A mouthwatering humdinger is set to mark the second Premier Interschools match for the season when the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) host Paarl Gimnasium in Pretoria, for a North versus South encounter on Saturday @ 14h00.
Prior to 2017, the first time this annual fixture was introduced, these two schools did not play each other regularly apart from the occasional rugby festivals. Since the first time they met in 1967, they have played only nineteen games against each other with Paarl Gim winning eleven, Affies winning six and two draws. Affies will look to defend their reputation as they host the team from Paarl.
Affies have played seven games since the start of the season winning six, but it was the narrow one-point defeat against fellow Pretoria school, Garsfontein that will be fresh in the minds of every Affie player, coach, and supporter, a record they would like to set straight. They are showing signs of being back to their best and a win against Paarl Gim will help build momentum for the rest of their season.
Affies have been blowing hot and cold this season, "disappointing" against Diamantveld (40-03) and Helpmekaar (21-14) followed by gutsy and brilliant performances against Paul Roos (24-18) and Durbanville (73-06). This was followed by a disappointing performance when Affies, despite some obvious shortcomings, lost to Garsfontein (19-20) due to their inability to convert scoring opportunities into points on the scoreboard. In the wet against Boland Landbou (12-05) Affies once again struggled, however so did all the teams at St John's Easter Rugby Festival.
In contrast, Paarl Gim has only played four games this season but has impressed with their ability to pull through some tough situations in games and close it down. Against both Stellenberg and Wynberg, they were put under pressure but managed to absorb it and come out on top. Stellenberg (12-06) were still in the game until the last seconds of the match showing the rest of South Africa how to beat Paarl Gim. At the Noord/Suid Festival Paarl Gim showed exactly why they are the favourites to end as the best 1stXV in 2022. Monnas (42-19) were outplayed in the second half while Glenwood (64-17) had frontrow seats to a brilliant performance by Paarl Gimnasium. Wynberg (33-14) did surprise many, however, Gimmies closed out the game with such calmness and poise one rarely sees in our URC teams.
Who will win it? - The game will be played in cloudy conditions with a 50% chance of rain. Affies have shown that they struggle in wet weather as they can not play their fast and structured game, running their opponents off their feet backed by one of the better defensive systems at the 1stXV level. Affies' biggest weapon in their armoury is their driving mauls which have proven to be almost unstoppable.
Paarl Gim on the other hand has shown that they can effectively switch between a fast and expansive gameplan to a conservative kicking gameplan mauling from lineouts to score several tries in a match. Gimmies lineouts are brilliant whereas Affies has shown to struggle in both the lineouts and scrums.
All of the above should point to an easy win for Paarl Gimnasium, however, all Affies' problem areas can be fixed with ease and adding to that fifteen boys in white playing for their teammates and supporters could just be the recipe to cause one of the major upsets of 2022. Again my heart says one thing and my three brain cells says just the opposite.
Teams:
Affies 1st XV: 15. Migael De Lange, 14. Stephan Brits, 13. Tiaan De Wet, 12. Heinrich Horn, 11. Marx Nel, 10. Stiaan Heymans (c), 9. Armand Shahia, 8. Beyers Roos, 7. Dieter Schubert, 6. Ewan van Heerden, 5. Andreas Burger, 4. Erick Jooste, 3. Zack Marirtz, 2. Hanro Venter, 1. Luchan Mouton.
Paarl Gim 1stXV: 15. Shaun Ray, 14. Enzo Labuschagne, 13. Janeil Losper, 12. PA van Niekerk (c), 11. Johandré van Niekerk, 10. Liam Koen, 9. Emrique Liedeman, 8. Dean Crouse, 7. Keanu Coutsee, 6. Willie de Waal, 5. Danio Botha, 4. Slabbert Maartens, 3. Bernard Bladergroen, 2. Luca Bakkes, 1. Jean Fourie.