Paarl Gim sneaked past Affies 20-19 after a tightly contested Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools North vs South derby in the capital on Saturday.
Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies) came very close to pulling off an upset against unbeaten Paarl Gimnasium (Paarl Gim) in a back-and-forth battle in Pretoria.
Affies dominated upfront, but Paarl Gimnasium had the last laugh. In the end, the side from the Western Cape came out on top by a single point in the seventh Premier Interschools clash between the two schools.
The home side’s pack had the upper hand, ruling the set pieces, especially the scrums. This starved the visitors of the free-flowing possession that they were accustomed to receiving. As a result, Gim’s dangerous backline lacked its usual potency. Gim did, however, catch the Affies’ defence napping early on, with right-wing, Immanual Prinsloo, bursting through for the first of his two tries, and the only five-pointer of the half.
Ruben Pienaar’s trusty right boot kept the home side within touching distance, as he slotted two penalties, leaving Affies trailing by only one point, 7 points to 6 at the break.
The second half developed into a see-saw battle between the two kickers, as Pienaar and the visitor’s fullback, Freek de Kock, each knocked over two penalties. Then, the hosts’ best player on the day, left-wing Eagan Roux, capitalised on a well-executed training ground move, to dive over for a try, which gave Affies the lead for the first time in the match.
Gim’s continued pressure on defence would soon pay dividends as Prinsloo’s dream game, wasn’t yet complete as he read an Affies’ backline move like a book to intercept the ball on his 22-metre line before flying down the field and scoring a five-pointer for Gim.
That crucial piece of magic meant that the left winger, who until a few weeks ago still ran out for the 2nd XV, had bagged an invaluable brace of tries, which earned him a well-deserved man of the match award.
De Kock’s clutch second penalty of the half was the final nail in the coffin as Paarl GImnasium held onto their lead for the last remaining minutes to claim a sweet and very hard-fought victory away from home. Paarl Gimansium with bragging rights over Affies for another year.