyed the tour to its fullest and made many new friends in Namibia. Hopefully this pioneering tour will pave the way for more tours of a similar nature for the club in the future.

2010 PRESENTATION OF TROPHIES

Elsies River United RFC had a successful 18^th Anniversary Presentation of Trophies on Friday 08 October 2010 in the Elsies River Civic Centre. In attendance was John Jansen from the Correctional Services Department; who also during his keynote address provided some insights into the impact of the Elsies River community on non-racialism in rugby.

The following members were rewarded for their performance during the 2010 season:

1.    Sportsman of the Year : Gladwin Michaels

2.    Player of the Year : Marius Marcus

3.    Players’ Player of the Year : Samuel Jonas

4.    President’s Award : Gerhard Coetzee

5.    Most Tries Scored : Sinethemba Mapaqa

6.    Most Improves Players : Matthew v/d Heuvel; Fabian Adams; Desmond James

7.    Most Promising Players : Sinethemba Mapaqa; Ricado Spannenberg; Jackie Baardman

8.    Best Backline Players : Lyndon Kameel; JP Fredericks; Clarke Le Roux

9.    Best Forward Players : Warren Bowie; Gladwin Michaels; Cedric Koos   

In his absence, Lyndon Kameel was also awarded the Achiever’s Awards for being selected to play for a representative team – Western Province Amateur Rugby Team.

After the completion of the formalities, those in attendance partied until early into the next morning.

THE CLUB GOES INTERNATIONAL

Elsies River United RFC launched their Under 19 Youth Rugby tour to Namibia on Sunday 26 September 2010. Those attending the launch included Club Officials, Life Members, senior Club members, sponsors, parents and friends. The tour stretches over the September 2010 school vacation [27 September 2010 to 03 October 2010] and the itinerary includes four [4] matches against teams from Vioolsdrift, Mariental, Reoboth and Windhoek.

The legendary Phillip Heynes provided some inspiration to the players going on tour after the tours group was introduced: Lazio Henkerman, Revonne Saayman, Alphonso Moses, Jason Daniels, Edgar Swarts, Selwyn Abrahams, Grant Lesch, Tre-Leigh Jacobs, Kegan Karriem, Grant Fisher, Tashwell Waldeck, Clayton de Klerk, Kurt Dodgen, Chesne Dreyer, Romano Fritz, Brandon Minnaar, Craig Maarman, David Skippers [Coach], Winston Abrahams [Manager], Martin Lesch [Youth Rugby Coordinator], William Alexander [Director of Rugby] and Mike vd Heuwel [Tour Organiser].

The tour has been made possible by contributions from those going on tour, sponsors and those making contributions either of a financial nature or otherwise; including Western Province Rugby and SA Rugby.

A TRULY COMMUNITY CLUB GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

For the Club, success is not just attributed to performance on the field, but also the impact of the Club on the community at large. During 2009 the Club established a youth rugby component and this component grew in 2010 to field three [3] youth rugby teams, thereby exposing more than 75 kids from the Elsies River and surrounding communities to the game of rugby and offering an alternative to drugs, gangsterism and other social evils. It is envisaged that the number of youth rugby teams will increase in 2011 and that sufficient interest exists for the establishment of a women's rugby team.

The Club also in 2007/2008 “adopted” three [3] communities collectives and identified areas for assistance where these community collectives benefitted from funding made available through the National Lotteries Distribution Trust fund. The beneficiaries were:

1.       Salberau Retirement Village

2.       Nazereth House

3.       Tehillah Collaborative

The Club has also continued its longstanding relationships with other community collectives such as Serene Ages and Arcadia Pigeon Club.

2010 Rugby Season

The Club's 2010 rugby season concluded during September 2010 with the last home game against Goodwood - obvioulsy Elsies won and ended 4th on the log in the WP Club Rugby Premier League A competition. But what a season!!! Quite a few interesting gems were unearthed...