A Ruthless Paarl Gimnasium gave a master-class display in game management and attacking play when they outplayed a struggling Affies with 51-24.
It is clear that the Affies’ excuses for the lack of performance are running out, and one must accept that there are serious shortcomings in the quality of their squad and a lack of commitment, which is critical to perform at this level. A coach does not play, and hoping that coaching can fix the shortcomings is absolutely madness.
Affies started the game like a house on fire and “dominated” the first fifteen minutes; however, the Paarl Gim defence confidently absorbed the pressure from their hosts, which was mostly toothless.
After sixteen minutes of play, Thomas Saunders cruised over the tryline in the corner to open the scoring of their visitors in the corner. Louis Koen converted to put Paarl Gim in the lead by 07-00.
Affies replied five minutes later when Fourie Roberts sniped down the middle of the field to score a great individual try. Reuben Venter converted to level the scores 07-07.
Three minutes later, Affies’ inside centre, Juan Ferreira, received a yellow card after “attempting” to intercept a pass near the tryline. Paarl Gim was awarded a penalty try while Ferreira was sent off with a yellow card.
Affies replied immediately when winger, Dandré Brink, stormed down the touchline for Affies' second try. edging closer to the Paarl Gim lead 12-14.
However, minutes later, Affies was caught fast asleep when Paarl Gim's star scrummy, Mickyle Booise, sniped down the blind side to extend Paarl Gim’s lead to 19-12. With Affies down to fourteen players, they committed their defenders on the openside leaving no immediate defenders on the blindside of the scrum.
With time running out, Louis Koen converted a long-distance penalty, extending Paarl Gim’s lead to 22-12 heading into the halftime break.
Paarl Gim upped the pace of their play in the second half, which almost immediately led to Thomas Saunders scoring two tries within the first ten minutes of play in the second half to extend Paarl Gim’s lead to 34-12.
With Paarl Gim now completely in control, Ethan Barker crashed over off a line-out maul, quickly followed by Dirk Hugo to score in the opposite corner, following brilliant interplay, extending Paarl Gim’s lead to 44-12.
Seven minutes later, Malan Mostert drove the final nail in Affies’ coffin with Paarl Gim’s backs and forwards combining for a brilliant try, extending Paarl Gim’s lead to 51-12.
During the final ten minutes, Affies suddenly started playing rugby, and centre Estian Marx scored two brilliant tries, breaking several tackles on his way to the Paarl Gim’s tryline.
Paarl Gim secured a brilliant 51-24 win in Pretoria.
Scorers:
Paarl Gimnasium: Tries: Thomas Saunders (3), Mickyle Booise, Ethan Barker, Dirk Hugo, Malan Mostert, Penalty Try. Conversions: Louis Koen (3). Penalty: Louis Koen.
Affies: Tries: Estian Marx (2), Fourie Roberts, Dandré Brink. Conversions: Reuben Venter (2).
Teams:
Affies: 1 Francois de Beer, 2 Charl Els, 3 Hannes Nagel, 4 Martin van Niekerk, 5 Reubenne Vlok, 6 Lohan Bitzer, 7 Caleb Pretorius, 8 Janno Geyser, 9 Fourie Roberts, 10 Reuben Smith, 11 Joshua Gouws, 12 Juan Ferreira, 13 Estian Marx, 14 Dandre Brink, 15 Reuben Venter. Replacements: 16 Hendre Ehlers, 17 Morne Bisset, 18 Ewald van Niekerk, 19 Alexander Muller, 20 Keegan Fourie, 21 Ethan van Zyl, 22 Rico du Plessis, 23 Johan Smith.
Paarl Gimnasium: 1 Jayden Steyl, 2 Charles Whitehead, 3 Sebastian Bekker, 4 Bernhardt Schulze, 5 Jean Dreyer, 6 Corné Niemand, 7 Dirk Hugo, 8 Hendré van Zyl, 9 Mickyle Booise, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Malan Mostert, 12 Ethan Barker, 13 Derik Cloete, 14 Corné De Beer, 15 Thomas Saunders. Replacements: 16 Reynhart Du Toit, 17 Karel Dirker, 18 JG Van den Berg, 19 David Jacobs, 20 Ruan Lindeque, 21 Hannes de Kock, 22 Alexander Kotze, 23 Lehan Noiewoudt.