Bishops will be a tougher nut to crack for Paarl Gim than last year
Diocesan College host Paarl Gimnasium in Rondebosch on the Piley Rees at 12:30 on Saturday as exam season causes the Western Cape fixtures to abate.
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If your team isn’t playing this weekend it is the perfect opportunity to catch some of the premier sides in action. Paarl Gimnasium consistently ranks among the best in the country, and the Bishops first team have already come away with some statement victories this season and will look to take down the giants from Paarl on their home field on Saturday
When these two teams met in Paarl last year, Gimmies won comfortably 57-26.
The home team’s standout players this year, flyhalf, Shaywan Blankenberg, fullback, Gilermoe Mentoe, and scrumhalf, Hassiem Pead, were playing in that game as grade 11’s and will be looking for revenge on the Piley Rees field when they face their old foes again, having benefitted from another year’s development and maturity.
It will take a mammoth effort to overcome this Paarl Gim side though, they have been formidable this season, only losing one game to Grey College (33-12) thus far.
Most recently, they secured a massive 73-3 win over SACS, showing just how in tune the boys from Paarl are at the moment.
Since then they’ve had a weekend to rest and recover and will be itching to get back on the field and continue building their momentum.
When Bishops played SACS earlier in the year they also managed to win, but the margin was much narrower (31-25) and if the Gimmie performance from their last game is anything to go by, the home team will have their hands full this weekend.
Bishops have had success this season as well though, recently beating Stellenberg (22-7) and Wynberg Boys’ High (14-10) and narrowly losing out to Boland Landbou (22-19).
They also beat Helpmekaar (31-30) in one of the highlights of the Saint Stithians Festival in April, and they will know that they have it in them to cause a big upset against the powerhouse from Paarl.
Gimmies have been carrying the banner for the southern teams though, and players like Tazreeq Moerat (fullback), Roland Viviers (centre) and Kyle Smith (flyhalf) have been phenomenal on the attack, aided by the foundations set by the big boys up front. Both flankers, Adrúan Kotze and Louw du Toit have been phenomenal in their roles, and their prop, Xander Mynhardt, takes some stopping when carrying the ball.
Bishops’ pack will need to be at their best to compete with the physicality and pure power of the visitors, but it will be essential for the likes of Aidan Norris (no. 8), James le Feuvre (flanker) and Tapiwa Nkumanda (flanker) to disrupt the Paarl Gim rhythm to avoid a romp. They have shown their excellent work rate before, but they’ll need to be firing on all cylinders this weekend.
The home side will still remember 2015 well when they last beat Paarl Gim on the Piley Rees thanks to a brace by Tristan Leyds, who plays Currie Cup for the Western Province now and is the younger brother of ex-Springbok and two times Champions Cup winner with La Rochelle, Dillyn Leyds, who is also an alumnus of Diocesan College.
Cornel Smit who also plays for the Western Province now was prominent for Bishops in that game in 2015 as well, converting all five tries, of which he scored one himself.
There will be a big battle in the northern suburbs when Hoërskool Durbanville hosts Hoërskool Bellville.
The Durbies have been great so far this season and will want to get another big win in front of their loyal home crowd.
The teams:
Diocesan College vs Paarl Gimnasium at 12:30:
Diocesan College: 15 Gilermoe Mentoe, 14 Lucca Mynhardt, 13 Olo Sopotela, 12 Nic Allison, 11 Kashief Joseph, 10 Shaywan Blankenberg, 9 Hassiem Pead, 8 Aidan Norris, 7 James le Feuvre, 6 Tapiwa Nkumanda, 5 CJ Gordon, 4 Gareth Mckinon, 3 Nashe Chahwahwa, 2 Merlin Fransman, 1 Richard Horton.
