Kebble's son eyes WP debut
2012-04-19 08:33Email | Print
Oliver Kebble (Adnaan Mohamed)
Cape Town - The son of former Springbok prop Guy Kebble, Oliver Kebble, will make his debut for the Western Province Vodacom Cup team from the bench in their clash against the SWD Eagles in Oudtshoorn on Saturday.
The 19-year old Kebble who already weighs a massive 128kg has only recently started training at the Western Province High Performance Centre in Bellville after arriving from playing club rugby in France two months ago.
According to the WP Vodacom Cup coach, John Dobson, Kebble is a tremendous prospect who has the ability to go all the way to the top.
“Ollie is a special player. Although he prefers loose head, he has the ability to pack down on both sides of the scrum. He is definitely more mobile and skilful than his dad,” quipped Dobson.
“I have no doubt that he has the potential to become a Springbok,” he added.
Kebble was born in Durban while his dad was playing Currie Cup rugby there for the Natal Sharks at the time. His family moved around the country a bit and he eventually ended up at Bishops Preparatory school in Cape Town.
He stayed there until Grade 11 where he played first team. He then went to England to do his A-Levels, which is similar to a post matric in South Africa.
Kebble attended Dulwich College in London, which is regarded as one of the best rugby schools in the country. Besides playing for Dulwich, he was also part of the London Irish Academy.
In June last year he decided to go to France where he played club rugby in the French Second Division.
“It’s a very tough competition. There are always lots of fights. Of course I picked up quite a few of tricks, but I cannot use them in South Africa, because it’s a bit too dirty.
“But it was like going to scrum school in France. They place a lot of emphasis on scrums and always have lengthy scrummaging sessions. I picked up a lot of valuable experience. I think my scrumming has improved immensely which should help me quite a bit here,’’ he explained.
Kebble says he is looking forward to Saturday to make his WP debut.
“It’s something I have been dreaming about since I was young. My dad has given me lots of tips and just loves to watch me play. I’m sure he’ll be there on Saturday.
Kebble junior however has his sights set on much bigger things.
“It’s not just a short term plan for me. I want to go all the way from Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup to Super Rugby and of course the Springboks,” he said confidently.
and then we have Piet Spiere du Toits grandson. Also a winemaker of note.
SA U20 lock joins Bok camp
Cape Town - Sharks lock Pieter Steph du Toit, a member of the wider South African Under-20 squad, has been called up to the Springbok Planning Camp in Pretoria.
Du Toit played for the SA U20s in their first international against the touring Argentina team last Saturday after which he was called up by The Sharks for Vodacom Super Rugby duty, where he made his debut against the Chiefs three days ago.
The 19-year-old Sharks lock joined the Springbok Planning Camp in Pretoria on Monday evening.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer explained Du Toit’s call-up: “I’ve rated Pieter Steph highly since I first saw him play at the Coca-Cola Craven Week and after his selection for The Sharks, we saw it as an ideal opportunity to invite him to the camp. I also discussed the matter with national selector Ian McIntosh.
“I’ve said from the start that age would not be a determining factor when I select a team and bringing in someone like Pieter Steph gives me the ideal opportunity to assess one of our best young players.”
Piet Spiere profile
Piet-Spiere du Toit by Doc Craven
I once had a letter from a parent who told me that his son was playing first team as a flank, but believed he should be a frontranker as he was very strong and had been doing special exercises. Would I please take a look at him? He was a first-year student at Stellenbosch at the time and the season was about to start.
I walked down to where the under-19's were having a practice game and asked the coach: "Do you have a Du Toit here?" and he said: "Yes".
I asked him in which position he was playing and the coach told me he was in the front row. "That's where I want to see him" I said and watched for a while.
"We have two Springboks here, that prop and his hooker," I said afterwards. Those two were Piet du Toit and Abie Malan, and together they went - all the way from under-19 to the Springbok team.
Piet "Spiere" du Toit was one of the strongest men to represent the Springboks in the front row. He did not look all that strong but, by gad, he was incredible.
Coming from the wine valley of Riebeek kasteel Kloovenburg
http://www.kloovenburg.com/index.html