2014 Premier Interschools Fixtures announced
Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools have announced the 2014 Premier Interschools fixtures. This year’s fixtures are a series of 12 matches, which feature the highest profile and most traditional interschool rugby rivalries from South Africa’s top rugby schools which will be broadcast live on SuperSport from April to August.
Sixteen of South Africa’s top performing rugby schools will be showcased live in the 12 matches over the 2014 season. These include 5 new derbies namely Paul Roos vs Grey High, Affies vs KES, Affies vs Pretoria Boys High, Grey College vs Maritzburg College and Boland Landbou vs Oakdale. School rugby has served as one of the cornerstones of domestic rugby which dates back more than a century, and remains true to its slogan “Honouring Heritage. Playing for the Future.” Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools is about History, Heritage and Tradition. The series, now in its second year, is set for a thrilling season!
The Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools stories are further captured in 12 magazine shows which preview all the games and provide historical overviews of these traditional schools. They also highlight other academic, cultural and sporting achievements, including years in review of past historical derbies. The magazine shows will air Wednesday evenings at 18:15 on SuperSport 1 in the lead up to the Saturday derbies.
We take a look at the matches that will be featured.
2014 Fixtures:
12 April 2014 Paul Roos vs Grey High School
10 May 2014 Paarl Gymnasium vs Paul Roos
17 May 2014 KES vs Affies
24 May 2014 Paarl Boys High vs Grey College
31 May 2014 Monument vs Glenwood
7 June 2014 Paul Roos vs Paarl Boys High
26 July 2014 Jeppe vs KES
2 August 2014 Paarl Gymnasium vs Paarl Boys High
9 August 2014 Affies vs Pretoria Boys High
16 August 2014 Grey College vs Maritzburg College
23 August 2014 Boland Landbou vs Oakdale
31 August 2014 Bishops vs Rondebosch
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Paul Roos vs Grey High – 12 Apr 2014 (New Fixture)
First up on the Premier Interschools calendar will be Grey High School from Port Elizabeth against perennial rivals Paul Roos Gymnasium. Grey High is expected to be among the top rugby schools in 2014 and will feature Cravenweek players such as Johann van Niekerk, Keanu Vers, Jeremy Ward and Dylan Vermaak. Facing a resurgent Paul Roos at Markotter will not be an easy task as the Maroon Machine would like to set the record straight after two losses in a row to the light blues. Paul Roos retained a good batch of their 2013 players and will be a little more experienced with no less than 10 players in the WP Elite u/18 squad.
Paul Roos vs Paarl Gym – 10 May 2014 (Existing Fixture)
The second Premier Interschools derby will feature Paul Roos against old rivals Paarl Gymnasium on the 10th May 2014. By this time all the Easter and other festivals will be completed and we can concentrate on all the excitement of traditional derby matches. Paarl Gym’s mercurial SA Schools fullback Grant Hermanus will again be available to don the Bloedwors jersey. For Paul Roos forwards such as the massive prop Jerome Korf and hardworking 8th man Michael Meyer will be key to their plans. In the backs they will have the services of returning players such as WP Cravenweek No 9 Herschel Jantjies, wing Edwill van der Merwe and pivot Reinhardt Fortuin.
Affies vs KES – 17 May 2014 (New Fixture)
A week later our attention will shift up North to the derby between Pretoria’s Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies) and Johannesburg rival – King Edward VII High School (KES). Their traditional derby was reinstated in 2012 and Affies had the better of these last two encounters. Affies will be the dark horse for the 2014 and having been at the top two of various schools rugby rankings over the last two seasons, Affies will want to keep their momentum and remain one of the top performers.
Paarl Boys vs Grey College – 24 May 2014 (Existing Fixture)
Grey College travel from Bloemfontein to Paarl to take on their traditional rivals Paarl Boys High. The boys from Bloem do not have fond memories from their last visit to Paarl where they lost one of only 3 games in the 2012 season. Boishaai will have a new coach in Sean Erasmus who previously had great success with Glenwood and will have the services of a few of their 2013 squad in prop Derick Marais, 8th man Charl-Francois Du Toit, scrumhalf Paul De Wet, No 10 Stefan Gouws and center Curtley Grain.
Grey College will be keen to regain their status as the number 1 Rugby School in South Africa, as they last held this spot in 2011 and were knocked off the top by the two Paarl powerhouses in 2012 and 2013. Grey Colleges’ 2014 team will have the luxury of retaining most of the players from a highly successful 2013 Cherries team. Throw in a couple of players from a very good u/16 team and you have the makings of another great Grey College squad.
Monument vs Glenwood – 31 May 2014 (Existing Fixture)
Premier Interschools will conclude a jam-packed May schedule with the derby between Monument of Krugersdorp and Glenwood from Durban. The KZN team will have a new coach in Rudi Dames, and are touted as Top 10 contender’s in 2014. Expect another typical Monnas team in 2014 – hard and tough up front and straight and direct running backs. Monnas surprised Glenwood at Dixons last year with a close encounter win of 26-20 and Glenwood could return the favour at Monnas on the 31st of May.
Paul Roos vs Paarl Boys – 7 Jun 2014 (Existing Fixture)
The last Premier Interschools derby scheduled before breaking for the June holidays is the match between Paarl Boys High and Paul Roos. Both teams will by then have settled into their season and the Stellenbosch outfit will want to reclaim some honor after losing the last 3 fixtures.
KES vs Jeppe – 26 July 2014 (Existing Fixture)
The first Premier Interschools fixture after the June/July holiday break and Cravenweek will feature the derby between KES and Jeppe on the 27th of July. The latter steadily building back to their previous heights and after a narrow 15-12 win in 2013 and surprising 28-13 win in 2012, Jeppe will again aim to keep the powerful KES at bay and make it three in a row. KES will be desperate to overturn their recent results against Jeppe and mark this one as a humdinger on the PI schedule.
Paarl Gymnasium vs Paarl Boys’ High – 2Aug 2014 (Existing Fixture)
August month is known as the month of the big Interschool Derbies. First up on the 2nd of August is the biggest of them all – Northern Paarl vs Southern Paarl. The Bloedworse vs Galpille…Paarl Gymnasium vs Paarl Boys’ High. This match is steeped in tradition with local rivalry and a must watch for any schoolboy rugby fan.
Affies vs Pretoria Boys High – 9 Aug 2014 (New Fixture)
Just a week later and another huge derby takes place in Pretoria between neighboring rivals Affies and Pretoria Boys High. This year will be the 111th time these two schools play each other. Affies leads these Derbies with 60 victories to Pretoria Boys’ 41 with 9 draws between them. The last time Pretoria Boys could win was in 2008 when they emerged with 21-15 as victors.
Grey College vs Maritzburg College – 16 Aug 2014 (New Fixture)
One of the great old rivalries are re-launching in 2014 when Grey College will host old rivals Maritzburg College in Bloemfontein on the 16th of August 2014. This will delight many a schoolboy rugby fan as these two teams have not played against each other for more than six years. Maritzburg College has a very strong rugby tradition and is known as the Springbok Flyhalf factory with the likes of Keith Oxlee, Joel Stransky, Butch James and Peter Grant. It will be a big task for College to reinstate this rivalry at Grey College’s home ground in a year where Grey is expected to be one of the top rugby schools again.
Boland Landbou vs Oakdale – 23 Aug 2014 (New Fixture)
Premier Interschools is also proud to present Mutual & Federal’s traditional derby match between Boland Landbou and Oakdale on the 23rd August 2014. This will be the first time that these two agricultural schools will be televised as a Premier Interschools derby. The rivalry is intense between these two schools and hosts Boland will want to revenge the 29-10 loss they suffered in Riversdal in 2013, while Oakdale is expected to be a very classy outfit based on a very strong u/16 group they fielded in 2013.
Bishops vs Rondebosch – 31 Aug 2014 (Existing Fixture)
The final Premier Interschools derby will be between Rondebosch Boys High and Diocesan College (Bishops) on the 30th August 2014. A rivalry that started way back in 1911 will continue in 2014 when the Rondebosch neighbours only have to travel the odd 400m down the road to the lush Bishops fields. This year it will be the 185th time these two schools play each other, a truly remarkable record that have withstood the test of time and one of the oldest Schoolboy Rugby Interschool’s in the country. A Premier event indeed.
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