About a year ago, following a shock defeat against Argentina in Durban and watching Heyneke Meyer drag our rugby back into the Stone Age, the outlook appeared grim. If we could have glimpsed the near future, it may have seemed suicidal: the defeat by Japan still lay ahead..It is during such times that I approach a rugby guru who lives near the foot of Table Mountain and within walking distance of Bishops, Rondebosch Boys, Newlands and the Olympics Club. It is the heartland of Anglo-Saxon suburbia in Cape Town where they know their rugby and, at the Olympics Club, lay bare the games in trenchant analyses over a few beers.The guru can be withering, but also kind: Robbie Fleck, he believes, will grow in stature as a coach.A year ago, amid the gloom, he noticed a ray of light: a No 8 who still had a year to go at Paarl Boys' High. The kid had good hands, speed, strength and a lateral vision gifted to very few who play the game (Elton Jantjies is currently the best manifestation).On Saturday Khanya Ncusane scored one of the tries for Boys' High in their close-fought derby against Paarl Gym. Boishaai, as they are known in that neck of the Boland woods, won 26-25 in a second-half comeback. This is good news for Lions supporters: it is said that Ncusane, along with Boys' High teammates Giani Lombard, the fullback and Manuel Rass, a centre, are headed for Ellis Park next year.Once again Western Province have let outstanding local talent slip through their fingers. But Newlands will be certain of keeping another Boys' High hero, the skipper and lock forward Salmaan Moerat, in its ranks.Moerat comes from a family steeped in Western Cape rugby history. His father, Nazeem, played for Western Province and Boland under the nonracial SA Rugby Union banner during apartheid and seven of Nazeem's cousins played provincial and national rugby for Saru.Of the three coming to Joburg next year, Ncusane is the one to watch. My guru, who has kept an eye on him, says Boys' High have had the luxury of often using him out wide because of the team's strong pack. It was from there that he scored a try against Gym on Saturday. But he could be taught to also carry the ball up the middle because of his strength and superb handling. In many ways, says the guru, he is like Warren Whiteley. Perhaps he will get some lessons from the Lions skipper next year.The four Boys' High players are among eight who are in the South African Schools team that those lucky enough to be in Cape Town over the next week or so can see in action against Wales, France and England. It will be like gazing into a rugby crystal ball for 2019 and 2023, the next two World Cups.Also in action will be Italy and a SA Schools A side in three triple-headers, the first of which is at City Park, Crawford, in Cape Town on Friday. The next two are at Bishops on Tuesday and at Paarl Boys' High next week on Saturday. But get there early. Last Saturday's Paarl derby was booked out months in advance and 25000 were shoehorned into the school's little ground...