Mutual & Federal Premier Interschool Grey College vs Paarl Boys High Overview

Apr 29 • General News, Premier Schools • 3517 Views • Comments Off on Mutual & Federal Premier Interschool Grey College vs Paarl Boys High Overview

Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools is a series of 12 matches, which feature the highest profile and most traditional interschool rugby rivalries from South Africa’s top rugby schools, which are broadcast live on SuperSport from March to August.

Schoolboy rugby has served as one of the cornerstones of domestic rugby dating back more than a century, and 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 third year, is expected to grow even stronger. 

The Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools stories are further captured in 12 Preview shows, which preview all the games and provide historical overviews of these traditional schools and highlight other academic, cultural and sporting achievements.

Grey College takes on Paarl Boys High on their home turf  Saturday, 2 May kick off at 14:00. The match will be televised live on SuperSport 10

The Preview Show featuring Flip van der Merwe and Jan Serfontein will start airing Wednesday evening, 29 April 2015 at 17:45 on SuperSport Select

For all results, fixtures, videos, photos and information visit the new Premier Interschools website at http://www.premierinterschools.co.za/

Written by Rudolph Pollard

 All stats provided by Nelio De Sa from www.RUGBY15.co.za

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Facebook:  www.facebook.com/Premierinterschools

Twitter: @PremierSchools

Historic overview

Grey College vs Paarl Boys High

It is the turn of Paarl Boys to make the long trek up to Bloemfontein for this year’s derby with Grey College. On Saturday 2 May at 14h00 the rivals will lock horns to close out a weekend of Interschool competition in debating,  mountain biking, golf, hockey, table tennis and more.

Paarl Boys High (1868) and Grey College (1855) are amongst the oldest schools in South Africa with both having a significant rugby tradition. They first met in 1950 but did not have an annual fixture due to the distance between the schools. Grey and Paarl Boys High (also known as Boishaai) played each other 21 times from 1950 up to 1995. Since then, the pair have clashed every year. In total they have now played 40 matches with Grey winning 32, Paarl Boys winning six plus two Draws. 

Highlights

1950s

In 1956 Boishaai travelled up north to play Grey in Bloemfontein. It was during this game that legendary Springbok centreMannetjies Roux, from Paarl Boys High, was first noticed by Sports Editor from Die Volksblad, Herman le Roux, who predicted Roux would be a future star. Although Grey won 13–3, Roux had a sublime game and it was eight years later that he scored that famous try,again in Bloemfontein, against the 1964 British Lions ofArthur Smith.Mannetjies Roux in 1968 playing in Paarl Boys High Old Boy jersey

1970s

In 1974 the first SA Schools team was selected and Grey College had two representatives: Jan Geldenhuys and Gerhard Weitz. Grey beat Paarl Boys High in a festival atmosphere21-7.

During the late seventies two famous Springbok and SA Schools wingers (Carel du Plessis and Jaco Reinach) played for Paarl Boys High and Grey College respectively. They later became team-mates during the 1986 clash between the Springboks and the New Zealand Cavaliers. Carel, who was deservedly called Prince of Wings, is a famous Old Boy from Boishaai and played in a 1978 defeat to Grey.

A year later Jaco Reinach (double Springbok in rugby and athletics) was Grey’s wing in a 15-13 loss to Boishaai. In 1980, Jaco again took on the Paarl side along with four fellow SA Schools players: Jurie Erwee (Captain), Joepie vd Merwe, Koen Pieterse and Hendrik Daffue. Grey won 13-4.

1990s

In 1993, the only SA Schools captain to become Springbok captain was Paarl Boys’ High skipper, Corne Krige. Against Grey College, Corne was leading the Boishaai team from the front and will always be remembered for his crash tackles to keep the scoreat  0-0   

2000s

The last Boishaai team to beat Grey before 2012 was in 2000, boasting JD Moller, Neil Fullard and Jasper Loubser in one of the greatest schoolboy scrummaging packs of all time. Grey included future provincial stars  Tewis de Bruyn, Bobbie Joubert and Barry Goodes when Boishaai won the game 17-10 in  Paarl.

2011

In 2011 the Boishaai team nearly caused a major upset in Bloemfontein to end Grey’s winning streak. In an epic match Boishaai came back from 5-15 down at half-time and had Grey under pressure for most of the second half. As the final whistle blew the scoreboard read Grey 15 – Boishaai 15. In this tie current Springbok Jan Serfontein was partnered with his fellow SA Schools centre Dries Swanepoel. Boishaai’s fullback on the day was the current Pukke and Varsity Cup Dream Team fullback Rhyno Smith, who contributed a drop goal and a conversion towards the Paarl Boys score. 

2012 

Grey came to Paarl as the underdogs in 2012 – a tag they are not very familiar with. As history proves, this Boishaai team was a well-oiled machine and with talismanic flyhalf Jean-Luc Du Plessis (Son of Carel) pulling the strings, they ran out convincing winners  28-18. Interestingly, Boishaai left wing Dante vd Merwe is the son of Grey Old Boy Ruan vd Merwe (1986) The left wing for Grey College, meanwhile, was Lezar Marnewick, whose father Lean played with Ruan for Grey College in 1986.

The Current Crop

The season did not start well for Grey, who lost a number of key players early in the campaign due to injuries. The knee injury to Tiaan du Randt, son of Os du Randt, will see him sidelined for the entire season. Tiaan is a prolific flanker with speed to burn and is a great loss to the Bloem boys. Most of the casualties are due to returnagainst Paarl Boys, having missed the Easter Festivals and  some Wildeklawer games. Expect a fully fit and motivated Grey team waiting for the Boishaai on 2May in Bloem.

Grey College Results so far for 2015 (Matches not including Wildeklawer Weekend)

Grey College Squad for 2015 (Before Injured players return)

The 2015 Boishaai team started  under the radar. Head coach Sean Erasmus and assistant Elmo Wolfaardt are quietly confident that their 2015 crop is a special bunch. At the Easter festivals,  they dispatched Noordvaal giants Monnas and Garsfontein within two days of each other in an efficient and effective manner. 

Experienced lock Ruben de Villiers, a veteran of the 2014 campaign, will play a vital role in keeping the solid tight five together. With fellow lock, Salmaan Moerat, they make a formidable pair at 1.99m tall and over 100 kilograms each.

Paarl Boys Results so far for 2015 (Matches not including Wildeklawer Weekend)

Paarl Boys Squad for 2015

Mutual & Federal Premier Interschool Grey College vs Paarl Boys High Overview

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