The second edition of Premier Interschools will see Grey High School travel down to Stellenbosch for their annual derby with Paul Roos Gymnasium.
The visitors have not tasted victory against their rivals since 2017 and will be eager to set the record straight at the Markotter fields. This is the same venue where they came back from a 20-point deficit in 2014 with a young Curwin Bosch at flyhalf to stage a remarkable comeback, winning the derby 27-26.
Playing at Fortress Markotter will motivate them not to make the same mistakes they did in 2014. The two sides matched up very evenly over the last ten matches with Grey High School. They managed to win four games after a winning streak of three in a row from 2012 to 2014. They last tasted victory in 2017. Paul Roos has the slight upper hand in matches won, but Grey can turn the tables at Markotter as they did previously at this iconic stadium.
While Grey High already has a few games under its belt, Paul Roos have only played three games thus far. They first played Secunda at the Outeniqua festival in early March and then competed in the Noord/Suid tournament in Pretoria where they clinched one and lost one game. Paul Roos is currently re-building and has invested heavily in their lower structures since 2019 and the results should start showing.
Grey High School has already participated in three festivals with six games under the belt in 2023. Their first game was at the Outeniqua festival in George on March 18th where they faced new kids on the block, Stellenberg from Western Cape. In a hard-fought match they just prevailed to beat the Jade Brigade 22-20, clinching the game right at the end. Grey also participated in the Graeme Rugby Festival where they came face to face with Hudson Park, claiming a comfortable 27-7 win.
This was followed up by a draw at home against Rondebosch but they came unstuck during the Easter festival at St John and lost two out of their three games. The men from Grey first lost to Boland Landbou and then to Pretoria Boys High. They turned things around in their last match, beating a Lions XV invitational side. With only 50% victories in 2023 so far, they will be looking to up the percentage against Paul Roos this weekend.
