On Saturday, Paarl Boys’ High hosts Bishops, with kick-off in their clash at 13:00.
Boishaairolled to a one-sided 73-6 win when they last met in Paarl, in May 2024. Bishops will be seeking redemption.
Boys’ High boasts an impressive five Western Province Craven Week players in their line-up. One of them, loosehead prop, Jordan Jooste, is a scrumming machine, who will put the visitors’ front row under immense pressure.
At times this season, it has appeared as if Boishaai supporters have cheered knock-ons, knowing that a scrum will follow.
Lock Juan van der Merwe is an acrobat at lineout time. He is a fantastic predator on the opposition’s throw-ins and a sure-handed receiver on Boys’ High lineout feeds. Facing a formidable and large lineout, Bishops could be in for a long day in that set piece.
The Cape Town school offers good chemistry between their players. Their backs often pull off exciting moves from quick ball at the breakdown, and their passing versatility could catch Boys’ High’s rush defence off guard.
Boishaai, though, will use their powerful forwards to dominate set pieces and the breakdown, which will limit Bishops’ attacking opportunities.
The home team is among the most physical sides in the country, and they work hard to wear down the opposition with strong carries on attack and relentless tackling on defence.
Their backs endeavour to shut down the opposing playmakers with suffocating line speed and dominant tackles on defence. On attack, Boys’ High boasts physicality, too, with strong centres, and speedy wingers.
Bishops will face two big challenges on Saturday – one for their forwards and one for their backs.
Their forwards will have to be as competitive as possible at the set pieces and breakdown. If Boishaai smell any weaknesses, they will exploit those, and it will be a long afternoon for the visitors.
Meanwhile, the Bishops’ backs will need to remain calm and confident. By running smart lines and utilising their finesse, they could manipulate the hosts and prise open gaps in the intimidating Boishaai defence.
Teams
Paarl Boys’ High vs Bishops Diocesan College, A-field, Paarl, 13:00
Paarl Boys’ High: 15 Mark Grindlay, 14 Jeneal Davids, 13 Tristan Joubert, 12 Iwan Jordaan, 11 Cole Moultrie, 10 Francois van der Merwe (Vice Captain), 9 Liam de Villiers, 8 Steph van der Merwe (Captain), 7 Kobus Wilken, 6 Wege van Zyl, 5 Jayden Joubert, 4 Gershom Pieters, 3 Cruz Davey, 2 Tommy Muller, 1 Jordan Jooste.
Bishops Diocesan College: (Most likely team) 15 Lulibo Nyawula, 14 Noah Edmunds, 13 Eljaron Geduld, 12 Boytjie Fyfer, 11 Ben Myburgh, 10 Rynard Gordon, 9 Max Marr, 8 Jack Venter, 7 Ethan Venter, 6 Connor Clark, 5 Dan Coetzee, 4 Alex Vintcent, 3 Chris Du Toit, 2 Daniel van den Heever (Captain), 1 Will Reid.
Paul Roos visits Wynberg Boys; High on Saturday. A fascinating clash is on the cards. Photo: Paul Roos Gimnasium on Faceboook.
On Saturday, Wynberg Boys’ High, fresh off a thrilling 38-33 win over Rondebosch Boys’ High, welcomes Paul Roos Gimnasium for an enticing showdown on Hawthornden Field.
Last year, in a memorable unbeaten season, the Maroon Machine scored a convincing 50-25 win over Wynberg in Stellenbosch.
Ou Polla’s boys will aim to continue their winning ways after an impressive 34-5 victory over Stellenberg last time out.
Stelliesbeat Wynberg earlier in the season, but the home side is playing far better rugby than they were two months ago.
The Paul Roos lineup includes two players who have been selected for the Western Province Craven Week side. The first is their captain and hooker Altus Rabe, who leads from the front.
PRG is a big, physical side and Rabe will be at the forefront of their efforts to dominate the set scrums and lineouts. He also serves as a fourth loose-forward, makes dominant tackles and carries powerfully.
Eighthman Gert Kemp will also be a long train to stop with his excellent work rate and strong support lines. On attack he’s a load, running excellent support lines, while on defence he delivers brick wall tackles.
Wynberg has five players who will be headed to the Craven Week – an impressive return.
Lock and captain Jaythen Orange is a standout. He’s a leader of men, who is influential in the set pieces, a mean tackler, and an absolute work horse. He gets around the field and frequently pops up in support, leading to him scoring the kinds of tries from open play that few second-rowers produce with regularity.
Flyhalf Achmat Behardien is a clever playmaker with excellent passing accuracy and range. He also knows his way around a kicking tee. With his imagination and incisive reading of the game, if Wynberg gets good ball, he’ll pose difficult questions of Paul Roos.
