Hoërskool Vryburger wins Lions League Cup with perfect record
After winning the Noordvaal Cup last year, they moved up to compete in Lions League 5A.
This marks the second consecutive year they've won the league title.
They secured this year's win without losing a game, playing evenly split between home (five games) and away (five games).
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This year Hoërskool Vryburger High School had three teams make it to the finals: the U15, U17, and the first team.
The U15 and U17 teams didn't win their finals though.
The U15 lost 15-0 to Afrikaanse Hoerskool, and the U17 lost 19-8 to Hoërskool Roodepoort.
But the first team crushed it, winning their final against Die Wilge Hoërskool from Potchefstroom 37-7.
Last year, Hoërskool Vryburger High School's junior rugby team made history by becoming the first school in Primrose to win the prestigious Noordvaal Cup.
Despite facing big financial challenges, the team didn't just win the Lions League – they went on to win the Noordvaal Cup without losing a game.
Meanwhile, the school's senior team won the Lions League, but they just missed out on making it to the Noordvaal League semi-finals in a home game.
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Coach Ruan de Lange said they'll be playing their first Noordvaal Cup match soon against the Pumas.
'The school's proud of the team,' said De Lange.
'All our teams made it to the finals, which is fantastic.
'Since we promoted the U15 team, we had a bunch of new players who'd never played rugby before.
'We had to start training them from scratch. Given that they reached the finals, it's amazing.
'The future of rugby at the school looks safe. We're slowly becoming a strong rugby school in the region and have proven ourselves in rugby.
'As a school, we've also started soccer with our first game of the season recently taking place,' said De Lange.
Lionel Sambo, a first-team player, congratulated the team on winning the Lions League.
'We wanted to win the league from the start of the season, but we knew it wouldn't be an easy task. Realising the dream of actually winning the title is a dream come true,' said Sambo.
'Our opponents in the finals were physically challenging. During the half-time break, our coaches talked to us, which made us refocus on the game.
'When we started to play our game, they started to get frustrated,' said Sambo.
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Sambo started playing rugby in Grade Eight after switching over from soccer.
He was invited by friends to give rugby a try without planning to play it long-term, and pretty quickly he made his way up. He played one year in the junior team and got bumped up to the first team.
Sambo's got some experience under his belt. He played in both the Lions League and Noordvaal Cup matches last year, making his name undeniable to the first-team coaches.
Thapelo Kobane (16), in Grade 11, was part of the undefeated U15 team that won the Noordvaal Cup last year, but this year he was humbled by a defeat in the finals with the U17 team.
Kobane said, 'We were used to being undefeated, so the loss was an awakening call.
'I'm now the vice-captain of the team, which makes me happy.
'We knew teamwork was going to be key to top what we achieved last year as a team. Though this year was going to be challenging, we're still happy with our performance.
'Our coaches were behind us 100%, gearing us to perform our level best. Rest assured, next time we're going to meet Roodepoort High, we're going to beat them.'
Kobane said the journey has made them reflect, and most players are still eligible to play for the U17 and the first team next season.
'We enjoyed ourselves, played as a team, and lost as a team. I hope to make it to the first team next year. My leadership skills set me apart.
'Moving forward, we should take this as a chance to reflect and improve. This loss is a sign that we don't have everything figured out and should always be open-minded about the game.'
Kobane started his rugby journey in Grade Nine with little to no knowledge of the game.
He added that he started playing last year with the U15 team.
'I had to start from the lower division to develop. I later became part of the U15 team that was undefeated last season,' said Kobane.
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