Boishaai overpowers resilient Bishops
When their early afternoon game kicked off in Paarl, Boishaai were revving their engines with confidence after handing Boland Landbou a 69-12 trouncing last weekend.
Meanwhile, Bishops were seeking redemption for their 6-73 loss in Paarl last year and also aiming to make amends for a 0-50 setback against a ruthless Paarl Gim side last weekend.
The home side made an early breakthrough when right wing Jeneal Davids put in a short sprint before passing inside to his fullback Mark Grindlay, who then fed scrumhalf Liam de Villiers for the opening score in the sixth minute. Inside centre Iwan Jordaan added the extras.
De Villiers put his team back on the front foot with an excellent 50-22 in the nineth minute.
From there, after a series of phases, Mark Grindlay ran a hard line into contact and crashed over despite three defenders still hanging onto him. Jordaan narrowly missed the conversion attempt.
After a tough opening 10 minutes, the Cape Town school found some momentum. They had their chances with a few 22m entries, but the Boishaai defence was valiant, at times tackling the ball carrier into touch, and at other times pulling off turnovers at the breakdown.
At halftime, it was 12-0 in favour of the hosts.
From the start of the second half, Paarl Boys’ High exerted pressure on their white-clad opponents.
Just four minutes in, from the five-metre line, Boishaai hooker Tommy Muller took a tap-and-go and charged over the try line for five points. Jordaan made the conversion to extend the home side’s lead to 19-0.
Boys’ High was reduced to 14 players in the 42nd minute when their flyhalf, Francois van der Merwe, was sent to the sin bin for tackling a Bishops’ player off the ball. Four minutes later, Bishops had one of their forwards sin-binned for an off the ball incident.
A minute later, from a lineout, Boishaai performed a textbook rolling maul, carrying captain and eighthman Steph van der Merwe over the whitewash for a try. Jordaan was bang on target with the conversion.
The hosts continued to roll. After playing a series of phases from an overthrow at their lineout on the Bishops’ five-metre line, Boishaai fed the ball wide, where outside centre Tristan Joubert ran in from an overlap and Jordaan added a touchline conversion.
The visitors’ resilience finally reaped reward in the 61st minute.
From a ruck on the Paarl five-metre line, scrumhalf Rynard Gordon ran sideways with the ball in hand, then gave a short inside ball to centre Boytjie Fyfer, who burst through the gap and dived over the line for five. Outside centre Eljaron Geduld added the extras.
Bishops also had the final say with a try in the final minute of the match. After two phases from a lineout on the Boishaai five-metre line, the visitors’ captain Daniel van den Heever, picked up and charged over the line for a try. Geduld missed the tight-angled conversion.
Full-time score: 33-12 in favour of Boishaai.
Despite the defeat, Bishops put up a proud fight. They produced a much-improved result over last year’s fixture, and it was a character-filled response to last week’s thumping by Paarl Gim. They have a big clash awaiting them next week when they visit their rivals Rondebosch.
Paarl Boys will be satisfied with yet another home victory, which brought the curtain down on their second term commitments. They next host SACS on 26 July.
Scores
Paarl Boys: Tries – Liam de Villiers, Mark Grindlay, Tommy Muller, Steph van der Merwe, Tristan Joubert. Conversions – Iwan Jordaan (4); Bishops: Tries – Boytjie Fyfer, Daniel van den Heever. Conversions – Geduld.
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