Boishaai seeks to wind back the clock to 2017 in Bloemfontein
On Saturday, Grey College welcomes Paarl Boys’ High for their annual Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools clash, adding a new chapter to a rivalry that spans back as far as 1950.
Eleven senior teams from both schools will battle it out this weekend, a testament to the magnitude of their respective rugby programmes, with the excitement culminating when the first XVs take the field at 14:00.
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The Free State powerhouse dominated the fixture in the earlier stages of the rivalry but, after a three-year winning streak by Boishaai between 2015 and 2017, the proud Paarl side has represented itself well.
Since 2018, Grey have reasserted its dominance, but the last two fixtures ended with only nine points separating the sides. Grey won 39-30 in Paarl last season and in 2022 they beat Boishaai 21-12 in Bloemfontein.
Apart from an early slip-up against a fired-up Jeppe High School for Boys at the NMI Toyota North-South tournament earlier in the year, Grey College has been setting the pace again this season.
Most recently, they asserted their dominance at the Absa Wildeklawer tournament in Kimberley, beating Maritzburg College (46-0) and Garsfontein (38-10) comprehensively.
Earlier in April, they also downed an in-form Paarl Gimnasium 29-27 on the J.A. Kriel Field in Paarl, and they’ll be looking forward to the opportunity to take down another of their big rivals from Paarl in front of their home crowd this weekend.
If Heinrich Theron and AJ Meyer continue to dominate the lineouts in conjunction with their captain, Liam van Wyk, the visitors might be in for a long day.
At the back, Grey looks just as dangerous, with the only change in the squad from their last outing against Garsies being Ruben Cilliers taking over from Siyabonga Kenny on the wing.
Paarl Boys shot out the blocks at the beginning of the season, with impressive wins over Hoërskool Durbanville (73-7), Jeppe (45-19) and Garsfontein (38-36) but three defeats on the trot against Wynberg Boys’ High (27-30), Paul Roos Gimnasium (10-25) and Affies (21-43) have somewhat broken their rhythm.
They showed real character to shake off the loss to Affies in Kimberley last weekend to edge past Durban High School (DHS), 15-13, in their final match at Wildeklawer.
A win in Bloemfontein would be enough to turn their season around and they possess the necessary firepower with the likes of Rubin Dames and Viaan Mentoor in their ranks.
Mentoor starts in the no. 12 jersey this weekend, with Jeneal Davids, who made a couple of appearances at flyhalf earlier in the season, and who has shone for their second team, starting at 10.
As always, it will be a monumental challenge, with the Grey boys going from strength to strength this season.
TEAMS
Grey College: 15 Heinz Stockenström, 14 Pretorius Ekeji, 13 Ethan Adams, 12 Pieter van der Merwe, 11 Ruben Cilliers, 10 Alzeadon Felix, 9 Philip McLaren, 8 Liam Santos, 7 Juliun Cosmo, 6 Xander Smit, 5 AJ Meyer, 4 Heinrich Theron, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Liam van Wyk, 1 Dian Venter.
Paarl Boys’ High: 15 Francois van der Merwe, 14 Aiden Jacobs, 13 Tristan Joubert, 12 Viaan Mentoor, 11 Shane Lee Simonse, 10 Jeneal Davids, 9 Keagan Smith, 8 Douw Wessels, 7 Rubin Dames, 6 Steph van der Merwe, 5 Jayden Joubert, 4 Gershom Pieters, 3 Cruz Davey, 2 Christiaan Grundling, 1 Jordan Jooste.
FIXTURES
Saturday, 11 May
Main field: 08:30 – Grey College u14 A vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 A; 09:50 – Grey College u15 A vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 A; 11:10 – Grey College II vs Paarl Boys’ High II; 12:30 – Grey College u16 A vs Paarl Boys’ High u16 A; 14:00 – Grey College 1st XV vs Paarl Boys’ High 1st XV
Oval: 08:30 – Grey College u14 C vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 C; 09:50 – Grey College u14 E vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 E; 11:10 – Grey College u14 B vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 B; 12:30 – Grey College u14 D vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 D.
GCB A: 08:30 – Grey College III vs Paarl Boys’ High III; 09:50 – Grey College V vs Paarl Boys’ High V; 11:10 – Grey College IV vs Paarl Boys’ High IV; 12:30 – Grey College VI vs Paarl Boys’ High VI.
GCB B: 08:30 – Grey College u16 B vs Paarl Boys’ High u16 B; 09:50 – Grey College u16 C vs Paarl Boys’ High u16 C; 11:10 – Grey College u16 D vs Paarl Boys’ High u16 D; 12:30 – Grey College u14 F vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 F.
Windmill A: 08:30 – Grey College u15 C vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 C; 09:50 – Grey College u16 E vs Paarl Boys’ High u16 E; 11:10 – Grey College u15 D vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 D; 12:30 – Grey College u15 B vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 B.
Windmill B: 08:30 – Grey College IX vs Paarl Boys’ High IX; 09:50 – Grey College VII vs Paarl Boys’ High VII; 11:10 – Grey College X vs Paarl Boys’ High X; 12:30 – Grey College VIII vs Paarl Boys’ High VIII.
Friday, 10 May
Main Field: 14:40 – Grey College u14 G vs Paarl Boys’ High u14 G; 15:40 – Grey College XI vs Paarl Boys’ High XI.
Oval: 14:40 – Grey College u15 E vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 E; 15:40 – Grey College u15 F vs Paarl Boys’ High u15 F.
