Gimmies, Boishaai return to action
PREVIEW: The Western Cape season kicks off this weekend, while Affies, DHS and Grey College look to build momentum in other big schoolboy clashes staged around the country.
Schoolboy fans in the Western Cape will have a chance to see the region’s top players in action for the first time since August.
Apart from the games staged across the province on Saturday, a WP Schools Day involving Paul Roos, the Paarl heavyweights, Rondebosch and others is scheduled for Tuesday, 18 March at the Danie Craven Stadium.
@Rugby365com looks ahead to some of the biggest match-ups around the country this weekend.
GREY COLLEGE V OAKDALE
Grey College come into this game on the back of convincing wins against Trio and Welkom Gymnasium. Last week, the boys from Bloemfontein ran rampant in Welkom to secure a 60-17 victory.
This Saturday, Grey won’t want for motivation when they face Oakdale in their first home match of the season.
Grey beat Oakdale 31-22 in Riversdale last August, and it remains to be seen whether the coming fixture in Bloem will be as closely contested.
Further north, Affies will look to build on their seven-try 45-24 win over Diamantveld when they return to Pretoria to host Helpmekaar.
Helpies beat Michaelhouse 17-10 in the recent clash staged in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands.
PAARL GYM V STELLENBERG
Paarl Gym finished the 2024 season behind Paul Roos in the unofficial rankings, and in the battle for supremacy in the Cape winelands. It’s fair to say that they will have a point to prove in 2025.
While director of rugby Pieter Rossouw and his coaches will be looking ahead to the coming festivals – Gimmies will tackle KES and Monument at the Noord-Suid tournament at the end of the month – they will be equally intent on starting well against Stellenberg in Paarl this Saturday. Stellenberg come into this fixture on the back of a convincing 40-21 win over Worcester Gym.
Paarl Boys endured a challenging seasonal in 2024, and lost the Paarl derby 8-30.
Sean Erasmus and company will be keen to hit back in 2025, and will be favourites to beat Drostdy, even though the hosts thrashed Upington 65-7 last week.
DHS V MARITZBURG
DHS, the most consistent KwaZulu-Natalian team on show in 2024, made a successful start to the 2025 season when they thumped Voortrekker Bethlehem 63-8 in the Free State last week.
As a result, they will go into the first home match against Maritzburg College with confidence and momentum.
DHS won last year’s battle 21-18 at College, and it remains to be seen just
how much the latter side has improved.
College won 10 of their 18 fixtures in 2024, beating SACS and Glenwood, but losing to ‘Top 10’ rugby schools such as Paul Roos, Grey College and Affies, as well as other contenders like Northwood and Boland Landbou.
Elsewhere in KZN, Northwood will host Michaelhouse, while Hilton will be tested against Westville.
Down in the Eastern Cape, many of the top teams will continue to build towards next week’s festival at Graeme College.
That said, Dale College will want to build some momentum when they host Port Rex this Saturday, after losing 7-16 to Brandwag last week.