Paarl Gimnasium: 15 Tazreeq Moerat, 14 Freek de Kock, 13 Hennie Otto, 12 Roland Viviers, 11 Pieter-Nel du Plessis, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Dawid Kotze, 8 Nicolas Nel, 7 Louw du Toit, 6 Adrúan Kotze, 5 Eduan Vosloo, 4 Danio Botha, 3 Nicholas Crous, 2 Jannie Grobbelaar, 1 Xander Mynhardt.
Hottentots-Holland vs Brackenfell at 11:20:
Hottentots-Holland: 15 Sipho Mbonyana, 14 Ngoni Chihera, 13 Ben Kil Kio Lufu, 12 De Andre Mouwers, 11 Joshua Herbert, 10 Junaden Minnies, 9 Matthew Beyers, 8 Denwill Coetzee, 7 Edumisa Dotwana, 6 Wayden Adriaanse, 5 Honour Mubaiwa, 4 Hlumisa Klaas, 3 Sipho Kula, 2 Davon Oliphant, 1 Likho Xakayi.
Brackenfell: 15 Caden Davids, 14 Randy Kabamba, 13 Cayden Scheffers, 12 Xavier Valentine, 11 Cwenga Ntsapho, 10 Sebastian Hahn, 9 Mickyle Smith, 8 Raiden Rodney, 7 Luhn van Wyk, 6 Nicholas van Wyk, 5 Ntsikayomzi Njongonkulu, 4 Tiaan Crous, 3 Graigan Matroos, 2 Liyema Sitheto, 1 Johann Groenewald.
DF Malan vs Hugenote at 11:30:
DF Malan: 15 André Willemse, 14 Thristan Fortune, 13 Lester Abrahams, 12 Liam Greeff, 11 Keanu Swanepoel, 10 Zander Enslin, 9 Bernard Slabbert, 8 Xavier von Stein, 7 Ryan Williams, 6 Tyrese Consul, 5 Andries Krügel, 4 Simon van Eeden, 3 Marlo Human, 2 Joshua Kapp, 1 Chris Kriel.
Hugenote: 15 Lian Wiid, 14 Xavier Fredericks, 13 Ethan Isaacs, 12 Keanu Saunders, 11 Jermaine Mohammed, 10 Wade Green, 9 Brandow-Lee Sass, 8 Xavier Oktober, 7 Cullen Ruiters, 6 Dillon van Wyk, 5 Nathan Crouch, 4 Marcus Wiid, 3 Morne Grobler, 2 Charlton Manuel, 1 Xavier Gertse.
Hoërskool Durbanville vs Hoërskool Bellville at 12:20:
Hoërskool Durbanville: 15 Valrhino Olckers, 14 Lian Jordaan, 13 James Nero, 12 Shadwill Engelbrecht, 11 Cayden Louw, 10 Blane Marais, 9 Monray Daars, 8 Evert Bouwer, 7 Liam Baird, 6 Divan Gravett, 5 Jacobus Botha, 4 Rikus Saaiman, 3 Anru van Rhyn, 2 Devon Strydom, 1 Wian Koen.
Hoërskool Bellville: TBC.
HTS Drostdy vs Tygerberg at 13:00:
HTS Drostdy: 15 Cayden Malgas, 14 Adrian Vergotine, 13 Aljay Skippers, 12 Arthur Mdliwa, 11 Bernedict George, 10 Stefan van der Merwe, 9 Corné van Schalkwyk, 8 MJ van der Westhuizen, 7 Matt Romao, 6 Ettiene Claasen, 5 Darius Venter, 4 Marcus Lee, 3 Tertius Wantenaar, 2 Hein Louw, 1 Wiehan Adams.
Tygerberg: 15 Higgen Whites, 14 Therlow Goudhard, 13 JD Pombo, 12 Luke Moses, 11 Mikyle Philander, 10 Marius Griebenow, 9 Shane Steenkamp, 8 Dillon Fillies, 7 Zuhayr Pillay, 6 Prince Misengue, 5 Tyrique van Reenen, 4 Gian Brand, 3 Ashton Maloy, 2 Ezra Glover, 1 Ethan Abrahams.