Wynberg likes to play the game at speed. They don’t like to wait around and are dangerous from set pieces. The quick tap is always on, and a scrum from anywhere on the field is an opportunity for a backline move.
Scrumhalf Morné Noble has a keen eye for a gap, too, so the visitors will have a laundry list of threats to look out for. They will need to stay alert until the final whistle blows.
Their backs will have to do their homework so as not to get drawn in by the deceptive running lines of the elusive Wynberg centres, Yaqeen Ahmed and Kunene Gadu.
And yet, somehow, the Maroon Machine is an even tougher attack to figure out. Last week, they scored four very different tries against Stellenberg.
One was from an offload in the tackle between two loose forwards. One was a snipe at the breakdown from a lock. One was from an intercept with only 12 men on the field.
Then, of course, there was a magnificent chip and collect between scrumhalf Liam de Silva and Winger Keenan Stoffels. That’s the kind of individual brilliance for which one cannot properly prepare. Sometimes, one has to simply acknowledge that brilliance.
Teams
Wynberg Boys’ High vs Paul Roos Gimnasium, Hawthornden Field, Cape Town, 12:30
Wynberg: 15 Daniel Ould, 14 Chad Campbell, 13 Kunene Gadu, 12 Yaqeen Ahmed, 11 Albert Lourens, 10 Achmat Behardien, 9 Morné Noble, 8 Alvin Machinja, 7 Tjeripo Karuhumba, 6 Jamie Stride, 5 James Orwin, 4 Jaythen Orange, 3 Luqobo Makwedini, 2 Noah Gila, 1 Luke Miller.
Paul Roos: 15 Luke van Schoor, 14 Divan Lamprecht, 13 Tiaan Basson, 12 Ian Smith, 11 Keenan Stoffels, 10 Travis Pheiffer, 9 Jan-Jan Nel, 8 Gert Kemp, 7 Luke Kent, 6 Dylan van Wyck, 5 Truspe Schoeman, 4 Manus van Leeuwen, 3 Gerrit van Vuuren, 2 Altus Rabe (Captain), 1 Zak Hickman.
Siphe Mbungendlu, flanker from SACS. PHOTO: Andrew Pieterse
On Saturday, SACS, the oldest high school in the country, hosts Paarl Gimnasium, the team regarded by most as the number one rugby side in South Africa this season.
Kick-off is at 12:30 on Memorial-A Field.
Last year, the sides met on Freedom Day, 27 April, in Paarl, with Gim scoring a 35-10 victory.
The visitors will be aiming to score another comfortable win away from home.
SACS will look to their powerful Western Province XV flank, Siphe Mbungendlu, to set the example and to rise to the occasion of facing their toughest opponents of the season.
Gimmies will look to their captain and Western Province centre, Markus Muller, to provide the spark. He has become a household name among schoolboy rugby fans this season with his speed, vision and passing. He’s racked up tries at an alarmingly rapid rate and has also proved adept at setting up his teammates for five-pointers.
Set pieces and the breakdowns will be crucial for SACS. The Paarl Gim forwards have dominated with their rolling mauls and have also won their fair share of penalties from the set scrums.
Markus Muller dived over for a hat-trick of tries in his side’s 102-0 victory over King Edward VII School in Stellenbosch. Photo: Frans Lombard/Actionpix.
However, they’ve truly outstanding at the breakdowns. In their recent 29-9 victory over Oakdale, they starved the farmers of attacking opportunities by strongly contesting the loose and turning over possession.
The SACS backline will need to watch out for the blitzing rush defence of the Gimnasium backs. Perhaps their midfielders should look to initiate contact or play the ball in behind the visitors’ backline. If the SACS back stray too far from their forward pack, they will be ferociously challenged at the breakdown.
Maintaining possession through multiple phases will be one of the keys for SACS.
Paarl Gim must maintain discipline up front and focus on pressuring the back three, so as not to leak penalty-kick points, or give up territory to the big boot of inside centre, Nathan Potgieter.
Gim has been superb on attack all season long. They play with supreme confidence, run sharp lines, with the backs and forwards linking up seamlessly, and they’re blessed with players able to shred the best defences with moments of individual brilliance.
More of the same and they should be able to add another win to their gleaming record.
TEAMS
SACS vs Paarl Gimnasium, Memorial-A Field, Cape Town, 12:30
Paul Roos wing, Keenan Stoffels scored the try of the game after collecting a chip from scrumhalf Liam de Silva before leaving the Stellenberg defenders trailing in his wake. Photo: Charmaine Sander.
Under Friday night lights, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) hosted Stellenberg, with the Maroon Machine aiming to continue a strong season, while Stellieswere hoping to reverse their fortunes after a 0-27 home loss to Paarl Boys’ High. PRG had beaten SACS 22-3 in their last outing.
