Young Benoni blood to represent at Craven Week

It is every schoolboy rugby player’s ultimate goal to earn a call-up to their provincial union’s main 22-man squad, and three players from three Benoni schools will battle it out for the Valke at the elite rugby development tournament, in Middelburg, while Hoërskool Hans Moore’s first team coach, Philip Lemmer, will have the task of leading some of the East Rand’s top young players.

Seventeen-year-olds Hanriël Coetzee (Hoërskool Hans Moore, prop), Simanga Moalusi (Benoni High School, flanker) and Thokozani Skhosana (St Dunstan’s College, lock) will fly the flags for Benoni’s schools and don the Valke colours in the team from July.

“It is a great privilege for me and the fulfilment of a dream that I have had from a young age,” said Coetzee, who has played rugby since the age of six.

“I just want to play my heart out and see where things go from there.”

Grade 11 Skhosana told the City Times that his selection for the Valke team is a huge honour for him, as he is the first player from St Dunstan’s to be selected for Craven Week.

“Craven Week is one of the biggest schoolboy rugby tournaments in the world and I am expecting to come up against a lot of talented players,” he said.

“I just gave my all at the trials and I am grateful that I was chosen.”

Benoni High School’s Moalusi (also in Grade 11) said he was happy to be selected, but also a bit nervous.

“It is a big stepping stone for upcoming rugby players, so we will be up against the best of the best,” he added.

“I am expecting quick, fast-paced rugby, with big tackles from big people.”

The coach, Lemmer, a former Valke Craven Week captain, said the side itself is very young, featuring a lot of Grade 11s, but they are the best players in the region.

“We have seen, in the past, that if the pack is not that senior it is difficult, but I think that they will do well,” he added.

“If you are young you have nothing to be scared about and that is the mindset I want the boys to have.”

He praised the three Benoni players for having a great attitude for rugby and said he is looking forward to working them at Craven Week.

“I told the guys that it may be the first and last time that some of them put on the provincial jersey, so they must enjoy the moment and the memories,” he said.

Craven Week runs from July 14 to 19, with the Valke taking on Boland in their first fixture.

The full Valke Craven Week side is: