Western Province Rugby Day Results

Gimmies beat Paul Roos

Ten senior schools and two primary schools took part in the annual Western Province Rugby Day for Schools held at Newlands on Tuesday 27 March. The games were contested over two twenty-minute halves, with no conversions.

The main match was played between arguably the two top teams in the Western Cape – Paarl Gim and Paul Roos.

Paarl Gim vs Paul Roos, 15-5

Paul Roos started the game strongly and their backs looked full of enterprise. They strung together some wonderful flowing moves and were full value for their early lead. It came via a simple backrow move and was scored by scrumhalf François Hougaard after a midfield scrum.

Paarl Gim's pack slowly began to gain the ascendancy in the scrums and the rucks. Gim loosehead Jean Rossouw especially, giving his opposite number a torrid time. After Paul Roos were reduced to ten men following a dangerous tackle, Gimmies took the ball wide following a rolling maul. Going left, right-wing Ferney Kitzoff took an inside ball and fed fullback Hanno Swart who went over for an excellent score. Paul Roos were slowly losing their composure as their forwards battled to match the powerhouse Gim pack. An errant kick from their own 22m-area allowed Gimmies lock Daniel Slabber in for a soft try.

The second half was an even contest but the Paul Roos backs continued to struggle with their handling. Gim were dominant up front and were able to feed off their opponents errors. The game lost its shape slightly as the coaches brought on numerous subs to give the youngsters a run on the hallowed Newlands turf. Paul Roos were chasing the game and gave away an intercept try in the dying minutes as they tried one to many long drift passes. Gim left-wing Jacques Meyer, who had looked full of running the whole evening, was on the end of the final score.

The game was a worthy finale to a great days rugby as these two top rugby schools slugged it out at the headquarters of Western Province rugby. The league match between the two teams is sure to be a cracker. Paul Roos will have to beef up their pack and give their potent backs more time on the ball if they are to compete.

Man of the Match: Paarl Gim lock Daniel Slabber

Scorers:

Paul Roos 
Try: François Hougaard

Paarl Gim  
Tries: Hanno Swart, Daniel Slabber, Jacques Meyer

Strand vs SACS, 15-5

In the main curtain raiser SACS lost 5-15 to Strand High. Strand High have a powerhouse team this year and are looking for a big season. SACS competed well in all facets of play and were in the lead early on thanks to a well-worked try scored by inside centre Liam Slatem. On the stroke of half time SACS were awarded a penalty inside the Strand 22m-area. The chose to run the ball and lost it in the tackle. Strand took the ball wide quickly and winger Nazeem Robertson virtually ran the length to score what can only be called a Bryan Habana special. 

In the second half the strong Strand pack began to give their backs a surfeit of ball. With better communication they should have scored more than just two tries as SACS’s defensive realignment was poor. Strand’s second try came from a midfield scrum and saw outside centre SE Kotze going over in the corner after a good run by flyhalf Armien Bailie. The final score came from a SACS handling error wide on the left. Strand spun the ball the width of Newlands and had numbers to burn out wide. Centre Jesse Ceusterman was the man to eventually score.

Scorers:

For Strand:
Tries: Liam Slatem, Nazeem Robertson, SE Kotze

For SACS:
Try: Jesse Ceusterman

Bishops vs HTS Bellville, 55-0

Bishops showed that they are truly going to be a force this year by running in eleven tries to nil against HTS Bellville. Bishops are renowned for their attractive brand of running rugby but a 55-0 score line is still an impressive feat in forty minutes. HTS Bellville are an up-and-coming rugby school and Bishops will head to the Grey High 150 Festival full of confidence.

Results:

Under-19 

Tygerberg High vs Col;legians RFC, 20-0
Brackenfell vs Durbanville, 15-5
Bishops vs HTS Bellville, 55-0
Paarl Gim vs Paul Roos, 15-5
Strand vs SACS, 15-5

Under-13 

Eversdal Primary vs Somerset West Primary, 25-10