Paul Roos win their third Marius Schoeman u17 Sevens Cup with comprehensive victory over Grey College
Paul Roos Gimnasium and Grey College faced one another in a final for a second time in two weeks, as the age-old rivals met again in the grand finale of what has been another spectacular weekend of sevens at the Marius Schoeman u17 Sevens tournament at Paarl Gimnasium.
Unlike last weekend though, the Maroon Machine dominated the entire match as they solidified their place on top of the sevens rankings with a comprehensive 33-10 victory over their arch-nemesis.
Catch all of the action again on SuperSport Schools – Register now – Link to the tournament
It took only 20 seconds for Grey College to strike when Philip Mclaren dove over for the first try of the final.
While Paul Roos only found their rhythm in the second half last weekend, Keenan Stoffels responded immediately for the Stellebosch side, breaking away to run nearly the length of the field scoring under the posts allowing his team to gain the lead after the successful conversion.
Gert Kemp then repeated the trick, scoring another beautiful long-range try.
With their tails up, Stoffels added another to give Paul Roos a 21-5 lead after four minutes.
The Bloemfontein giants are never stunned for too long though, and McLaren could relieve some of the scoreboard pressure with his second thanks to brilliant interplay by Alzeadon Felix and Pieter van der Merwe.
Kemp also completed his brace just before halftime to take the Stellenbosch side into the break with a 26-10 lead.
Though Grey did well to stem the flow of points in the second half, Stoffels needed only three minutes after the action resumed to complete his hat trick and seal the victory for his team.
Benjamin van Rensburg, Felix, Van der Merwe and Ethan Adams looked exciting for Grey, but Paul Roos simply outplayed their old rivals and removed any doubt about who the forerunners are in South African u17 sevens this year.
Samuel Badenhorst, the big Paul Roos flanker who was part of the SA u18 Sevens team that won bronze at the Commonwealth Youth games in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year, showed that he definitely has a future in the quicker format of the game should he choose to pursue it.
Badenhorst was immense for the Stellenbosch side this weekend, along with Stoffels, Kemp, Matthew Klein, Reuben Kruger and Junaid Coetzee.
Coetzee backed up his player-of-the-tournament award from last weekend with another scintillating performance this weekend.
This weekend, Gert Kemp was honoured with the player-of-the-tournament award. Kemp is only in grade 10 this year and will be one to watch over the coming seasons.
Along with the prize money and bragging rights, the champions also earn a spot in the Championship tournament which will be held at Grey College in October, where the two sides may very well complete the trilogy if their paths are fated to cross again.
After this weekend, however, there can be no doubt that while Grey was unmatched during the regular 15-man season, Paul Roos is the top dog of u17 Sevens at the moment.
The new champions almost had their campaign cut short in the quarter-finals by the boys from Stellenberg though.
Two yellow cards for Paul Roos Gimnasium early in the first half of the Cup quarter-final allowed Stellenberg to go into the break with a 12-5 lead.
The Jade Brigade failed to capitalize on their numerical advantage in the second half though, and it was Paul Roos who scored first to draw the scores level again.
After the initial slow start, the Maroon Machine regrouped and took control of the game, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half to win by 26-12.
They then continued with that momentum to eliminate the hosts in an epic semi-final.
Paul Roos Gimnasium took the lead early against the Paarl Gimnasium thanks to two tries by Coetzee and Stoffels.
Just like last weekend, the Stellenbosch side proved to be a great tournament team, playing their best rugby when it mattered most.
As the pressure mounted both teams lost their discipline a bit, Paarl Gimnasium was reduced to five men and Paul Roos went down to six by the end of the game. The visitors maintained their control of the game to book a rematch of last weekend’s final against Grey College with a 27-7 victory.
Paarl Boys’ High and Boland Landbou traded blows throughout their quarter-final matchup.
It looked like Lyle Lewis delivered the knockout punch with a late try for Boland, but their big local rivals managed to draw it equal in the dying moments when Ivan van Zyl burst over to send the game to sudden death.
Boishaai then finally booked their place in the penultimate round through a try by their flyer, Leevano Cupido, who has been excellent for them throughout the weekend, ending the game at 27-22.
The hard-fought battle might have taken its toll on the team from Paarl though, as Grey College ended their tournament relatively comfortably in the semis by 47-5.
Though Gimmies couldn’t defend their title at their home tournament, they will be happy to have gotten one over their big rivals, Boishaai, in the third-place playoffs, beating their neighbours by 28-15.
SACS played excellently to get to the Plate final, where they saw away with the Paarl Barbarians by 33-7.
Hoërskool Durbanville came up just short against Strand in the Bowl final. Strand beat the Durbies by 28-21.
All the results:
Pool A – Strand 52, Hoërskool Stellenbosch 0; Paarl Barbarians 21, Worcester Gimnasium 14; Worcester Gimnasium 10, Strand 7; Paarl Barbarians 38, Hoërskool Stellenbosch 0; Paarl Barbarians 21, Strand 12; Worcester Gimnasium 49, Hoërskool Stellenbosch 0.
