Gimmies win FNB Classic in Paarl
Boys' High fight back
Paarl Gim duly won their great Interschools in Paarl, beating Paarl Boys' High 23-17 in their FNB Classic Clash.
The Faure Street Sportsground in Paarl was packed, the atmosphere excited, the singing of both schools with their tailcoated cheerleaders enthusiastic, the sun shone and the distant mountains were pale blue. It was a wonderful afternoon.
Paarl Boys' High, very much the underdogs, started and finished with a flurry and in between their two flurries Gimmies dominated the match. It was astonishing that the margin of victory was so small, but then that's Interschools. Victory matters more than anything else.
Boys' High kicked off and Boy's high scored first when scrumhalf Alberto Gava goaled a penalty after just two minutes.
At this stage both sides were doing a lot of pick-'n-go - fairly monotonously. But the first time Gim went wide they scored a try. From far left they went to the far right. Jacques Meyer came over from the left wing and gave right wing Ralphton Minnaar an overlap and a perfect pass to send him over for a try. Scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage converted. 7-3.
Gim attacked with great vigour after this as all three of their front row players proved ball-carriers and ball-handlers of the highest quality. Eventually from a scrum on their left, Gim came right and centre Johann Sadie, the star back of the afternoon, straightened, dummied and went through so easily to score near the posts. Again Duvenage converted. 14-3.
Surprisingly that was the last try Gim scored in the match. It was surprising as it had happened so easily and they were so dominant. But from now on they seemed content to sit on their lead.
They were well on the attack when Duvenage charged down a clearing kick by Matthew Swart. The ball went into touch but Gim one Boys' High's throw and attacked. They had a five-metre scrum and attacked. They had a penalty near the posts, tapped and attacked. And all this time Boys' High defended with intent. Gim nearly scored but Sadie lost the ball over the line. this failed period of attacking knocked the stuffing out of Gim for after this they tries goaling two far more difficult penalties, both missed by Duvenage, and instead it was Boys' High who came with in an ace of scoring a try.
Boys' High kicked a diagonal to their right and big Ya Ya Hartzenburg was on hand to run on the outside of Kobus de Kock and head for the corner but Jacques Meyer's covering tackle was just enough to force him into contact with the cornerpost before he grounded the ball. Boys' High ended the half well.
Boys' High started the second half with an excellent counterattack which took them to the Gim line but lost the ball in a knock-on. Then Gim had a good passage of play. Their handling was wonderful. But still they did not score tries.
They did score penalty goals for the penalty count was much in their favour. A penalty for an infringement at a tackle made it 17-3 and then another for a high tackle made it 20-3. It all looked one-way traffic.
Boys' High turned a penalty into a line-out on their right. They mauled and got good impetus and replacement forward JC van der Walt was the man who fell down with the ball for the try. Gava converted. 20-10.
This success blew new hope into Boys' High. They came close to scoring when they booted the ball over the Gim line but lock Jacobus Rossouw beat Gava to the touchdown.
As long shadows stretched across the ground, André Kemp, the slender but excellent Gim flyhalf, kicked a drop. It was from close in and slap in front. 23-10.
Boys' High were on the attack but Sadie produced the best break of the afternoon but lost his way somewhat and the attack petered out into another drop attempt. From the drop Boys' High dropped out and produced the try of the match as first Hartzenburg and then hooker Callie Visagie burst down the right. Visagie gave inside to De Kock who raced on and then footed far. He won the race to the ball just short of the Gim goal-line and footed it on into the in-goal. He chased after it, dived on the ball just shorty of the dead-ball line and then surfed on amongst the spectators. The referee was brilliantly right on the sport to be able to avoid the try. Gava converted and the final whistle went.
Scorers:
For Paarl Gim:
Tries: Ralphton Minnaar, Johann Sadie
Cons: Dewaldt Duvenage 2
Pens: Dewaldt Duvenage 2
Drop: André Kemp
For Paarl Boys' High:
Tries: JC van der Walt, Kobus de Kock
Cons: Alberto Gava
Pen: Alberto Gava
For a preview of the match with links to information about the two schools, profiles of the captains, results from 1915 on and a profile of the Gim side, click here.
Teams:
Paarl Gim: 15 Wessel Lourens, 14 Ralphton Minnaar, 13 Hano Swart, 12 Johann Sadie, 11 Jacques Meyer, 10 André Kemp, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Shaun Rheeder, 7 Tertius Daniller, 6 Vermeulen Rossouw, 5 Daniel Slabber, 4 Jacobus Rossouw, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Bertus O'Callaghan, 1 Jean Rossouw (captain).
Coaches: Nico Momsen. Christoff Lõtter
Paarl Boys' High: 15 Marko Kershoff, 14 Kobus de Kock, 13 Pierre Vlok, 12 Jan-Louw Heroldt, 11 Regardt Boonzaaier, 10 Matthew Swart, 9 Alberto Gava, 8 Marco Kriek, 7 Armand Lacomme, 6 Louis Bekker, 5 Thys-Koch Burden (captain), 4 Ya Ya Hartzenburg, 3 Dario Christolini, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Charles Marais.
Coaches: Theuns van Schoor, Andries Greyling
Referee: Gareth Lloyd-Jones (Western Province)