Western Province Rugby

Province partners with SAPS and the Claremont Upliftment Programme

Lindsey Rayner — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:19:56 +0200

Have you ever noticed the rubbish that lines the streets and how it disappears after a big game?

In a partnership with SAPS and the Claremont Upliftment Programme, WP Rugby is helping uplift local homeless and street people’s lives. After each game through SAPS, Province employs a group of homeless people to clean the area. They are supervised and managed by Inspector Wilkins of SAPS in a partnership that benefits all.

A number of corporate’s have come on board to assist with this program, providing food, kit and shelter.

Province is proud to be part of this SAPS/ Claremont Upliftment Programme and in another small way helping to contribute to the wellbeing of others and the community in which we operate.

A dream realised

Lindsey Rayner — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:47:06 +0200

Reach for a dream is a non-profit organisation which fulfils the dreams of children between the ages of 3 and 18 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

18 Year old Steve Kitshoff is a matric student from Groote Schuur High School and has been diagnosed with a tumour. Currently Steve is receiving treatment for his illness at Groote Schuur hospital. He is a huge sports enthusiast, with his favourite sports being Rugby and Cricket. One of Steve’s dreams was to meet the Vodacom Western Province players and today WP were privileged enough to help make that dream come true.

Steve’s favourite rugby player, Pieter Louw, whilst injured and not involved in today’s practice, came down to the Captains run especially to meet him. Steve and Pieter had an instant bond and spoke for more than a hour with each other. Pieter was so touched by Steve that the two of them traded cell phone numbers and will be keeping in touch. Steve got to meet all the players and will be at Newlands as a guest of the team to watch the clash against the Cheetahs tomorrow evening.

Province boys thrill members in the CN Lounge

Lindsey Rayner — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:26:06 +0200

A visit by arch rivals the Vodacom Blue Bulls to Newlands is always special for every Vodacom WP fan. With all the history of the North-South derby and the high profile matches the two have played against each over the last few season it is unsurprising that Saturday’s game was a near sell out at the home of Province rugby.

Club Newlands was once again there to ensure that the activities off the field were as memorable as our boys exploits on it. Long before the game kicked off the Castle Lawns @ Club Newlands opened its doors to make sure that all fans were kept entertained before they headed to their seats. Drinks for all, great music, food courtesy of Spur and Fish and Chips, prizes from SAB and the Spur Playstation booth for the kids made sure that an amazing time was had by all.

The Club Newlands Lounge was also open before the game giving Club Newlands members the perfect opportunity to relax and get ready for the big match. After the game the members were overjoyed to get the fantastic chance to meet the players and congratulate them on what was a fantastic and hard fought win over the Blue Bulls.

Another great day was had by all who attended, on another great day for WP Rugby. Make sure you sign up for the ezine by CLICKING HERE or check out the website regularly to find out when else you can meet the players. On Tuesday 24 August is your next chance when Club Newlands host a Family Meet and Greet on 6pm in the Lounge (CLICK HERE for more info and to book for the event).

If you want to check out all the pictures from the Castle Lawns @ Club Newlands and the Club Newlands Lounge, please CLICK HERE.

Show your support for the boys in Blue and White

Lindsey Rayner — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:59:00 +0200

The Currie Cup season is now officially in full swing and already excitement is brewing in the Cape after the strong start the Province boys have made.

In today’s modern world of online connectivity there are now more ways than ever for you to get in touch with WP Rugby and show your support as Allister Coetzee’s men look to continue their good opening to the campaign. If you want to interact with other fans, share your thoughts on everything Province rugby and get exclusive content from the team make sure you join the WP Rugby Facebook page. Already thousands of fans have been posting their love for our boys...here is just a small selection of some of those posts:

Neil Sauls: took my 2yr old son to his first wp game against the Lions and he had a blast! he shouted PRO....BINCE!lol, at a group of Lions supporters the whole game and cried when we had to leave. Thank you to everybody from the coke vendors to the players for making it a memorable day for him.

he is just like his daddy "probince... for life" (he cant say Province)

Monica Roos Maree: WP today, WP tomorrow, WP foreverrrrrrr

Jooste Jaco: Eenmaal 'n WP Ondersteuner, altyd 'n WP Ondersteuner!!! GO PROVINCE!!!!

