The action in the Western and Southern Cape will be fast and furious in the first weekend of semester two, as several of the country's top 1stXV clash. In 2025, the superstars of schoolboy rugby are all situated in the Winelands, and every weekend, one of the Top four will be tested until only one will be standing to face the might of Greystaat for the number one spot.
Durbanville will host Drostdy HTS in a match that will be extremely exciting. Drostdy had a horrible start to the season, losing four matches in a row; however, taking into account that they already faced Paarl Boishaai, Paul Roos, Affies and Menlopark, I do believe that Drostdy will start building a better season, and Durbanville could be the first step to that. Durbanville, on the other hand, did beat Monnas and EG Jansen at the Noord/Suid; however, admittedly, Monnas and EG Jansen are a shadow of what we are used to.
Then, the "ghosts" that the visiting teams have to cope with when they travel to the Southern Cape. On paper and in recent results, Paarl Boishaai should cruise to an easy win against Oakdale. We have not seen the best from Paarl Boishaai in 2025, and the battle up front should be a brilliant contest against the big boys of Oakdale. Oakdale's match fitness is improving a lot, BUT how Boishaai's pack played against Affies, winning the match in the first three minutes with their aggressive style of rugby, makes them my favourite to stop Oakdale despite the influence of the "ghosts" on the pitch.
Grey College also travel to the Southern Cape where Outeniqua will host them on Saturday. Oakdale's only loss in 2025 was against Menlopark at the Noord/Suid festival. Against Welkom Gim at the Noord/Suid Outeniqua showed that they are becoming a "real" threat to the super schools sooner than later. Grey College is still unbeaten despite being written off by most of the pundits as being one of the worst teams in recent history. I believe that Grey College is going to "surprise" many teams on their way to regaining the crown of the best team in South Africa. They showed against Noordheuwel at the Noord/Suid that you need to be 30 points better than Grey to beat them by one point on the scoreboard. Grey should beat Outeniqua and the "ghosts" of George.
The "biggest" match should be that between Paarl Gim and Affies; however, unfortunately, Affies can not fix their speed shortcomings out wide in a week's time, or to be honest, for the rest of the year. Affies have the service of one of the best, if not the best, flyhalves at this level in 2025; however, personally, I do think he does not have the freedom to use his educated boot to dictate the match, hiding their lack of speed out wide. If "skinner" is to be believed, Affies dropped only their one wing for the match against Paarl Gim. Paarl Gim, on the other hand, play a fifteen-man brand of rugby at a pace that we seldom see at international rugby levels. Added to that, a few brilliant backs supported by a great pack upfront will make it a dark day in the Paarl for the Affies boys.
Boland Landbou is building up steam, and although the "boere" will be asked a few questions early on by SACS, Boland Landbou should secure their fourth win of the season.
Is it not strange that when a new "star" is spotted by the "educated" supporters, they are quick to write off last week's superstars? This year, the brilliant Paul Roos is ignored by the pundits with Paarl Gimnasium, whose brilliance is not questioned, the new golden kids. Paul Roos should cruise to a relaxed win against Grey High and remind South Africa not to write them off in 2025.
Fixtures for the weekend ending 13 April 2024.
Western and Southern Cape
Bellville vs Tygerberg
Bishops vs Brackenfell
Charlie Hofmeyr vs Strand
DF Malan vs Parel Vallei
Durbanville vs Drostdy HTS
Langenhoven Gim vs Nico Malan
Milnerton vs Rondebosch
Oakdale vs Paarl Boishaai
Outeniqua vs Grey College
Paarl Gim vs Affies
Paul Roos vs Grey High
SACS vs Boland Landbou
Worcester Gim vs Swartland
Wynberg vs Stellenberg