Two Grahamstown soldiers have been called up to fight for their country – on the rugby field. Haroline Rhodes and Thembani Julies, of the 6 SA Infantry Battalion, have been selected to represent South African National Defence Force (SANDF) rugby sides.
Two Grahamstown soldiers have been called up to fight for their country – on the rugby field. Haroline Rhodes and Thembani Julies, of the 6 SA Infantry Battalion, have been selected to represent South African National Defence Force (SANDF) rugby sides.
Eight soldiers from the Grahamstown-based battalion took part in the SANDF Rugby Week last month. Rhodes and Julies were selected for the national women’s side and senior men’s side respectively.
The event took place at the South African Army Gymnasium in Heidelberg from 24-28 June. It comprised a Senior, President’s and Women’s league.
Locals playing for the South Eastern Cape (SEC) team were Julies, Jonas Johannes, Melwen Banies, Brent Jonkers and Rubi Steyn. Rhodes represented Northern Cape (NC) at the Rugby Week, because the SEC did not field a side.
Charles Blaauw was the SEC team manager and Riaan Vermeulen, regional SEC rugby chairperson, was also a team selector. The SEC side finished third overall, their same position as last year.
Vermeulen said the highlight for the SEC side was beating last year’s champions, Western Province (WP) in the third- and fourth-place playoffs.
This was the first time in his 20-year involvement with SEC rugby that they had beaten WP, he said.
In their first Rugby Week match SEC beat West Coast (previously known as Boland) 34-8.
They lost their second match to Free State 8-17. Free State went on to win the Senior section. In their final match SEC beat WP 29-14. The NC Women lost their first game to WP 10-15. They then beat Gauteng 46-18.
The following teams took part in this year’s event:
- Senior League: WP, SEC, Gauteng (GT), West Coast (WC), Free State (FS) and a team from the Botswana Defence Force.
- President’s League: GT, WP, NC, North West (NW) and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Women’s League – WP, WC, FS and NC.
