Paarl might not appear on all the less detailed maps of South Africa due to the size of the town, but when it comes to school rugby, it is the equivalent of big bold dot city.
This is due to the highly rated rugby players that appear on just about every national union scout’s wish-lists are found in the highest concentration in Paarl.
The two big guns Paarl Boys’ High and Paarl Gymnasium cement places in the national top three in most season while small in numbers Boland Landbou tend to always punch above their weight and feature in the Top 20 very often.
Then there are numerous lower profile high schools that contribute towards the wonderful game in the town. Of these Klein Nederburg and New Orleans are often suppliers to the Boland Craven Week team.
Here is a Paarl XV made up of boys who are turning 18-years-old in 2023. A number of them will be in contention for SA Schools selection this year. Three players have already represented South Africa in 2023 – Danio Botha, Jameel de Jongh and JC Mars.
@Carpe diem: Paarl sal nie 8/10 wen teen Pretoria nie. Ek is bereid om 6/10 te aanvaar.
Ek dink nie eers Paarl sal 8/10 teen Bloemfontein wen nie.
@Rainier: Rainier, ek sal steeds graag wil hoor watter gedeelte van my bydrae op 5 Februarie het jou beweeg om die “Sak Sarel” uit te pluk?
Hi everyone. I was thinking about this and using a Top 5 schools per centre I would say Paarl would get stiff competition from Pretoria.
As mentioned the Paarl Top 5 is:
Boland Landbou
Paarl BH
Paarl Gim
New Orleans
Klein Nederburg – a school I doubt I will forget because they produced one Leroy Bitterhout, who scored a hat trick against KZN in the 2010 Craven Week – horrible memory
Pretoria
Affies
Garsfontein
Menlopark
Waterkloof
Pretoria BH
With that lineup Pretoria stand a good chance of beating Paarl and claiming top spot.
I don’t think any other centre could pose a threat.
Cape Town would do well with the SS4 and Stellenberg
Jozi has Jeppe, KES, Helpmekaar, St John’s and St Stithians
Durban has DHS, Glenwood, Northwood, Clifton and Port Natal
Bloem has the rugby factory indeed. No one dispute their reputation. Then Jim Fouche, Fichardtpark, Sentraal and Louis Botha.
One can argue that the all the contenders are cities/towns a lot bigger than Paarl in population size.
@Rainier: ek is ongelukkig bietjie stadig van die merk af vanoggend, so verduidelik asb gou Sarel se Sak
@Carpe diem: Sak Sarel.
@Grizzly: Jy noem wel Bloemfontein, maar jou boodskap gaan oor Grey. Bloemfontein is die setel van die skool met huidiglik die beste rekord teen die res van die skoolspanne in RSA (Grey se swakste wenrekord tans is die 50% teen Gim). Maar dit is nie waaroor Beet se skrywe gaan nie (soos ek dit in elk geval verstaan) Beet se mening,is dat n gekombineerde span van die Paarl-skole ten minste net so goed is/sal wees soos die gekombineerde spanne van die ander stede/dorpe in RSA. Ongelukkig sal ons natuurlik nooit weet nie.
@boerboel: Nee Etienne,2023
@Carpe diem: Jy sal let dat ek ook n plek naam genruik,Bloem.Soos 2019 se Grey span?
@Grizzly: Jy sal let dat Beet verwys na n plek, Paarl, nie n skool nie. n Span, saamgestel uit die Paarl-skole, sal 8 uit 10 keer wen teen enige ander stad of dorp se gekombineerde span, Bloemfontein ingesluit.
@Grizzly: @Grizzly: droomwereld 25 jaar terug ja
@Beet.Die hoofstad van skole rugby is Bloemfontein,as jy vir Grey n 10 moet gee sal Wie ook al 2 de in kom op n 6….lig Jare…
@Wonder: @Wonder: @<a dea@Wonder: wat is dit?
href=”201015″>Wonder:
@boerboel: Hoekom dan jul delayed option beleid ?
Absolutely agree, good coaching does bring players but at what price does that coaching cost. When schoolboy coaches are earning more than provincial coaches then the system is wrong.
@joekim: the money thing is overstated- tradition and good coachng attracts good players
If you look at past history and records you are 100% correct, however, if you removed the bursaries, professional coaching structures, basically the money aspect of it, then I have a feeling they would not be as dominant. Super strong & ultra competitive yes as they were before professionalism but not to the level they currently are. Hats off to the smaller schools (budget wise) who have to try & compete at the same level which as can be seen by the past records is almost impossible.
Dink ‘n paar ander spelers sal binnekort deel van hierdie gesprek wees. Kom ons hou ‘n oog op die senter, loosies en slot posisies
Die Paarl skole kan n Wynland Craven Week span kies en sal 8 uit elke 10 jaar in die nie-amptelike finaal speel.
Great artikel en sommer n bul span wat hier op papier vertoon word!