The Bishop’s boy’s passion for the sport is renowned and, in some instances, held in awe on school sports fields throughout South Africa.
Bishops Diocesan College Registration
- Complete the online application form.
- At the end of the registration process you will be prompted to pay the registration fee via PayFast. Payment options include credit/debit cards, InstantEFT, Snapscan and Zapper.
- After payment, please email a copy of your son’s birth certificate to [email protected]
Once the registration fee has been paid, you will receive an email letter confirming your son’s registration for Bishops.
The closing date for application to Grade 8 2024 is Thursday 11th March. Please contact the Admissions Office regarding late application at [email protected] or (021) 6591014.
Bishops Diocesan College Rugby
Neatly nestled under the shadow of Table Mountain sits the Piley Rees field where for more than a century Bishops Boys have run diamond shaped support lines, off loaded in tackles and attacked defenders only to subtly slip an early pass to the next player moving at speed.
The doyens of Bishops rugby, Piley Ress and Basil Bey, realised that the Bishops boys were generally less physically developed than their Afrikaans contemporaries at an early age and subsequently developed a style of rugby which will forever live within the context of the Bishops rugby landscape. We have our own unique attitude to the ‘running game’. We base our philosophy (which is also developed through the boy’s passion for one-touch rugby!) on the concept that no player is limited by the number on their back.
This is heralded in that Bishops has never played with jersey numbers preferring each and every player to develop a skill set which promotes catch and pass, offloading in the tackle, decision making and identifying space. This indicates their immense aptitude for and application of the running game. This is all supported by our Bishops Rugby Vision and Core Values.
We have on average 19 sides in the Western Province Premier League: 1st to 7th XVs ,16A to Ds 15A to Ds 14A to Ds . Seniors U19/U16 practice on Tuesday and Thursday from 3-45 to 5-30 Juniors U15/U14 practice on Monday and Wednesday from 3-45 to 5-30 Captains Practice Friday 2-30 to 3-30 Local League matches are all played on Saturday mornings with additional matches occasionally taking place during the week.
Facilities & Coaching
Bishops has 9 Rugby Fields, Heatlie Pavilion, Audio visual room, Skeeles Pavilion, Physiotherapist Room, Tuckshops, Change Rooms, Weights Gym and outside Pole Gym. The main field, our 1st XV field, is called the Piley Rees, our u16As play on the Sahara, u15As on the Range and u14As on Lutgensvale A. The other field on the main campus is the Avenue field where our Wild Boys, 4th XV, play. We also have four fields alongside the school at Lutgensvale. The Piley Rees Field is named for the legendary schoolmaster and rugby coach who had been a master at Bishops from 1922 to 1967. He died in 1975 and the field was named after him in 1983.
Our rugby pavilion and clubhouse – the Heatlie Pavilion – was demolished (in March 2008) ahead of rebuilding – a substantial facility including home and visitors’ changing-rooms, a referees’ changing-room, a physiotherapist and medical room, a bigger tuckshop, and much improved seating. The actual function room of the Heatlie is known as the Basil Bey Room after Basil Bey (staff 1971 to 1998). The stand was named after Tim Hamilton-Smith (1968 to 2007). Both appropriately named after these two Bishops rugby coaching luminaries whose service to the school, and in particular to the game of Rugby at Bishops, has been extraordinary. We have a resident physiotherapist who practices full time out of the physiotherapist room in the Heatlie. The fields on the Top Field – to the right as you come down the Avenue – take their names from what they were next to; The Avenue Field was and still is next to the Avenue. The Range was next to the old shooting range before it was moved to the far side of the Oaks. Parallel and next to the Range is the Cemetery because it was next to the cemetery behind St Thomas’s Church, where the Astroturf now is. When the cemetery was deconsecrated the field was used for rugby and called the Graveyard (now the Astro). The Fields outside – off Riverton Road – of the school in the dip next to the river were once a farm. JW Lutgens acquired the farm in 1799 and so that low-lying part was called Lutgensvale where four fields are in operation.
The New Rick Skeeles Pavilion built in honour of Richard Skeeles – the legendary and much loved 1st XV Prep School Coach and master. Apart from the facilities we employ a full time professional rugby coach, Mike Bayly (OD) who helps coach the coaches and teams throughout the school as well as developing coaching structures which are implemented at all levels of the game at Bishops. We also employ a conditioning coach, Steve McKintyre, who looks after the specific physical conditioning of our main rugby squads. Tom Dawson-Squibb, performance coach, is employed to develop the emotional side of the top level sides and assist and guide all the coaches in team building and individual player development techniques. All sides have at least two coaches with a staff member at the helm.