Paarl Gimnasium down Oakdale with a dominant performance
Paarl Gimnasium showed why they are considered among the top sides this year with another powerful performance against the visiting Oakdale Landbou, beating them 36-12.
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The home team were dominant throughout the game, but they were especially imposing in the first half, during which they completely overpowered Oakdale.
They went into the halftime break with a convincing 24-0 lead, this would also end up being their winning margin as both teams scored 12 points in the second half.
An early try by Jannie Grobbelaar (hooker), after a well-executed lineout move got the home team on the scoreboard first.
Dawid Kotze (scrumhalf), Kyle Smith (flyhalf) and Louw du Toit (flanker) then scored in quick succession after about 20 minutes, to build a comfortable buffer for their team.
Smith, who has been chosen to represent Western Province at flyhalf at the Craven Week, showed his world-class ability when he scored his try, receiving the ball in his own half, and cutting through the defence, untouched.
The second half started much the same as the first had ended. Hennie Otto (centre), who attended Oakdale Landbou before coming to Paarl Gimnasium, found a gap and broke the line against his old alumni and gave the ball out to Freek de Kock (winger) who could dive over the line to extend their lead.
Even when the Oakdale players seemed to find their rhythm in the second half, the Gimmies remained steadfast and it took a full 60 minutes before Roy Viljoen (lock) managed to burst over the line for his team’s first points.
Scoring a try seemed to energize the visitors, and Erick Steyn (eighthman) scored another, which he managed to convert as well.
The Gimmies were never in trouble though, Nicolas Nel (eighthman) scored the final try, in the last moments of the game, to get the last word in for the hosts.
This Paarl Gimnasium side is looking better every week, and having only lost one game against Grey College 33-12 earlier in the season, it seems unlikely that they will lose again this year.
They will especially be looking forward to the big Paarl derby against Paarl Boys’ High at the end of the year.
Boishaai have 11 players in the two WP Craven Week sides, as opposed to the five Gimmies in those teams, but Paarl Gim will probably still enter that match as favourites, based on current form.
Because of the extraordinarily heavy rainfall in the region, only the top teams travelled from Oakdale, as some of the fields weren’t playable this weekend.
Paarl Gim almost managed a whitewash against the visitors, with Oakdale’s U16 A team being the only ones who managed to secure a victory over the weekend.
Scorers:
Paarl Gimnasium 36 (24) – Tries: Freek de Kock, Kyle Smith, Dawid Kotze, Nicolas Nel, Louw du Toit, Jannie Grobbelaar. Conversions: Smith (2), Tazreeq Moerat. Oakdale Landbou 12 (0) – Tries: Roy Viljoen, Erick Steyn. Conversion: Steyn.
Other results:
u19 – Paarl Gimnasium II 43, Oakdale Landbou II 21; Paarl Gimnasium III 41, Oakdale Landbou III 13.
u16 – Oakdale Landbou 40, Paarl Gimnasium 18.
u15 – Paarl Gimnasium 26, Oakdale Landbou 0.
u14 – Paarl Gimnasium 36, Oakdale Landbou 10.
![Charlie Hofmeyr u16 - 2018 [captained by Cameron Hanekom]](https://ssschoolsplus.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-20-at-09.03.03-400x257.jpeg)
