The third Premier Interschool game for the season is a real mouth-watering derby as two North and South giants come together for their fifth official Interschools. Before this annual fixture was introduced in 2017, the two schools did not regularly get to play each other and only duelled on the odd occasion at festivals.
Since their first encounter in 1967, they only played 20 games in 56 years with Paarl Gim winning 11, Affies seven and two draws. This year the giant from the North travels down to Paarl to challenge the hosts at their fortress at Jan Kriel grounds. Paarl Gym will look to avenge their loss of last year and keep their dominance over their rivals from Pretoria.
Affies has five games under their belt thus far and started off with three victories in a row. They then stumbled against Paarl Boys High as well as neighbours Garsfontein in their last two games. They will want to get back to winning ways against Paarl Gym this weekend. Affies have shown against Durban High School at the Noord/Suid Rugby Festival as well as against Garsfontein that they can fight back after trailing early on, however against Garsfontein their time ran out and if they give Paarl Gim a similar lead Paarl Gim will not allow them to come back as DHS and Garsfontein did.
Paarl Gim has also had five matches this year and also impressed with their ability to fight back in tough games to close it. Against both Stellenberg and Wynberg, they were under pressure at some point during the game but managed to absorb it and come out on top. The one loss was against a very good Grey College at the North/South Rugby Festival, but they seem to be back on track.
Despite the hiding they received from Grey College, Paarl Gim has a quality team and being at home they are the favourites against Affies, however, do not underestimate the passionate boys from Pretoria who could surprise, given the slightest opportunity.