Sink or swim a winning streak is set to break in this weekend’s Premier Interschools

This weekend marks a big occasion for Paul Roos Gimnasium and Paarl Gimnasium as they are currently both sitting on five match winning streaks with one of these coming to an end, unless the match results in an unlikely draw. 

The teams are set to face-off in what promises to be an exciting clash of two giants at the Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch with the first XV’s kicking off at 12:55.  

Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com) or on SuperSport 216.

Since 2009, Paarl Gim have been on the winning side eight times compared to Paul Roos’ six times.

There have been several tight contests with Paul Roos winning narrowly by two points in last year’s match. 

Last weekend Paul Roos beat Affies (31-25) and Durban High School (21-14) in their most recent outings at Wildeklawer. Having only lost (44-26) to Monument at the Noord/Suid tournament the remainder of the season has demonstrated the teams capable winning ability. 

Paarl Gim have been particularly destructive this season having beaten some of South Africa’s top schools thus far, only losing one match to Grey College earlier in the season. There was one close match ending in a one point difference win over Stellenberg which came right down to the wire. 

Having decided not to participate in any of the Easter Festivals this year, the team has shown a freshness having beaten Affies, Wynberg and most recently Monument (19-5) and Helpmekaar-kollege (25-14) at Wildeklawer. 

Paarl Gim will be looking at their strong back row, to run through the opposition’s defenses.

Flyhalf Kyle Smith, has had a good season so far and will be looking to build on his previous success. A strong forward pack led by the tank Jannie Grobbelaar in the number two jersey will be itching at the opportunity to scrum against the Paul Roos front row.  

Paul Roos’ captain, Andreas Oosthuizen, will be out of the side after picking up an injury in the fixture against DHS. He will be disappointed having missed out on the match against Affies at Wildeklawer this past weekend too. Philip Groenweld will skipper the team in his absence. 

Lee Jay Pietersen will want to carry over his good form from last weekend’s tournament. 

Both teams have shown over the season that they both carry immense depth in their squads and have not been afraid to give newcomers a run. But in a fixture like this both coaches will be wanting to field their strongest XV’s. 

Paarl Gim, needs to make sure that they do not allow Paul Roos to sneak another nail-biting win in and will want to meander back across the mountains with a victory under their belt. 

One thing remains, who will walk away with their winning streak still intact? 

The teams:

Paul Roos Gimnasium: 15 Declan Croy, 14 Keehan Etson, 13 Samuel Badenhorst, 12 Phillip Groenewald, 11 Keenan Stoffels, 10 Leejay Petersen, 9 Zeke January, 8 Reuben Kruger, 7 Riley Norton, 6 Malan Erasmus, 5 Jesse Stegehuis, 4 Truspe Schoeman, 3 Ryan Jack, 2 Christian de Villiers, 1 Oliver Reid.

Paarl Gimnasium: 15 Tazreeq Moerat, 14 Freek De Kock, 13 Hennie Otto, 12 Kobus Blankenberg, 11 Pieter nel Du Plessis, 10 Kyle Smith (captain),  9 Dawid Kotze, 8 Nicus Van Coller,  7 Eduan Vosloo, 6 Adruan Cotze, 5 Marco Steyn, 4 Danio Botha, 3 Nicholas Crous,  2 Jannie Grobbelaar, 1 Xander Mynhardt.

Fixtures:

u14A – 9:00 (Rivierveld)
u15A – 11:00 (Rivierveld)
u16A – 10:10  (Markotter)
u19B – 11:25  (Markotter)
u19A – 12:55 (Markotter)

Previous Meetings: