Boishaai to defend proud record against Paul Roos at Brug Street
The Buco Brug Street stadium will be hosting one of the biggest schoolboy rugby clashes of the season this weekend when Paul Roos Gimnasium visit from Stellenbosch to take on Paarl Boys’ High at home for their Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools.
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With the rich rugby history between these two schools, this encounter produces one of the highlights of the rugby calendar every year.
Paul Roos can boast of having produced the most Springboks of any school in South Africa, currently at 54 old boys who have represented South Africa on the rugby field, with the most recent being the likes of Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse, Steven Kitshoff and Willie le Roux.
Paarl Boys’ High, on the other hand, have been consistently ranking among the top three rugby schools in the country for a long time now, and have also been churning out Springbok stars like Evan Roos, Salmaan Moerat, Thomas du Toit and Frans Malherbe at an increasingly steady rate.
Boishaai have had the upper hand in eight of their last ten encounters, but need only think back to 2018 when a Paul Roos side including the likes of current Currie Cup players Juan Mostert, JJ Kotze and Kade Wolhuter and the Dutchman currently signed at Saracens, Mink Scharink, secured a famous victory in Stellenbosch.
The team from Paarl were celebrating their 150th year and had just come off a winning streak of more than 50 games when they lost, first to the Jaguares from Argentina (19-10), then to Grey College (34-20) before Paul Roos handed them their biggest defeat in a long time (44-8).
To the credit of the 2018 Boishaai team, they managed to regroup and still went on to win the all-important derby against Paarl Gim that year (24-21).
It has, however, been 20 years since Paul Roos last beat Boishaai in Paarl. Juandré Kruger was part of that Paul Roos first team in 2003.
History aside, this weekend will be all about the boys on the field, and the home team can rely on the returning JC Mars at fullback, who has been the in-form player all season.
The home side also replace both props as Christie Visser and Evan Kotze who were in the team that beat Wynberg Boys’ High last weekend, when Lyle Arendse who replaced the injured Mars scored a phenomenal try in the last play of the game to edge a 33-26 victory make way for Michael Pretorius and Alfie Holm who start in their places on the front line this weekend and Bryan Burger starts at centre in the place of Ayden Jacobs.
They can still rely on the services of Ruan van Willing (flyhalf), Divan Fuller (flanker) and Van Heerden Pretorius (lock) who have been excellent for them this year and the visitors will need to be at their best to avoid a romp in Paarl.
Paul Roos have flown under the radar somewhat so far this year, having played fewer games than their opponents, but they’ve already had success over the likes of Rondebosch (27-7), Affies (31-25) and Durban High School (24-14), only narrowly losing out to Paarl Gimnasium (24-19).
They also came up short against Monument (44-26) earlier in the season at the North/South tournament, but they have progressed substantially throughout the season, with players like Leejay Petersen (flyhalf), Zeke January (scrumhalf) and Ryan Jack (prop) standing out for the Maroon Machine in their last couple of games.
The Paul Roos loose forwards have been exemplary in their work rate so far this season and Reuben Kruger (no. 8) and captain, Andreas Oosthuizen (flanker) will have a big role to play in this game. Riley Norton (flanker) replaces Dylan van Wyk to complete the back row.
The only other change from the Paul Roos team that saw away with Rondebosch last weekend is Declan Croy who starts at fullback, shifting Keenan Stoffels to the wing in the place of Marco Odendaal.
The home team should be the favourites to take this one, but the history of these two schools’ rivalry contains ample examples of how the occasion of such a big match can completely negate form and records.
Some of the other big matchups in the Western Cape over the weekend include Rondebosch Boys’ High versus Wynberg Boys’ High, who are both coming off losses after facing Boishaai and Paul Roos respectively last weekend and will be looking forward to returning to winning ways in their big derby.
Diocesan College also plays host to Stellenberg in Rondebosch. That matchup promises sparks as well, with both teams playing some really exciting rugby so far this season.
The teams are:
Paarl Boys’ High vs Paul Roos Gimnasium at 14:00:
Paarl Boys’ High: 15 JC Mars, 14 Scott Nel, 13 Bryan Burger, 12 Daniel van der Merwe, 11 Jameel de Jongh, 10 Ruan van Willing, 9 Juan Loots, 8 Douw Wessels, 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Rubin Dames, 5 Van Heerden Pretorius, 4 Neil Hansen, 3 Alfie Holm, 2 HB Odendaal, 1 Michael Pretorius.
