The Western and Southern Cape served up three major surprises during the weekend. A lot more was expected from Oakdale while we all thought Stellenberg is going to be good but..... while Durbanville who was recently promoted to the Premier schools' division started their season with a bang.
On Friday afternoon, Paul Roos hosted the fancied Drostdy HTS and outplayed their visitors with 24-07. Paul Roos led 19-00 at the halftime break, and despite a much better second half by Drostdy, Paul Roos showed the promise of their all-conquering 2024 team.
Grey College visited Riversdal and showed why they are rated as one of the best 1stXV’s this year. Oakdale’s pack of forwards was big and dominant; however, it was evident that the Grey College coaches had done their planning. Grey College was happy to absorb the pressure up front and moved the game away from Oakdale’s obvious strengths. Grey used their speed on the attack to disrupt the power of Oakdale and then pounce on Oakdale’s mistakes to score at regular intervals. Grey scored six tries to one for Oakdale, leading 19-00 at the halftime break, and cruising to a 38-07 win.
And then the Jade brigade. Stellenberg hosted the highly rated Paarl Gim on a windy Saturday afternoon. Paarl Gim started the match in control and used their opportunities to lead 12-03 at the halftime break, while the boys from Stellenberg were throwing their bodies like missiles at anything that was close to a rugby ball, wasting a lot of energy on their blind passion. However, in the second half, Stellenberg was a lot more disciplined and composed, and scored two early unanswered tries to lead 17-12 with twenty minutes still to play. During the final ten minutes, Paarl Gim threw everything at the unwavering defence of Stellenberg, and despite scoring a converted try to make it a one-point game, Stellenberg held on for this famous 20-19 victory. One can only ask if maybe Gim underestimated Stellenberg, explaining why they did not attempt to convert sitters of penalties, while Stellenberg did just the opposite.
The loss of Boland Landbou (13-24) to Durbanville was unexpected; however, Boland Landbou was the architect of their own downfall, not taking their opportunities in the first half when they had the wind at their backs. But take nothing away from Durbanville and their effort. Durbanville led 10-08 at the halftime break, and with fifteen minutes to play, the score was still the same. Thereafter, both teams attacked from anywhere on the field; however, the wind had the final say, and Durbanville added two tries to the one by Boland Landbou.
Results for the week ending 15 March 2026 - Western and Southern Cape
13 March 2026
Milnerton 17-26 SACS
Paul Roos 24-07 Drostdy HTS
14 March 2026
Boland Landbou 13-24 Durbanville
Bellville HTS 17-00 Fairmont
Bishops 31-26 Worcester Gim
DF Akademie 19-07 Fish Hoek
DF Malherbe 45-12 Winterberg
Glenwood House 05-08 Knyna
Groote Schuur 15-20 Curro Delft
Hermanus 17-34 Parel Vallei
Hopefield 41-07 Wesbank
Labori 17-18 Esselenpark
Lutzville 46-03 Namakwaland
Oakdale 07-38 Grey College
Outeniqua 45-00 Nico Malan
Overberg 57-35 Langenhoven Gim
Piketberg 24-17 Augsburg
Sao Bras 32-05 Bridgton
St Benedict's 19-12 Melkbosstrand
Stellenberg 20-19 Paarl Gim
Strand 24-31 Bishops
Swartland 22-17 Bellville
Wynberg 24-03 Strand