A masterclass fly-half performance from Paarl Gimnasium’s number 10, Kyle Smith, guided his side to a comprehensive 38-21 victory against the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunsskool (Affies) in their Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools derby in Paarl on Saturday, 23 April.
Smith had a superb game on a rainy and windy day on the Jan Kriel field as he led his charges to a one-sided victory. He was superb with his boot in open play, with the ball in hand, as well as when kicking to poles with an 88% success rate.
Dawid Kotze opened the scoring for the hosts after Smith found a gaping hole in the Affies' defence. The number 10 made it easy for Kotze as he sent the scrum half over for the first try of the match. The former also converted to make it 7-0.
Affies were penalised for not keeping possession of the ball and taking their chances, with the boot of Smith adding two penalties in succession for a 13-point lead.
Smith was a true general on the park as he executed the game plan to perfection. Another up-and-under from Smith gave the excellent number eight, Nicus van Coller, a ball in the ruck to latch on to. This phase of play materialised into two successive penalties in a kickable range for Paarl Gim that Smith converted for a 16-0 lead after 25 minutes.
A fourth penalty from Smith from 40 metres out sailed through the uprights to keep Smith’s 100% kicking display intact.
Quick hands from the Paarl Gim backs ended the first half on the perfect note for the hosts as right-winger Freek de Kock finished off a flowing move to send the crowd into seventh heaven. At half-time, it was 24-0 for a rampant Paarl Gim against a lacklustre Affies side.
Paarl Gim was relentless and added to their advantage with a rampaging maul from a line-out that resulted in hooker Jannie Grobbelaar going over for his side’s third try. Smith converted to make it 31-0.
Affies then gave Paarl Gim some of their own mauling medicine as they finally scored their first points after 43 minutes through a driving maul. Affies hooker, FC van Rooyen, dove over to add some hope for the Pretoria boys. Ruben Pienaar converted to narrow the gap to 31-7.
This gave Affies a lift and they proceeded to add a second five-pointer after constant pressure in their opponents’ 22. The forwards kept possession and eventually openside flanker Ruan Lippold barged over for a try. Pienaar added two points to make it 31-14.
Paarl Gimnasium further highlighted their superiority when the outside centre, Roland Vivier, scored a try worthy of the occasion. A moment of individual magic saw him beat three defenders before diving over to make it 38-14 after Smith’s conversion.
Paarl Gim’s defence must also be praised for keeping Affies at bay in their own 22, even when going down to 14 men after loosehead prop, Xander Mynhardt, received a yellow card.
Affies had the last say as Lippold crashed over for his second try to add respectability to the score. The boys in white showed a much better fight in the second half, out-scoring Paarl Gim by 7 points in the second half.
When the final whistle sounded, Paarl Gim was smiling against Affies with a 38-21 victory to take the bragging rights this time around.