Gimmies hot favourites at home to Bishops, SACS hosts Boland Landbou
Paarl Gimnasium hosts Bishops at 12:45 on the J.A. Kriel Field on Saturday.
Having lost the fixture 0-50 at home last year against a dynamic and high-scoring Gimmies juggernaut, one might expect the Cape Town school isn’t feeling too good about their chances ahead of their showdown on Saturday.
However, under head coach Sam Mofokeng, Bishops has leaned into what many consider to be their biggest strength: free-flowing, running rugby, based on keeping the ball alive.
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Their style shows that they have confidence in backs like Eljaron Geduld to get the ball out wide quickly. The centre bagged himself a try in a 38-20 southern suburbs derby loss against Wynberg Boys’ High last weekend, and also crossed for a five-pointer in their previous outing, a 17-26 defeat against Hilton College.
Bishops, whose record is an even four wins and four defeats, has scored less than 20 points in only two of their eight games this year; in the aforementioned defeat to Hilton and in a battling loss to SACS by just five points. While that is a decent enough achievement, their highest output is only 31 points, achieved against Worcester Gimnasium and Strand in their first two matches.
Gimmies‘ captain and inside centre Ethan Barker scored a try in his side’s emphatic 64-15 victory against Boland Landbou in a Paarl derby.
He’s got the speed of a centre, but also carries the ball into contact with the brutish strength usually associated with an eighthman. He also sets the standard on defence, delivering crushing tackles.
Paarl Gim has failed to score less than 40 points in only three out of their nine games this season, so the clash in Paarl should be high-scoring.
SACS narrowly lost in a southern suburbs’ derby last weekend, falling 17-19 against Rondebosch Boys’ High.
Boland Landbou will be aware of that when they visit the Memorial-A Field at 12:45 on Saturday. Their meeting with Rondebosch, in Paarl, on 18 April, ended in a tight 43-41 victory. That suggests a tight contest awaits.
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Despite their loss to Rondebosch, SACS flyhalf and dangerman Jake Dave delivered another strong performance, scoring 12 of their 17 points via two conversions, a penalty, and a try.
The Farmers‘ flanks will be focused on restricting Dave’s share of possession by utilising their phenomenal work rate at the breakdown. Captain Juan Visagie and Jacques Bester are industrious players. They reach breakdowns quickly, and they inject pace when in possession of the ball.
Last year, on the farm, Boland Landbou scraped a tight 21-18 win.
Both sides have faced some of the top teams in the Western Cape this year and, although neither has recorded an upset, both have been battle-hardened by those clashes. They’ll be up for another bruising battle this weekend.
TEAMS
Paarl Gimnasium: 15 Thomas Saunders, 14 Corné de Beer, 13 Derick Cloete, 12 Ethan Barker, 11 De Waal Vivier, 10 Louis Koen, 9 Mickyle Booise, 8 Hendré van Zyl, 7 Dirk Hugo, 6 Corné Niemand, 5 David Jacobs, 4 Bernhardt Schulze, 3 Sebastian Bekker, 2 Reynhart du Toit, 1 Jayden Steyl.
Bishops: 15 Miyolo Ngculu, 14 Shafiek Joseph, 13 Danny Newton, 12 Christian Toweel, 11 Elihle Tsobo, 10 Caleb Clark, 9 Jack Fleck, 8 Jack Venter, 7 Luke Hofmeyr, 6 James Gordon, 5 Alex Vintcent (Captain), 4 Dan Coetzee, 3 Jack Hibling, 2 Joe Lanning, 1 Jarred Kowen.
Boland Landbou: N/A.
SACS: 15 Nahum Koen, 14 Luke McKenzie, 13 Luca Orgill, 12 James Sale, 11 Josh Gorgens, 10 Jake Dave, 9 Daniel Draai, 8 Stephan Kruger, 7 Jack Burgess, 6 Kwakhanya Gobe, 5 Cameron Hirst, 4 RJ Cunningham, 3 Qiraan Hermans, 2 Zac Dall (Captain), 1 Luca Liebenberg.
