Paul Roos edge Bishops in nail-biter

The match was played in good spirit and it was certainly a great advertisement for schoolboy rugby in Western Cape.

Bishops were the side to enjoy much of the possession in the opening minutes, however, Paul Roos somehow managed to capitalise on the visitors' mistake and took the lead after just two minutes.

They snapped the ball inside the Bishop' 22 and after some phases Matthew Cordy past two defenders to hand Reagan Van der Westerhuizen the ball for the try, 5-0.

Minutes later Bishops levelled matters. James Ipser produced a line-break to get his side inside the Paul Roos' 22, which was followed by two great offloads to get the captain Robert Macdonald over the line, 5-5.

Eight minutes on the clock and Bishops were the team on top when Ipser added the extras, 7-5.  

Cape Town Suburb side enjoyed the narrow lead, but their defence eventually fold. Paul Roos had a five-metre scrum and hooker JJ Kotze powered over the ruck to take the lead, 10-5.

Again fullback Colia Louis failed to add the extras.

Instead, Bishops fullback Ipser's boot levelled the score with a penalty 10-all after 15 minutes of play.  

After a brief spell in Bishops' half, Paul Roos took the lead yet again. This time tighthead prop Hanru Jacobs powered over the try-line.

After two missed conversion and a missed penalty, Paul Roos handed the kicking duties to Juan Mostert, who made no mistake to add the extras, 17-10.

However, Bishop made sure there had the last say at the end the first stanza. The side attacked Paul Roos and enjoyed possession inside the hosts' half. After relentless carries scrumhalf, Ross Goodwin dives over the try-line.  

Just before the break, Bishops could have taken the lead but unfortunately for them, Ipser pushed his kick wide to trail  15-17.  

Bishops started the second half like a house on fire and soon took the 18-17 lead after an unusual penalty by hooker Ghaalieb Kenny.

However, minutes later Van der Westhuizen bagged his brace of tries, great interchanging passes by by Brenden Venter and captain Cordy got the wing over the try-line, 22-18.

Paul Roos extended their lead with Mostert's penalty kick, 25-18.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Bishops took the lead. Du Plessis' line-break was followed up with quick passes which sent the scrumhalf Goodwin over the line. The second try came via a line-out. The ball was secured by the Bishops' pack before Aydan Labuschagne burst over the line.

Ghaalieb Kenny added the extras, 30-25.

With five minutes left on the clock, Paul Roos were forced to dig deep. They had a scrum in Bishops' five, and build some phases, however, failed to break past the blue defence. Gerardo Jaars opted to out wide and gave a skip-pass to Remy Engelbrecht, who wiggled over the try-line, 30-30.

Mostert stepped up and kept his nerve for the winning conversion.

The scorers:

For Paul Roos:

Tries: Regan van der Westhuizen 2, JJ Kotze, Hanru Jacobs, Remy Engelbrecht

Cons: Juan Mostert 2

Pen: Juan Mostert

Fpr Bishops

Tries: Robert Macdonald, Ross Goodwin 2, Aydan Labuschagne:

Cons: James Ipser, Ghaalieb Kenny

Pens: James Ipser, Ghaalieb Kenny,

Teams:

Paul Roos: 15 Colia Louis, 14 Regan van der Westhuizen, 13 Brendan Venter, 12 Rufus Dercksen (captain), 11 Remy Engelbrecht, 10 Juan Mostert, 9 Gerado Jaars, 8 Matthew Cordy, 7 Philip van Dyk, 6 Johan Bouwer, 5 Breyten Maritz, 4 Mink Scharink, 3 Hanru Jacobs, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Cameron Dawson

Replacements: 16 Willem van der Hever, 17 Alexander Mbete, 18 Kobus Esterhuizen, 19 Ryno Niemand, 20 Jacques Viviers, 21 Yanne du Bois, 22 Marais Cloete, 23 Renier Benade

Bishops: 15 James Ipser, 14 Matt du Plessis, 13 Robert Macdonald (captain), 12 George Spencer, 11 Murray Bruce, 10 Aydan Labuschagne, 9 Ross Goodwin, 8 Felix Burt, 7 Justin Muller, 6 Matt Norton, 5 Aidan Neill, 4 Tim Sharples, 3 David Courie, 2 Ghaalieb Kenny, 1 Ross Doyle

Replacements: 16 William Rose, 17 Benjamin Nel, 18 Reece Meyer, 19 Terrence Pettersson, 20 Victor Allen, 21 Alex Castle, 22 Lukhanyo Mntonintshi, 23 Bingo Ivanisevic, 24 Nathan Maimba, 25 Francois Van der Merwe, 26 David Niviso27 Matt van Westenbrugge, 28 Alex Jankovich-Besan

Coach: Dean Sudding