Johann Kannemeyer: Ek is gemerk Wp for life met n tattoo WP RUGBY op my bors. Wp so na an my hart. Go boys ek wet jul kan dit dun.!

Sherry Scholtz: Live in East London, grew up in P.E., but there has always just been one team for me! Great start to the competition, gentlemen! You rock! ;)

Riaan Kruger: my hartjie klop so ... wit blou wit blou wit blou...

Not only can fans stay in touch with everything Province on the page, but you can also win yourself double tickets to the Vodacom WP clash against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Newlands on August 14!

Also available online is WP Rugby’s Twitter page, which gives short bursts of info to keep you up to date with everything Province as well photos from behind-the-scenes at WP Rugby’s High Performance Centre.

If you want to join these pages go to the following URLs:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wprugby

Twitter: www.twitter.com/wp_rugby

Kids have fun with Vodacom WP Players

Lindsey Rayner — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:34:28 +0200

On Thursday 14 May, a number of eager Junior Supporters Club members (and their parents) descended upon the impressive WP Rugby High Performance Centre in Bellville to enjoy a games day with some of the stars of the Vodacom WP squad who are currently doing battle in the Vodacom Cup.

The players took the kids through 6 exciting games including classics such as egg and spoon races, bobbing for apples and musical chairs. Everyone got a chance to participate in all the games and even the players themselves were having a fantastic jol as they cheered their teams on at every game station.

With the action of the games concluded, the kids (and the players) had a breather whilst enjoying a cold juice and pack of chips. Every child also got the chance to get precious autographs and photos with some of the stars of the team such as Captain Hanyani Shimange, Dylan des Fountain and Conrad Hoffmann.

A lucky draw was had with three lucky kids walking away with Wilde Juice hampers and a WP flag. No one however left empty-handed with every child receiving a goodie bag as well as the memories of a fantastic evening with Vodacom WP.

A big thank you to all the players who showed such great enthusiasm, as well as all the kids and parents who joined us for what was a fantastic event!

For more pictures or information on the Official Supporters Club of the Vodacom WP and Vodacom Stormers team, visit www.clubnewlands.co.za

Province's Superbru winner announced

Lindsey Rayner — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:02:10 +0200

After a long season and initially some closely fought battles for the top, goose managed to establish himself at the top and then drew clear from the pack. Never looking back he managed to win the league for the first time in his Superbru career. He has come close before, finishing second in last seasons’ Tri- Nations pool. Well done goose. Enjoy your prize.

The Mystery Player also did very respectably finishing inside the top ten, which is quite an achievement seeing that it was a different person picking each week. The guy who made the difference though was when bloggie got the MD to make the picks. After that round they Mystery Player made a big leap and then hung around the top 10.

Well done to Nam_storm who got the yellow cap in the last round. This gave him a big jump up the log to finish in a respectable 18^th place.

A final mention goes out to Jodz who missed out on the second last place by a single point! Jodz faithfully made picks in every round, never giving up - the kind of performance that earns respect!

Well done to everyone who participated in the league. Without you guys I’ll be talking to myself every week. Thanks guys, hope to see you around next year when the Super14 starts up again.

Lastly, thanks to the BM too for allowing us to feel part of the team and getting us a small (virtual) step closer to the team and to show our loyalty. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.

See you all next year for the year of the Stormer!

Mystery Player blows all out of the water with some late picks

Lindsey Rayner — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:23:50 +0200

The Mystery Player this week was none other than your beloved BM, who made some accurate picks under pressure. With the picks only coming in a few hours before cut off the pressure allowed the best judgement to come to the fore.

Once again it proves the theory that the games should not be over analysed. A personal congratulations from myself and I’m sure from the rest of the league goes out to the BM who scored 5 points to earn the Yellow Cap and a healthy jump up the table to 9^th place! Ruandp and Wman also scored 5 points for the round drawing level with the BM, with the BM edging them to the cap by virtue of slightly closer margins.

