Paarl Gimnasium (Gim) travels to George on July 22 to face Outeniqua as the school rugby calendar gets underway after the school holidays. A win for Outeniqua will see them move into the Top 5 of the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV rankings, where we all agree they do belong, while a loss by Paarl Gim will see them fighting for a place in the Top 5.
The home team celebrates their 100th birthday this year and they have one unbelievable team to represent them for their centenary year. This group was very strong as juniors and hardly lost a match coming through the u/14, u/15 and u/16 age groups. The two sides have a very even record over the last 10 matches with Paarl Gimnasium having won five, four victories going to Outeniqua and a draw.
Outeniqua started their season well with four wins in a row until they encountered a very slick Grey College at home. In a very closely contested match, the boys from Bloemfontein just edged out the home team for a two-point win. At the Wildeklawer tournament, they were not at their best and lost against a rampant Garsfontein to succumb to their second loss of the season. Their upcoming game against Paarl Gim could defy the success of their centenary year and get their season back on track with a good win.
2023/03/11 Paarl Vallei 59-06
2023/03/18 Noordheuwel 18-14
2023/04/01 Menlopark 71-11
2023/04/04 Monument 34-27
2023/04/15 Grey College 17-19
2023/04/22 Durbanville 36-00
2023/04/29 EG Jansen 19-07
2023/05/01 Garsfontein 08-19
2023/05/27 Oakdale 25-14
Paarl Gim played 13 matches so far and after a close call against Stellenberg at the start of the season, they struggled to contain the mighty Grey College at the North-South festival. They have won everything since then, racking up 10 wins on a trot and are in good form. They did have to dig deep against Paul Roos away but came up trumps at Markotter. A demolition of SACS and Bishops was followed up by a well-fought win against Oakdale in Riversdale. They would want to continue their good form going into the big Interschools against Paarl Boy’ High in early August.
2023/03/18 Potchefstroom Gimnasium 83-03
2023/03/24 Stellenberg 24-23
2023/03/31 Grey College 12-33
2023/04/03 KES 49-19
2023/04/15 Wynberg BHS 33-11
2023/04/22 Affies 38-21
2023/04/29 Helpmekaar 25-14
2023/05/01 Monument 19-05
2023/05/06 Paul Roos 24-19
2023/05/13 Boland Landbou 36-18
2023/05/20 SACS 73-03
2023/06/03 Bishops 45-07
2023/06/10 Oakdale 36-12