Massive Paarl Derby promises fireworks
The Paarl Derby, also a King Price Derby Series clash, takes place at Faure Street Stadium in Paarl at 16:00 this Saturday.
Paarl Gimnasium, regarded by most to be the number one team in South Africa in 2025, will aim to celebrate the evening by winning and taking their 2025 record to 15 games unbeaten. That would extend their overall unbeaten run to 19 matches
Catch the match LIVE on DStv Channel 216
Paarl Boys’ High, beaten only once this season, will aim to spoil the party.
They lost last year’s clash 8-30. However, excluding last year’s match, the sides have been within five points of each other for the last eight derby fixtures.
The affair brings the town of Paarl to a standstill. A crowd from 25 000 to 30 000 is par for the course.
Both sides head onto the battle ground on Saturday filled with confidence after winning their past weekend’s matches by 43 and 46 points respectively. Gimmies overran Wynberg 68-22, while Boishaai overwhelmed SACS 51-8.
Gimmies’ and SA Schools‘ captain, Markus Muller, will be an obvious and seriously difficult threat for the visitors to contain on Saturday. His kicking, passing, speed and strength are all standout features of his game – never mind the centre’s leadership and defensive capabilities.
Many on social media have compared him to a young Danie Gerber – the player former Springbok centre, Jean de Villiers, a Paarl Gim old boy, called the greatest Springbok of all time on the Boks Office show.
SA Schools’ eighthman, Quintin Potgieter, will lead the Gim forward pack in the set-pieces and at the breakdowns. Gimmies will be focused on feeding their dangerous backs plenty of quality ball.
From lineouts inside the Boishaai 22, they’ll turn to their ever-so-effective rolling maul, which has steamed over opposition forward packs on plenty of occasions this season.
Boishaai also boasts an abundance of talent from player one to player 15. In fact, those two numbers include two of their most impressive players.
SA Schools’ prop, Jordan Jooste, has rhinoceros-like power, demolishing opposition scrums and tearing open their rolling mauls – feats that he’ll be intent on reprising against Gim on Saturday.
Fullback Mark Grindlay has a sixth sense for creating line breaks. He’s shown that Boishaai is as much a skillful side as they are a physical one. He’ll be working with his fellow backs to exploit space between the lines and out wide.
The teams:
Paarl Gimnasium vs Paarl Boys’ High, 16:00 at Faure Street Stadium in Paarl.
Paarl Gimnasium: 15 Dawid Badenhorst, 14 Johan Kleynhans, 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.
Paarl Boys’ High: 15 Mark Grindlay, 14 Jeneal Davids, 13 Tristan Joubert, 12 Iwan Jordaan, 11 Kaleb Holmes, 10 Francois van der Merwe, 9 Liam de Villiers, 8 Steph van der Merwe (captain), 7 Kobus Wilken, 6 Wege van Zyl, 5 Jayden Joubert, 4 Gershom Pieters, 3 Juan van der Merwe, 2 Tommy Muller, 1 Jordan Jooste.
Referee: Juan de Bod