Pool B – Paul Roos Gimnasium 50, Parel Vallei 0; Hugenote 28, Amdec Blitz 12; Paul Roos Gimnasium 25, Hugenote 0; Amdec Blitz 15, Parel Vallei 7; Hugenote 38, Parel Vallei 0; Paul Roos 46, Amdec Blitz 0.
Pool C – Paarl Gimnasium 74, Tygerberg 0; Brackenfell 19, Vooruitsig 5; Paarl Gimnasium 50, Brackenfell 0; Tygerberg 38, Vooruitsig 0; Tygerberg 19, Brackenfell 14; Paarl Gimnasium 69, Vooruitsig 0.
Pool D – Outeniqua 36, Paulus Joubert 0; Stellenberg 55, Connect Academy 7; Stellenberg 19, Outeniqua 19; Connect Academy 17, Paulus Joubert 5; Stellenberg 55, Paulus Joubert 0; Outeniqua 56, Connect Academy 0.
Pool E – Paarl Boys’ High 31, Milnerton 5; HTS Drostdy 36, Jan van Riebeeck 12; Paarl Boys’ High 29, HTS Drostdy 24; Milnerton 31, Jan van Riebeeck 12; Paarl Boys’ High 56, Jan van Riebeeck 0; Milnerton 24, HTS Drostdy 21.
Pool F – Hoërskool Durbanville 61, Hermanus 0; Oakdale 29, Forward Foundation 22; Oakdale 19, Hoërskool Durbanville 17; Forward Foundation 31, Hermanus 7; Oakdale 22, Hermanus 0; Forward Foundation 12, Hoërskool Durbanville 7.
Pool G – SACS 17, Charlie Hofmeyr 0; Boland Landbou 51, Melkbosstrand 0; SACS 19, Boland Landbou 19; Charlie Hofmeyr 29, Melkbosstrand 7; Boland Landbou 26, Charlie Hofmeyr 5; SACS 24, Melkbosstrand 0.
Pool H – St Andrews College 17, Hoërskool Bellville 17; Grey College 73, Curro Langebaan 0; Grey College 39, St Andrews College 5; Hoërskool Bellville 45, Curro Langebaan 19; Grey College 36, Hoërskool Bellville 5; Curro Langebaan 24, St Andrews College 19.
Round of 16
Strand 19, Parel Vallei 0; Amdec Blitz 28, Hoërskool Stellenbosch 7; Paulus Joubert 12, Brackenfell 7; Connect Academy 28, Vooruitsig 0; HTS Drostdy 17, Hermanus 7; Hoërskool Durbanville 19, Jan van Riebeeck 5; Charlie Hofmeyr 22, St Andrews College 10; Curro Langebaan 29, Melkbosstrand 0; Hugenote 15, Paarl Barbarians 10; Paul Roos 22, Worcester Gimnasium 7; Paarl Gimnasium 38, Outeniqua 7; Stellenberg 43, Tygerberg 5; Paarl Boys’ High 46, Forward Foundation 7; Oakdale 24, Milnerton 0; Boland Landbou 26, Hoërskool Bellville 0; Grey College 31, SACS 0.
Quarter-finals
Shield – Parel Vallei 33, Brackenfell 5; Hoërskool Stellenbosch 27, Vooruitsig 7; St Andrew’s College 27, Hermanus 5; Melkbosstrand 21, Jan van Riebeeck 12.
Bowl – Strand 38, Paulus Joubert 12; Amdec Blitz 19, Connect Academy 7; Charlie Hofmeyr 22, HTS Drostdy 12; Hoërskool Durbanville 19, Curro Langebaan 7.
Plate – Paarl Barbarians 26, Outeniqua 21; Worcester Gimnasium 17, Tygerberg 14; SACS 19, Milnerton 7; Hoërskool Bellville 27, Forward Foundation 7.
Cup – Paarl Gimnasium 40, Hugenote 12; Paul Roos 26, Stellenberg 12; Paarl Boys’ High 27, Boland Landbou 22; Grey College 26, Oakdale 14.
Semi-finals
Shield – Parel Vallei 14, Hoërskool Stellenbosch 5; St Andrews College 41, Melkbosstrand 0.
Bowl – Strand 29, Amdec Blitz 17; Hoërskool Durbanville 22, Charlie Hofmeyr 5.
Plate – Paarl Barbarians 28, Worcester Gimnasium 7; SACS 29, Hoërskool Bellville 12.
Cup – Paul Roos 27, Paarl Gimnasium 7; Grey College 47, Paarl Boys’ High 5.
Finals
Shield – St Andrews College 17, Parel Vallei 7.
Bowl – Strand 28, Hoërskool Durbanville 21.
Plate – SACS 33, Paarl Barbarians 7.
Cup – Paul Roos 33, Grey College 12; (Third place) Paarl Gimnasium 28, Paarl Boys’ High 15.