Oom Polla‘s Stellenbosch boys struck early, bagging the first points of the game in the fourth minute.
After repeatedly making the gain-line on a series of quick phases, flank Luke Kent received the ball from his scrumhalf Liam de Silva, and offloaded in the tackle to eighthman Gert Kemp, who, from five metres out, charged at and dived over the line for a try. Flyhalf Travis Pheiffer collected the extras off the kicking tee.
In the seventh minute, the home forwards attempted a steal in front of poles, about 35 metres out. The referee penalised Stellies for holding onto the ball on the ground and Pheiffer split the uprights to add another three to the scoreboard.
Then, after a break from the elusive left-wing Keenan Stoffels, Paul Roos entered the Stellenberg 22. They drove the ball up through their forwards and when a gap appeared, lock Reuben Winter sniped through the space and made the dive for five. Pheiffer slotted the conversion kick to make it 17-0, which was the score at the halftime break.
Paul Roos had found themselves in disciplinary trouble near the end of the first half, when they were reduced to only 12 players after three men picked up yellow cards. However, despite the three-man disadvantage when the second half started, the home side scored through centre Tiaan Basson, who read Stellenberg’s play intelligently and snagged an intercept before pinning his ears back and going over under the uprights from 50m out.
Pheiffer improved his kicking record to four from four with the easy conversion in the 39th minute.
Eight minutes later, the highlight of the game was authored by Liam de Silva and Keenan Stoffels. Just inside the Stellenberg half, de Silva chipped the ball over a ruck. Without a single stutter in his step, the electric Stoffels sprinted after it, collected the ball out of the air, and raced through for a try, leaving defenders trailing in his wake. Pheiffer continued his perfect goal kicking by adding two more points to take the Paul Roos tally to 31 points.
Just before the hour-mark, the Jade Brigadefound a response. When a ball fell loose in the home side’s 22, Paul Roos hacked it clear, but their forwards overran the kick on the heavy ground. That allowed Stellenberg scrumhalf Daniel Steffen an opportunity to claim possession.
He picked up, spun around, and saw open ground down the left flank. He hit the accelerator and was over in the corner for a try. From a narrow angle, flyhalf Ethan van Biljon was wide with the conversion attempt, but the visitors were on the scoreboard.
PRG flyhalf Travis Pheiffer completed the scoring in the 63rd minute, knocking over a simple penalty kick to finish the game with six from six from his kick attempts.
Full-time score: Paul Roos 34-5 Stellenberg.
Stellenberg played hard and competed well to make it an enjoyable game. However the quality of the Paul Roos side was overwhelming, and they delivered a dominant performance in front of their fervent home supporters.
Next Saturday, Paul Roos will be the visitors at Wynberg, who won 38-33 at Rondebosch Boys’ High, also on Friday. Stellenberg will have a long break, next playing on 26 July when they travel to George to face Outeniqua.
SCORES
Paul Roos 34 (17) – Tries: Gert Kemp, Reuben Winter, Tiaan Basson, Keenan Stoffels. Conversions: Travis Pheiffer (4). Penalties: Pheiffer (2); Stellenberg 5 (0) – Try: Daniel Steffen.
u19 – Paul Roos I 34 Stellenberg I 5; Paul Roos II 43 Stellenberg II 0; Paul Roos III 27 Stellenberg III 15; Paul Roos IV 45 Stellenberg IV 3; Paul Roos V 40 Stellenberg V 0; Paul Roos VI 64 Stellenberg VI 3.
u16 – Paul Roos A 12 Stellenberg A 21; Paul Roos B 10 Stellenberg B 16; Paul Roos C 41 Stellenberg C 3; Paul Roos D 29 Stellenberg D 0.
u15 – Paul Roos A 39 Stellenberg A 14; Paul Roos B 32 Stellenberg B 12; Paul Roos C 41 Stellenberg C 0; Paul Roos D 71 Stellenberg D 0.
u14 – Paul Roos A 36 Stellenberg A o; Paul Roos B 41 Stellenberg B 0; Paul Roos C 31 Stellenberg C 5; Paul Roos D 48 Stellenberg D 8.
Rondebosch captain Josh Neill added to his outstanding try-scoring record, but Wynberg Boys’ High claimed victory at Rondebosch. Photo: Rondebosch Boys’ Rugby on Instagram.
It’s usually a Saturday fixture, but Rondebosch Boys’ High hosted Wynberg Boys’ High on Friday morning, in respect of Eid ul-Adha.
Two Saturdays ago, both sides celebrated comfortable victories. At home, Rondebosch defeated Boland Landbou 57-26, while also at home, Wynberg triumphed 34-5 over Bishops.
Heading into the clash, both sides were well rested and confident.