Nothing much else to report on this week. The goose has pretty much wrapped up the league at this stage with a two point buffer separating him from the rest. It could be interesting though because I’m assuming that most would predict a WP win and a brave few might opt for the Bulls. A VERY brave few I would think, but this might throw the shape of the league.

On the other side of the league it is all but wrapped up as well and personally I’m making a charge to take the last spot for myself. Seriously I don’t think I could have played this game worse if I tried. Enough of the self loathing, but the race is on between Carla, Jodz and Sarah to see who will finish with the wooden spoon.

Remember the game changes slightly for the last two rounds as you only have to make two picks. Default picks are now over and the WP and MP get bigger and the GSP disappears.

Good luck with your picks and may we wipe the floor with the Bulls!

Veterans take the Top5 and the yellow cap

Lindsey Rayner — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:23:38 +0200

This week experience showed in the top5 with the most experienced in the top 5 taking the yellow cap. Nr.9, a veteran of an amazing 25 tournaments showed that experience does count. He pipped stones to the yellow cap by virtue of scoring more real points than Stones who also scored 7 for the round.

The top 5 players have a massive 60 tournaments between them and it showed this week with all of them in the points and in the hunt for the prize. Goose still holds a slight advantage but it might disappear this weekend if they play their cards right.

A special mention must go out to edd who managed to score a GSP without actually predicting a score in any of the games. I don’t know if the internet died in Windhoek when he was supposed to make picks, but home ground wins for all ensured that he scored a GSP.

Mystery Player, Schalk Burger also managed a GSP and scored a respectable 5 points for the round.

Quote of the week goes to Number_46 who predicted a close score in the Sharks game and quite rightly said: “The Sharks weren’t so hot last week.” Let’s hope the Lions aren’t so hot this week either.

Good luck with your picks for the last round.

Show your support for our boys... and win!

Lindsey Rayner — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:42:01 +0200

It has been an amazing season for Vodacom WP, with the success continuing in the 50-7 victory over Boland on Saturday. With a home semifinal already secured and coach Allister Coetzee’s men heading to Joburg to face the Lions next weekend in a bid to end the season at the top of the ABSA Currie Cup log, our boys need all the support they can get.

That is why Vodacom WP is opening up a message board for fans of Vodacom WP to show their support for the team going into the crunch time of the 2009 Currie Cup season. The best messages will be printed in the match day programme for the semifinal clash at Newlands on 17 October. They will also be posted in the Province change room on match day, to give Luke Watson and his team extra motivation as they prepare for the biggest game of the year so far.

Now you can also stand a chance to win two tickets to the Absa Currie Cup Semi Final at Newlands.

Please post your messages in the comment section at the bottom of this article and lets get behind the team when they need our support the most!

Submit your comment before 16h30 on Wednesday, 14 October, to stand a chance of booking your place at the game. Winner will be notified via email (ensure your give your correct address when completing your comment below)

Stormie bucking the trend to heap pressure on Goose

Lindsey Rayner — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:30:37 +0200

For the first time in a while the yellow cap is back in the Top3. My prediction remained that the yellow cap would rarely be in the Top3 positions as the players lower down the log start to play a risky game and the guys at the top try to consolidate. Don’t let the headline fool you as the game I still the goose’s to lose but the gap is now much closer.

Believe it or not, but every single player managed to get a Grand Slam Point. Well done and high fives all around! This translates to the fact that not a single player did not believe that we would turn the Griquas over. Well done guys you make me proud. I am also happy to say that no one got a margin point for being close to the actual score, but Stormie got a bonus point for being the closest to the actual score predicting a 23 point margin in our favour.

It’s a toss-up for quote of the week. I’m tempted to give it to Sarah for her quote in our game when she said: “Semi final charge!” or I could give it to Number _46 who in the Lions game against the walking bonus points (the Boland) said: “it be obvious” [for the Lions to win].

The Mystery Player this week was Dylan des Fountain who once again did not disappoint with his inside knowledge and scored 5.5 which was more than most players could muster. Well done!

Two rounds to go and a home semi beckoning, things are looking well!

Come on boys make us proud!

Good luck with your picks.