Paul Roos stuns Grey College for inaugural NWU Prestige Schools sevens championship
Paul Roos Gimnasium pulled off a stunning comeback for a 22-19 victory against their arch nemesis, Grey College, in the final match of the highly entertaining NWU Prestige Schools u17 Sevens tournament at the Fanie du Toit stadium in Potchefstroom.
Catch all the action on SuperSport Schools – Register now – Link to the tournament
The mighty team from Bloemfontein stormed through the group stages and knockout rounds, but their fierce rivals from Stellenbosch produced an exceptional second-half performance to claim the inaugural title, scoring 22 unanswered points after the break.
The team from Stellenbosch saved their strongest performance of the day for the last seven minutes of the final match, in which they scored four tries against the Bloemfontein giants.
Gert Kemp, Samuel Badenhorst, Matthew Kleyn and Junaid Coetzee all starred for Paul Roos in their campaign to win the bragging rights and the lucrative R100 000 grand prize for Paul Roos in the first of what is set to become a highlight on the school sevens calendar.
All four of these players were selected as part of the “Dream Team” after the tournament for their contributions throughout the day, with Coetzee being singled out as the Player-of-the-Tournament.
Badenhorst was also selected as part of the SA u18 Sevens team that earned bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago earlier in the year.
They did well to regroup after losing against Garsfontein by 31-28 early on and failing to find a winner in their 7-all draw against Noordheuwel.
The Maroon Machine cut Waterkloof’s campaign short in the quarter-final with a 19-5 victory, before they proved a step too far for Monument in the semi-final by 31-0.
Monument exceeded all expectations by claiming the third-place position after beating a strong Boland Landbou outfit by 27-19 in the penultimate match of the day after they also got the better of the boys from Paarl by 21-17 in the group stages.
The Monnas boys shocked everyone in the quarter-finals by taking out one of the favourites, Hoërskool Outeniqua from George, by 19-14.
In the battle for fifth place, the Kwaggas redeemed themselves with a strong second-half performance to come back from a 10-0 deficit to beat Garsfontein 17-10 after losing to them by 32-7 in the group stages.
Garsfontein and Grey College were the only two teams to beat the Kwagga first teams this season as they celebrated their centenary year, so the boys from George will have enjoyed getting one back over their rivals from the North.
Garsfontein was also one of the favourites coming into the tournament, and they showed why by beating the eventual champions in their first match, but they fell apart against Boland Landbou in the second half of the quarter-finals, losing by 41-17 after they were tied at 12-all after the first seven minutes.
Grey College’s Alzeadon Felix was selected as the “Best stepper” at the event, while his SA Schools A centre, Pieter van der Merwe, was rewarded with the “biggest hit” of the tournament.
With some of the best teams in the country competing at the first instalment of this event, it was a day filled with top-quality sevens rugby that is sure to become a highlight on the rugby calendar in the coming years.
The Dream Team:
Gert Kemp (Paul Roos), Pieter van der Merwe (Grey College), Geoffrey French (Monument), Alzeadon Felix (Grey College), Retagen van Rooi (Boland Landbou), Samuel Badenhorst (Paul Roos), Phillip McLaren (Grey College), Ruan Viviers (Boland Landbou), Matthew Kleyn (Paul Roos), Junaid Coetzee (Paul Roos), Keenan Jantjies (Outeniqua), Rewan van Aswegen (Waterkloof).
4 Paul Roos Gimnasium | 3 Grey College | 2 Boland Landbou | 1 Monument | 1 Outeniqua | 1 Waterkloof
All the Results:
Round Robin
Grey College 31, Waterkloof 0; Paul Roos Gimnasium 7, Noordheuwel 7; Monument 22, Merensky 12; Garsfontein 24, Witteberg 12; Durban High School 28, Outeniqua 14; Boland Landbou 35, Rustenburg 7; Garsfontein 31, Paul Roos Gimnasium 28; Grey College 41, Monument 14; Merensky 29, Rustenburg 19; Durban High School 28, Witteberg 17; Outeniqua 24, Noordheuwel 22; Boland Landbou 29, Waterkloof 7; Paul Roos Gimnasium 32, Durban High School 14; Grey College 33, Rustenburg 10; Waterkloof 55, Merensky 19; Noordheuwel 28, Witteberg 22; Garsfontein 32, Outeniqua 7; Monument 21, Boland Landbou 17.
Quarterfinals
Paul Roos Gimnasium 19 (12), Waterkloof 5 (0); Grey College 39 (19), Durban High School 19 (14); Boland Landbou 41 (12), Garsfontein 17 (12); Monument 19 (7), Outeniqua 14 (7).
Semi-Finals
Paul Roos Gimnasium 31 (17), Monument 0; Grey College 22 (12), Boland Landbou 17 (10).
Final
Paul Roos 22 (0), Grey College 19 (19).
Playoffs
3/4 – Monument 27 (12), Boland Landbou 19 (14); 5/6 – Outeniqua 17 (0), Garsfontein 10 (10); 7/8 – Durban High School 28 (14), Waterkloof 19 (14); 9/10 – Noordheuwel 19 (14), Rustenburg 14 (0); 11/12 – Merensky Landbou Akademie 24 (17), Witteberg 12 (5).
