DHS                       7½

Westville                 2½

Since the last publication, School played fixtures against King Edward VII, on the Saturday of the long weekend, and Kearsney College this past Saturday.  The results of both fixtures are published in this edition.  Our Boys are again to be congratulated for the heart and courage with which they took to the field and faced their opposition.  The fixture against Kearsney College was enjoyed by both schools, with our Visitors being very complimentary regarding the manner in which they were received.  Special mention must be made of our U14A rugby team with their 20-0 victory over Kearsney College.  This team is getting closer to having an unbeaten season on the field.  Our 1^st XV played a sterling game and lost narrowly to Kearsney College, in a match that was even closer than the final score of 21 - 27 reveals.  Our 1^st XI played a really good game of hockey, leading 2 - 0 at half-time.  However, the second half saw them ending with a score of 2 - 3.  They walk away from this match knowing that the coach of the Kearney College team congratulated them on their gutsy performance. 

We welcomed Sister Bond, our new Matron, to School on Wednesday, 2 May 2012.  It was not long before Sister Bond was busily setting about putting all manner of things in place to ensure the well-being of our Boarders and Boys.  We trust that Sister Bond will enjoy and long and happy association and time at School.

All Learners are in receipt of the June Examination Timetable.  Parents are urged to consult with their sons regarding preparation for the June Examination.  Term 2 is an extremely demanding term for many of our Boys and, therefore, time management is of the utmost importance if success is to be theirs in all spheres.  Educators are more than willing to assist our Boys with organising and planning their time and to assist with work where necessary.

It is good to reflect on the core values as contained in our Mission Statement: integrity, self-discipline, courage, compassion, loyalty, respect, hard work, honouring all relationships, strong moral convictions.  These values must serve and guide us in all that we do at School.  Embracing these values will ensure that all people and their belongings at School will be safe.  In such an environment one can only excel and give of one’s best. 

M Vermaak

Acting Principal

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. [The Mercury : Life’s like that]

Squash:                       Ahmed Asmal

Hockey:                      Tasvir Bissoon

Rugby:                       Delron Horsely

Cross Country:             Dylan O’Brien

Saturday’s fixture against Kearsney was another close encounter between the two schools. This fixture is always a tough uncompromising game but always a pleasure to be involved in.

DHS came into the fixture after a disappointing loss to KES and were determined to regain some of the respect they lost during that fixture. There is no doubt that the boys were up for the game as they took to the field. School started off the better of the two sides with some solid forward play and good tactical kicking. As a result DHS was the first side to open the scoring with a well taken penalty by Kurt Webster.  After the restart, the big Kearsney packs were able to hold on to possession and make School defend for a long period of time. As a result they were able to create space for their outside centre, he was able to step a couple of the forwards and score a well manufactured try.

DHS was able to strike back straight away when Notha Sibisi chased the ball off the kick off and was able to charge down the clearance kick and get the ball down; this took the score to 8-5 in favour of DHS.

At this stage DHS was playing the better of the rugby, the lineout and the scrum was working superbly. After a good touch finder, another well worked lineout allowed Lindani Dlamini to loop around the forwards and barge his way over the line to score under the posts. The score was now 15-5 to DHS. As the half continued Kearsney began to fight their way back by using their forwards to attack the advantage line. They were patient on the ball and were able to put a number of phases together. After some sustained pressure Kearsney were able to break the DHS defence again and score a try in the left hand corner. A brilliant conversion narrowed the score line to 15-12 at halftime.

The second half started badly for DHS. Kearsney kicked the ball over the top and forced DHS to give away a five metre scrum. A well worked set move allowed Kearsney to score under the posts.  DHS struggled to hold onto the ball and began to kick too much possession away. School showed a lack of patience and was not able to put phases together. Another poor kick allowed Kearsney to attack off a lineout and to again break the School defence and cross the line. Kearsney now went out to a 24-15 lead.

DHS was able to narrow the lead through a penalty, but a silly mistake at a 22 restart gave a penalty right back to Kearsney. They converted the kick and effectively took the game out of reach. 

DHS showed a lot a character in the last five minutes and threatened the Kearsney line on a number of occasions but just could not get over. The game finished 21-27 but as the opposition coach remarked after the game: “The boys really came out to play today, they put in an excellent performance”.  Well done guys!

Rugby Results vs Kearsney:

This year’s Dainfern College Golf Tour was one met with much excitement due to the First Team Golf’s success during the league season, only losing one game against Glenwood. There were six boys representing DHS.  This was the last tour for two of our matric boys, namely myself and James Mellon.  The rest of the young team were made up of R Coetzer, C Elliot, R Killian, and R Bromham.

Mr Levin was our master in charge on the tour. Judging from last year’s experiences with Mr Levin, the whole team was looking forward to a good tour. Luckily we did not get lost in Johannesburg this year and only ended up driving around the ring road once. 

We arrived at Dainfern in the mid-afternoon on Saturday.  Unfortunately due to the bad weather we could not have a practice round. We spent our first night eating in and relaxing at the hotel.  The next morning presented us with some awesome weather and it was a good day for golf. We left very early to get some practice on the driving range.

As always, Dainfern Golf club was packed with officials, sponsors and other players.  The course looked amazing and everything was well organised and on schedule.  Every member of the staff was very helpful and worked their hardest to ensure that this tournament was a success. The atmosphere was professional and it made us want to play some great golf.

The tournament started off with mixed scores from all the players, the course presented a tough challenge and every player tried their best to shoot low scores. Over the three days, two players really played out of their skins, namely Rowan Bromham and Ruben Coetzer, finishing in 56^th place and 23^rd place respectively. The remaining 4 players finished in the places ranging between 60^th and 80^th place out of 100 players.

Throughout the tour, the boys stayed entertained by going out to Monte Casino and various malls where the boys discovered Mr Levin’s hidden talent as a Steers Waiter. We had a lot of fun times at the hotel, where there was a pool which kept us entertained. Even the drives back were something to look forward to, with the DHS bus entertaining every toll gate worker we could find.

At the end of the tour, everyone was very sad to leave. We had a great team with lots of spirit and everyone had an awesome time.  I would like to thank Mr Johnston for all the work he put into this tour and for making sure we could all partake in this prestigious tournament as well as for all the things he does for our team and for golf at DHS. To Mr Levin, who interacted with all of us during the tour, made time to take us on the tour and kept us entertained at all times, no one else could have done a better job.  Finally to our Parents, who paid for the equipment, accessories and to send us on the tour, we all appreciate your effort.

This tour, being my last, was one I will never forget. I hope the younger golfers next year enjoy the tour as much as I did and have much success.

Byron Bromham

Captain of Golf 2012