23 January 2024
Four KZN schools will be in action in Makhanda from Thursday at the St Andrew’s College (SAC) Shield Water Polo Tournament, with Clifton College, Hilton College, Michaelhouse and Westville Boys’ High set to face many of South Africa’s best teams over the course of four days.
They were all in action this past weekend, with Clifton defeating Michaelhouse 11-5, Hilton cruising to a 16-6 win over Northwood, and Westville beating Maritzburg College 12-6.
Last year, the trio of Clifton, Hilton and Westville finished fourth, fifth and seventh respectively in the SAC Shield. Given their performances later in the year, they’ll view those results as disappointing.
At both the Clifton Water Polo Tournament and the Hussar Grill SACS Water Polo Tournament, in September and early October, Clifton and Hilton finished third and fourth respectively against stellar opposition, which included SACS and Paul Roos. SACS won both events, defeating Paul Roos in the final of both, and those two were one and two in South Africa.
At the SACS tournament, Clifton beat SACS in pool play, which was the only loss inflicted on the Capetonians in both competitions.
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New players, early season uncertainty
Of course, there has been a turnover of player personnel in all teams, and Clifton will no longer be led by Mitchell Slade, who earned SA Schools colours. Hilton no longer has their SA Schools’ star Stef Swart, and Westville has lost their SA Schools’ ace Warwick Field.
The cupboards are not bare, however, but neither are the opposition’s resources. Being played so early in the season, the outcome of the SAC Shield comes with more uncertainty than one might find later in the season. But the quality of the participants is not in dispute.
The aforementioned SACS and Paul Roos will be in action, and it is the Stellenbosch school who are the defending champions. That will serve as big motivation for SACS to add the title to their long list of achievements. Towards the end of October, they captured the St Stithians Water Polo Invitational title, which suggests they remain the team to beat.
There, without their grade 12 players, Clifton was the best of the KZN sides, and narrowly lost to Bishops after a shootout in the playoffs. It certainly benefitted the team from Cape Town that they had six-foot-nine SA Schools’ goalkeeper Jordan de Sousa and his massive wingspan to save penalties.
As luck would have it, Hilton and Michaelhouse faced off for ninth and tenth, with Hilton recording a 9-6 win.
Bishops will also be at the SAC Shield. In fact, they previously won the title in 2020 and 2022. The hosts, St Andrew’s College, claimed the honours in 2021, while SACS won it in 2019.
Pools
Clifton and Hilton are in Pool A, along with SACS, Grey High, Bishops, Selborne College, and St Stithians College.
Pool B features Paul Roos, Westville, Michaelhouse, Rondebosch Boys’ High, St John’s College and St Andrew’s College.
There are no easy matches. While the quality of the Western Cape teams is not in question, there are some dark horse sides from elsewhere. Selborne College, for example, won the Nick Rey u16 Water Polo Tournament at DHS last year. That suggests they’ll be infused by strong talent moving up to the open age group.
St John’s College has been one of the premier teams in recent seasons, too. In 2022, they won both the Clifton and SACS tournament. Last year, although they weren’t as successful, they did produce three South African Schools’ players, and they were runners-up to SACS by a single goal in the St Stithians’ final. Those achievements are indicative of the quality of the challenge that they’re likely to pose.
Speaking of Saints, they were fourth in their own tournament, with St Andrew’s College finishing third.
Point made, a serious examination of the KZN schools awaits in Makhanda.
Fixtures
Day 1, Thursday, 25 January, @ St Andrew’s College
07:00 – (1) St Stithians vs Bishops; 07:45 – (2) Paul Roos vs Westville; 08:30 – (3) Michaelhouse vs Rondebosch; 09:15 – (4) St John’s vs St Andrew’s; 10:00 – (5) SACS vs Selborne; 10:45 – (6) St Stithians vs Grey High; 11:30 – (7) St Andrew’s vs Paul Roos; 12:15 – (8) Rondebosch vs St John’s; (9) 13:00 – Bishops vs SACS; 13:45 – (10) Grey High vs Selborne; 14:30 – (11) Hilton vs Clifton; 15:15 – (12) Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse; 16:00 – (13) St John’s vs Westville; 16:45 – (14) SACS vs Hilton; 17:30 – (15) Clifton vs Grey High.
Day 1, Thursday, 25 January, @ DSG
19:00 – (16) St Andrew’s vs Michaelhouse; 19:45 – (17) Rondebosch vs Westville; 20:30 – (18) Hilton vs Grey High
Day 2, Friday, 26 January, @ St Andrew’s College
07:00 – (19) St John’s vs Paul Roos; 07:45 – (20) Hilton vs St Stithians; 08:30 – (21) Selborne vs Clifton; 09:15 – (22) St Andrew’s vs Rondebosch; 10:00 – (23) Grey High vs SACS; 10:45 – (24) Bishops vs Selborne; 11:30; (25) St Stithians vs Clifton; 12:15 – (26) Westville vs Michaelhouse; 13:00 – (27) Rondebosch vs Paul Roos; 13:45 – (28) Selborne vs Hilton; 14:30 – (29) Clifton vs Bishops; 15:15 – (30) SACS vs St Stithians; 16:00 – (31) Westville vs St Andrew’s; 16:45 – (32) Michaelhouse vs St John’s; 17:30 – (33) Bishops vs Hilton
Day 3, Saturday, 27 January, @ St Andrew’s College
07:00 – (34) Clifton vs SACS; 07:45 – (35) Grey High vs Bishops; 08:30 – (36) Selborne vs St Stithians; 09:15 – (37) 7th Pool A vs 6th Pool B (qualifier); 10:00 – (38) 1st Pool A vs 4th Pool B (quarterfinal 1); 10:50 – (39) 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (2nd quarterfinal); 11:40 – (40) 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (3rd quarterfinal); 12:30 – (41) 4th Pool A vs 1st Pool B (quarterfinal 4); 13:20 – (42) 5th Pool A vs Winner 37 (Plate semi-final); 14:10 – (43) 6th Pool A vs 5th Pool B (Plate semi-final); 15:00 – (44) Loser 38 vs Loser 40 (5th-8th); 15:50 – (45) Loser 30 vs Loser 41 (5th-8th); 16:40 – (46) Winner 38 vs Winner 40 (Semi-final 1); 17:30 – (47) Winner 39 vs Winner 41 (Semi-final 2)
Day 4, Sunday, 28 January, @ St Andrew’s College
08:00 – (48) Loser 42 vs Loser 43 (11th/12th); 08:50 – (49) Winner 42 vs Winner 43 (9th/10th); 09:40 – (50) Loser 44 vs Loser 45 (7th/8th); 10:30 – (51) Winner 44 vs Winner 45 (5th/6th); 11:20 – (52) Loser 46 vs Loser 47 (3rd/4th); 12:10 – Finalists line up; 12:20 – (53) Winner 46 vs Winner 47 (1st/2nd)
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