Paul Roos to hot for SACS

Match Report

In what turned out to be a lovely afternoon in Stellenbosch, Paul Roos put on a wonderful display of total rugby in beating SACS 52-10.

Paul Roos, without injured centre Charl Weideman and star flank Siyasanga Mkiva, who was away representing SA Schools B, lived up to their billing as the No.1 ranked rugby school in the country this year with a master class in skill and execution.

SACS came into the derby game with high hopes having disposed of Paarl Boishaai the week before but were outgunned in almost every department. SACS’s line-outs were excellent throughout though, which meant they received their fair share of possession with which to attack. SACS showed how much they have improved this season with some good attacking rugby in patches and it must be said that their positive approach certainly enhanced the match as a spectacle.

Unfortunately their defence out wide let them down and Paul Roos’s Craven Week centre Stephan Dippenaar had a field day in attack. Whether being direct or going wide on the drift, everything he did oozed class and he ran amok for most of the afternoon. With the abundance of pace in the Paul Roos back three, SACS were in trouble every time he breached their defence.

Paul Roos scored eight tries in all, four in each half. Three of their first half tries were memorable long-range efforts that started well in side their own half. Fullback Stephan van der Merwe was influential in two of them. Once he broke clear after Paul Roos received poor scrum ball in their own 22m-area. He fed flyhalf Coenie van Wyk on the inside who in turn linked well with flank Dantes Wium who scored. The last try of the half was a classic. From a scrum on their own 10m-line Paul Roos unleashed their slick backs. Van Wyk passing to stand-in inside centre Stephan de Villiers who threw a perfect drift-pass into space for Van der Merwe to run onto. van der Merwe produced an outside break reminiscent of Faffa Knoetze in his prime and cut clear. He fed the speedster Gideon du Plessis who ran in to score from 50 metres out. SACS left-wing Dean Holland scored a well-worked try from a turn-over secured by hooker Robbie Trueman to leave the half time score at 26-5 to Paul Roos.

SACS battled manfully but were disrupted by numerous injuries in the second half. Despite their best efforts they were unable to stop the Paul Roos juggernaut. The second half followed much the same course as the first. SACS leaked a soft try early on, gifting left-wing Jesse Nowers his second. Soon after Dippenaar got his second as he took a short ball from van Wyk on the SACS 22m-line and broke through to score. The forwards then decided to get on the scoreboard and lock Jan van Vuuren scored next from a good drive. Brilliant scrumhalf prospect François Hougaard combined well with his forwards to score Paul Roos’s last try. SACS did get another try themselves in the second half, again Dean Holland ran well before feeding lock Kieran Snellink on the inside.

Scorers:

For Paul Roos:
Tries: Stephan Dippenaar 2, Dantes Wium, Jesse Nowers 2, Gideon van der Merwe, Jan van Vuuren, François Hougaard
Conversions: Coenie van Wyk 6

For SACS:
Tries: Dean Holland, Kieran Snellink
Conversion: Tim Carr

By Graeme Wepener