{"id":78787,"date":"2025-08-01T13:27:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=78787"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:27:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:27:06","slug":"paarl-interschools-to-headline-this-saturdays-king-price-derby-series-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=78787","title":{"rendered":"Paarl Interschools to headline this Saturday\u2019s King Price Derby Series clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PAARL, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 03: Markus Muller of Paarl Gimnasium 1st Xv tackled by Francois Van De Merwe of Paarl Boys’ High School 1st Xv during the Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools match between Paarl Boys High and Paarl Gimnasium at Faure Street Stadium on August 03, 2024 in Paarl, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Paarl Derby, part of the King Price Derby Series, kicks off at 16:00 this Saturday at the Faure Street Stadium, where more than 25 000 spectators will take their seats.<\/p>\n

Paarl Gimnasium, ranked South Africa\u2019s top school side in 2025 so far, will look to extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches. Their rivals, Paarl Boys\u2019 High, beaten only once this season, aim to upset the hosts after last year\u2019s 8-30 loss.<\/p>\n

Historically, the derby has been fiercely contested, with eight of the last nine clashes decided by five points or fewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process in getting the team ready for Saturday\u2019s clash has started at the beginning of the season. We try to keep our routine the same as the one we used throughout the season. Also, to keep the emotion in place during the week, as there will be enough of that on Saturday. The focus of the team will be to play for each other and fulfill their individual roles,\u201d said Pieter Rossouw, head of rugby of Paarl Gimnasium.<\/p>\n

Gim captain Markus Muller, compared to a young Danie Gerber, leads a potent backline supported by SA Schools\u2019 eighthman Quintin Potgieter. Boishaai counters with powerhouse prop Jordan Jooste and elusive fullback Mark Grindlay. With talent across the park and intense local pride, the stage is set for another classic battle in one of South Africa\u2019s most iconic schoolboy rugby rivalries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is Interschools in Paarl. The town is even prettier this week than usual. Blue and Green all over the place, of course, a bit bluer,\u201d said Sean Erasmus, head coach of Boishaai.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s interschools clash will be the 106th<\/sup> between these two powerhouses. Gim has been on the winning side 52 times, Boishaai coming out on top 42 times with 11 encounters ending in a draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe highlight for me is naturally the game on Saturday. But it is also the build-up throughout the week between the three schools. The involvement of the parents, old boys and the town which makes this Interschools a very special occasion,\u201d said Rossouw.<\/p>\n

This weekend will also host a special 100th<\/sup> clash between Jeppe High School for Boys\u2019 and King Edward VII\u2019s Red Army at Collard Field in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Jeppe won the earlier clash in the season by 37-28 but the Red Army has been marching on in the latter part of the season as they recorded victories over Rondebosch Boys\u2019 High (20-17), Noordheuwel (23-22), Helpmekaar (23-21) and Pretoria Boys\u2019 High (24-23).<\/p>\n

KES has won 63 times since the first interschools back in 1935. Six matches ended in a draw, while Jeppe bagged 30 victories.<\/p>\n

Grey College of Bloemfontein will travel down to Gqeberha to face their namesake, Grey High School, in their annual encounter. The team from Bloemfontein will arrive in the Eastern Cape as favourites for this King Price Derby Series encounter, but it is never easy on Kolisi Field.<\/p>\n

In Pretoria the Afrikaanse Ho\u00ebr Seunskool of Pretoria will look to continue their dominance against Waterkloof in their King Price Derby Series clash. Klofies\u2019 last success against Affies was back in 2017.<\/p>\n

Klofies will also travel to Affies with their talisman and eighthman, Marco Kok, ruled out with injury. The clash between him and Stefan McDonald was to be one of the highlights.<\/p>\n

Affies\u2019 SA Schools halfback pairing of Zirk Meyer and Ruben Groenewald (captain) will be the dangermen for their side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Paarl Derby, part of the King Price Derby Series, kicks off at 16:00 this Saturday at the Faure Street Stadium, where more than 25 000 spectators will take their seats. Paarl Gimnasium, ranked South Africa\u2019s top school side in 2025 so far, will look to extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches. Their rivals, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}