A top-quality King Price Derby clash as unbeaten Paarl Gim hosts Wynberg
Paarl Gimnasium have won all 13 of their games this season, taking their unbeaten tally to 17 matches in a row. On Saturday, they host Wynberg Boys’ High.
Paul Roos Gimnasium was the last side to beat Paarl Gim, coming out on top in a 23-17 thriller on 18 May 2025. On this Friday, that was 433 days ago.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 12:30 on the J.A. Kriel Field.
Paarl Gim has been on a fearsome roll this season and they’ve had no trouble racking up points. They ended last term on a high note when they thumped Boland Landbou 80-29 away from home.
Wynberg Boys’ High has also been in good form. They came ever so close to taking down Paul Roos, almost earning the title of “giant slayers” on 14 June, when they narrowly lost 17-21 at home. They’ll be aiming to claim that title on Saturday, but they face an immense challenge.
In last year’s edition of this fixture, Paarl Gim walked away with a 45-20 victory. This year, Wynberg has the fire power to make it a much tighter affair. Having side that, though, Paarl Gim is loaded with try-scoring threats.
After a standout performance for Western Province at the FNB Craven Week, where he was named the SA Schools’ captain, Markus Muller returns to skipper Gim. Wynberg will have to keep their eyes on him if they want to keep the scoring low, but few have managed to slow the free-scoring centre down.
Also, Paarl Gim is not a one-man show. Flyhalf Louis Koen always has an ace up his sleeve when it comes to playmaking. Wing Thomas Saunders has some serious pace at his disposal, and he knows how to use it. He often wraps around from the blindside and cuts clean through the opposition defence to collect five points. And Gim boasts dynamic, skilful forwards.
Wynberg features an outstanding 9-10-12 combination, in SA Schools’ scrumhalf Morné Noble, Achmat Behardien and Yaqeen Ahmed. All three of them displayed their attacking prowess at the Craven Week.
Noble distributes the ball with speed and scores plenty of tries with his sniping runs. Behardien provides a plethora of options in attack, with precise passing and kicking. Ahmed aids his flyhalf in playmaking and with his sound goal-kicking.
In the forward department, Gimmies have SA Schools A eighthman Quintin Potgieter to lead them in the gruelling set-piece and breakdown battles.
The home side also displays a number of moves from their lineout; from the rolling maul to the long overthrow for the backs to run onto. Inside the opposition 22, they boast a high conversion rate for all of them and often include the dynamic Markus Muller as the ball carrier at the back of the rolling maul.
Wynberg has a bulldozer in Western Province prop, Luqobo Makwedini. He’ll be aiming to plough over the opposition goal-line if he’s within five metres of it, and he poses a serious test for the Gimmies’ scrum.
Captain and Western Province lock, Jaythen Orange, will test the lethal Gimmies lineout.
Whilst Paarl Gimnasium is the favourite, getting the better of Wynberg is no gimme.
TEAMS
Paarl Gimnasium vs Wynberg Boys’ High at 12:30 in Paarl
Paarl Gim: 15 Dawid Badenhorst, 14 Johan Kleymans, 13 Markus Muller (Captain), 12 Ethan Barker, 11 Thomas Saunders, 10 Louis Koen, 9 Mickyle Booise, 8 Quintin Potgieter, 7 Hendrè van Zyl, 6 Hendrè van der Westhuizen, 5 Jean Dreyer, 4 Bernhardt Schulze, 3 Adriaan van der Lingen, 2 Charles Whitehead, 1 Pieta Cilliers.
Wynberg (likely): 15 Daniel Oud, 14 Chad Campbell, 13 Kunene Gadu, 12 Yaqeen Ahmed, 11 Albert Lourens, 10 Achmat Behardien, 9 Morné Noble, 8 Alvin Machinja, 7 Tjeripo Karuhamba, 6 Alex Barret, 5 James Orwin, 4 Jaythen Orange (Captain), 3 Luqobo Makwedini, 2 Noah Gila, 1 Luke Miller.