In the ninth minute, first blood went the way of Wynberg when, after a few phases outside the Rondebosch 22, tighthead prop Luqobo Makwendini drew two men into a tackle and then delivered a delicious offload to Kunene Gadu. The outside centre pulled off an electric step to beat his man and dived over the line for the opening points of the contest. His fellow centre, Yaqeen Ahmed, added the extras.
The home side bounced back only two minutes later. From the restart, they were awarded a penalty for blocking by the Wynberg forwards. ‘Bosch kicked for touch and from the resulting lineout they drove over, with hooker Ismaeel Conrad bagging their first try. Flyhalf Sebastian Boshoff made it 7-7 with a successful conversion attempt.
In the 14th minute, about 30 metres from the Rondebosch goal line, Wynberg let the ball do the work down the backline. Then, after a series of offloads, the speedy Gadu made a line break, resulting in a net gain of 28 metres. Scrumhalf Morné Noble led a transition with a series of short passes for his hard running forwards, until Makwendini broke through for a five-pointer.
Another conversion from Ahmed turned the play into a seven-pointer.
Wynberg doubled their lead eight minutes later. From a lineout maul, 20 metres out, they forced Rondebosch back onto their five-metre line. From there, Noble passed to the blind side. Left-wing, Albert Lourens, was tackled two metres short of the line, but Noble was on hand to keep the momentum going.
He picked up the ball and took a step to the blindside, which drew in a defender. Quick hands and a short pass to Achmat Behardien put the flyhalf over in the corner. Ahmed slotted the conversion from a narrow angle.
Rondebosch soon replied with a try of their own. The try scoring sequence was started by scrumhalf Caleb Bell, who took a quick tap, just inside the Wynberg 22. After he was brought down, the forwards turned to the pick-and-go. Bell, then, had the final touch, breaking through for a try, which was converted by Boshoff.
Wynberg was full of running and Gadu, once again, made a dazzling line-break in the 28th minute. This time from just inside the Rondebosch 10-metre line, he hit the accelerator before giving an inside ball to his captain, lock Jaythen Orange. The skipper returned the favour, passing to Gadu five metres from the try line and the centre celebrated his second try with a swan dive.
With only seconds remaining before halftime, ‘Bosch struck back with a brilliant backline move from a scrum just inside their 10-metre line.
Inside centre Harry Soboil, ran a dummy line to draw in the Wynberg defence. Then, a long pass was swung wide by outside centre Randall-John Davids to fullback Daniel Cooke. Cooke fed left wing David Kadima, who was tackled on the Wynberg 10-metre line. In an instant, Rondebosch changed direction with speed.
Upon receiving the ball, Soboil broke the line before releasing a pass to his captain Josh Neill, on the wing. The blindside flank went over in the right-hand corner.
Boshoff failed to add the extras, leaving the halftime score at 26-19 in favour of the visitors, Wynberg.
Rondebosch, after trailing for most of the match, pulled level in the 51st minute when Bell froze the Wynberg defenders with a dummy before scooting through for his second try of the game. Boshoff made it 26-26 with the conversion kick.
Five minutes later, for the first time, Rondebosch hit the front after a beautiful phase of play. Good hands and accurate passing between Boshoff, right wing Matthew Galpin, and Kadima put Galpin over after he side-stepped a defender, and Boshoff tacked on two points with an accurate conversion.
In the 62nd minute, the visitors drew level. After receiving a penalty for a high tackle, they kicked to touch and set up a lineout only five metres from the ‘Bosch try line. Executing with precision, they set up a powerful rolling maul and hooker Noah Gila was over for five points. Behardien converted with a stunning, swerving kick that he hit with the outside of his boot.
With time winding down, Wynberg was awarded a penalty in the 67th minute after Rondebosch was blown up for holding onto the ball at a breakdown. Alert to an opportunity, Noble saw the home side with their backs turned, so he took a quick tap and sprinted 40 metres, slicing through the blue jerseys of the defenders to score what turned out to be the winning try.
Behardien failed to add the extras, leaving Wynberg 38-33 ahead.
Rondebosch almost snatched victory after the final hooter had sounded with a rolling maul, but they were held up and an exhilarating game came to an end.
It was a contest that delivered skill and precision, providing the lively crowd with a memorable game of rugby. Wynberg won, but it could have gone either way.
Next Saturday, Rondebosch hosts Bishops. Wynberg will be at home to Paul Roos Gimnasium.
Scorers:
Rondebosch Boys’ High 33 (19) – Tries: Caleb Bell (2), Ismaeel Conrad, Joshua Neill, Matthew Galpin. Conversions: Sebastian Boshoff (4); Wynberg Boys’ High 38 (26) – Tries: Kunene Gadu (2), Morné Noble (2), Achmat Behardien, Noah Gila. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (3), Achmat Behardien.
