{"id":93796,"date":"2026-04-17T14:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93796"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:22:08","slug":"all-eyes-on-paarl-as-gimmies-dare-to-start-as-favourites-against-grey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93796","title":{"rendered":"All Eyes on Paarl as Gimmies dare to start as favourites against Grey"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
DIRK HUGO, flanker of Paarl Gimnasium, in action against Affies earlier this year in a King Price Derby Series encounter. PHOTO: Anton Wannenburg\/King Price<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is not every day that a team takes the field against Grey College as the favourites, but that is exactly what Paarl Gimnasium will do this Saturday on their home ground in Paarl in the King Price Derby Series<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Follow all the action live on SuperSport Schools<\/strong><\/a> (www.supersportschools.com<\/a>) or on DStv channel 216. The clash kicks off at 14:00 on the JA Kriel Field.<\/p>\n

The Gimmies defeated Grey by 43\u201331 in Bloemfontein last year. It was the team from the City of Roses\u2019 first home defeat since 2017. Grey\u2019s previous home loss before that was against Paarl Boys\u2019 High, with Abner van Reenen spearheading a 46\u201331 victory.<\/p>\n

No fewer than six players who were involved in that win last year will turn out for the Gimmies again this year \u2013 Charles Whitehead<\/strong> (hooker), Jean Dreyer<\/strong> (lock), Hendr\u00e9 van Zyl<\/strong> (loose forward), Mickyle Booise<\/strong> (scrumhalf), Thomas Saunders<\/strong> (wing), and Ethan Barker<\/strong> (centre).<\/p>\n

Both teams have only been on the losing end once this year against South African opposition, and against the same opponent. Paarl Gimnasium went down 19\u201320 to the country\u2019s top school team so far in 2026, Stellenberg, in their opening match of the season.<\/p>\n

Grey College lost 21\u201326 to Stellenberg during the Noord\/Suid tournament. Less than 48 hours later, the Bloemfontein side also suffered a 26\u201329 defeat against Australia\u2019s Nudgee College.<\/p>\n

One of Grey\u2019s biggest stalwarts, O\u2019Ryan Kleyn<\/strong> (inside centre), was injured in the clash against Nudgee College. He undoubtedly leaves a gap in the Bloemfontein team and will probably not be in action again this year.<\/p>\n

Grey last lost three matches in a row on the rugby field in 2015. At the time, the team were beaten by Monument (7\u201317), Paarl Boys\u2019 High (19\u201321), and Affies (18\u201329).<\/p>\n

Only two players in Grey\u2019s squad, Lamla Mgedezi<\/strong> (fullback) and Alexi Tyropolis<\/strong> (captain and lock), were also in the starting line-up against the Gimmies last year.<\/p>\n

Eddie Mabena<\/strong> (inside centre) and Hennie Bredenhann<\/strong> (loosehead prop) were on the bench.<\/p>\n

Mabena has moved from outside centre to inside centre to fill Kleyn\u2019s boots. His centre partner, Emile Aucamp, can expect a proper baptism of fire in Paarl.<\/p>\n

A fair amount of rain is expected in Paarl, which could limit Grey\u2019s dangerous backline.<\/p>\n

Paarl Gimnasium recorded a resounding 51\u201324 victory over Affies in the King Price Derby Series<\/strong> last Saturday. The team\u2019s fullback, Saunders, as well as scrumhalf Mickyle Booise<\/strong>, were on song in that win.<\/p>\n

The key to success for Grey in Paarl will lie with their pack of eight, who will need to deliver a similar performance to the one they produced earlier this year in their 38\u20137 win over Oakdale Landbou.<\/p>\n

The teams: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Paarl Gimnasium:<\/strong> 15 Thomas Saunders, 14 Corn\u00e9 de Beer, 13 Derik Cloete, 12 Ethan Barker (captain), 11 De Waal Vivier, 10 Louis Koen, 9 Mickyle Booise, 8 Hendr\u00e9 van Zyl, 7 Dirk Hugo, 6 Corn\u00e9 Niemand, 5 Jean Dreyer, 4 Bernhardt Schulze, 3 Sebastian Bekker, 2 Charles Whitehead, 1 Jayden Steyl.<\/p>\n

Grey College:<\/strong> 15 Lamla Mgedezi, 14 Johan Dormehl, 13 Emile Aucamp, 12 Eddie Mabena, 11 JG Horn, 10 Christoff Crous, 9 Jonathan Drysdale, 8 Niel du Randt, 7 Henru Erasmus, 6 Xander de Beer, 5 Jannes Krause, 4 Alexi Tyropolis (kaptein), 3 JW Coetzee, 2 AJ Hendriks, 1 Hennie Bredenhann.<\/p>\n

Kick-Off:<\/strong> 14:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not every day that a team takes the field against Grey College as the favourites, but that is exactly what Paarl Gimnasium will do this Saturday on their home ground in Paarl in the King Price Derby Series. Follow all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com) or on DStv channel 216. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93796","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\/93796","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=93796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}