Paul Roos Gimnasium: 15 Declan Croy, 14 Keehan Etson, 13 Samuel Badenhorst, 12 Phillip Groenewald, 11 Keenan Stoffels, 10 Leejay Petersen, 9 Zeke January, 8 Reuben Kruger, 7 Riley Norton, 6 Andreas Oosthuizen, 5 Jesse Stegehuis, 4 Truspe Schoeman, 3 Ryan Jack, 2 Christian de Villiers, 1 Oliver Reid.
Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Wynberg Boys’ High at 12:15:
Rondebosch Boys’ High: 15 David Simon, 14 Juma Amissi, 13 Nichollas Molyneux, 12 Alutha Wesi, 11 Ethan Gordon, 10 Dylan Miller, 9 Caleb Belelie, 8 Ryan du Rand, 7 Polite Phiri, 6 Jeff Cohen, 5 Tom Barnard, 4 Carl Geddie, 3 Nicolas Swier, 2 Thomas van Wyk, 1 Justin Amos.
Wynberg Boys’ High: 15 Matthew Ould, 14 Matteo Pascoe, 13 Ezra Antonio, 12 Brandon Ashburner, 11 Xolela Hoyi, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Sange Mbuto, 8 Xola Nyali, 7 Torren February, 6 Jarryd Jackson, 5 Michail Kasfikis, 4 Aden da Costa, 3 Luqobo Makwedini, 2 Nicholas van Schalkwyk, 1 Aidan Reid.
Diocesan College vs Stellenberg at 12:30:
Diocesan College: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Ayanda Bonoyi, 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 Gareth Mckinon, 4 Alex Smith, 3 Nashe Chahwahwa, 2 Merlin Fransman, 1 Richard Horton.
Stellenberg: 15 Kaden de Klerk, 14 Liam Smith, 13 Estian Steyn, 12 Tyron Labuschagne, 11 Ruben Thompson, 10 Stefan Roux, 9 Clyde Frieslaar, 8 Dale du Toit, 7 Zian Erasmus, 6 Creedon Cockrell, 5 Corne Bruwer, 4 Marco Ferreira, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Almero Keizer, 1 Niel de Beer.
Brackenfell vs Milnerton at 12:15:
Brackenfell: 15 Cayden Davids, 14 Randy Kabamba, 13 Xavier Valentine, 12 Sebastian Hahn, 11 Cwenga Ntsapho, 10 Mickyle Smith, 9 Jaydin Basson, 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.
Milnerton: 15 Keagan Wood, 14 Carl Moatshe, 13 Morgan Lodewyk, 12 Frank Hitimana, 11 Qhamani Mangele, 10 Seth Kleynhans, 9 Devon Damons, 8 Liberty Nyashanu, 7 Cole Wefewarth, 6 Ethan Wilson, 5 Mathew Gabriel, 4 Keenan Togni, 3 Khanyisa Tafeni, 2 Keagan Harding, 1 Liam Ross.
Fish Hoek vs Gordon High at 11:15:
Fish Hoek: 15 Judy Govender, 14 Merveille Kongolo, 13 Tristan Fulton, 12 William Owens, 11 David Pikus, 10 Levi Fillies, 9 Ndimphiwe Ndabambi, 8 Jdee Stone, 7 Enoch Undi, 6 Bahrne Jacobson, 5 Benjamin Kleu, 4 Liam Coetzee, 3 Ilias Mandalios, 2 Mathew Puda, 1 Ethan de Vos.
Gordon High: 15 Matthew Fransman, 14 Gregan Mowers, 13 Jared Beyers, 12 Morne Africa, 11 Johnwyn Soetzenberg, 10 Natham Botha, 9 Javaan Jafta, 8 Alec Smit, 7 Jade Charles, 6 Ronaldinho Martin, 5 Keano Titus, 4 Lyndon Terhoeven, 3 Jordan van der Merwe, 2 Natino Abrahams, 1 Lyle Cyster.
Other fixtures:
13:00 – Hoërskool Bellville vs SACS; 11:45 – Tygerberg vs DF Malan; 11:45 – Parel Vallei vs Hottentots-Holland; 12:20 – Hoërskool Durbanville vs Primrose RFC; 11:40 – Charlie Hofmeyr vs Hoërskool Stellenbosch.
