Top 10 clashes equals high profile! This weekend Paarl Gim travels to Riversdale to face Oakdale while Monument’s Witbulle make the trip to Bloem to face Grey College.
Oakdale vs Paarl Gim
After stumbling, Wildeklawer Oakdale’s convincing 60-8 victory over Outeniqua was enough to have the Gim faithful worried. As it is, Oakdale is one of the more difficult places for an away team to get the desired result. The Oakdale pack has “staatmakers” Erick Steyn and Roy Viljoen back, which makes them formidable in this department. Top rated coach Pieter Rossouw complimented the Bulle, stating they are probably the most physical defensive team his Gim squad will face this season. Malan du Plessis’ farmboys thrive on tackling, and they know how to hit hard. Their conditioning is good, which helps keep their enthusiasm levels high, as defense consumes a lot of energy. Helping Gim is the fact that they get to run on with the same starting line-up as the one that played in their agonizingly close national championship-defining game against Paul Roos a week ago. Also to their advantage is that Gim is a much better frontfoot-continuity prospect against packs that are closer to regulation size.
Grey College vs Monument
Monument has a history to be proud of against Grey College, with several wins against the Rugby Factory over the years. The visit to Bloemfontein is the ultimate test of any first team’s ability. It is the hardest ground in South Africa to win on and possibly the easiest one to come unstuck and suffer a season record defeat. Monnas are an unpredictable team, but they arrive in good spirits, having won three in a row, including a victory over their main Krugersdorp rivals Noordheuwel in a jam-packed derby last week.
A big difference-maker has been the introduction of flyhalf Cruz la Moer, a slightly built player with a lazy-looking passing action that is highly effective in getting his players on the outside to operate at a higher pace and with more striking ability. Even though he may not have the flamboyance of Grey’s impactful Alzeadon Felix, whose ability to engage defenses makes him one of the most creative threats in SBR in 2024, the match-up should be worth watching.
There is no doubt that the Witbulle are the underdogs for this one. Not to delve into the negative, but Grey injuries could be significant factors working in Monnas’ favor. Grey are without imposing lock Heinrich Theron and the freakishly powerful U17 outside center Ethan Adams. This means Monnas has a chance to be physically dominant up front and can focus less attention on how they will stop the tackle-breaking, tryline-visiting Adams on the wider run lines.
Grey are defined by their tempo, with good players scattered around the park. Many have been getting the credit due to them. One whose efforts definitely don’t go unnoticed is No. 8 Liam Santos, whose pace injection into plays is a sight for sore eyes. He is a terrific player capable of making accurate long passes while operating at full tilt, reminiscent of Mark Snyman, the former Helpmekaar star loosie. The Monnas backrow likes to play loose, and tall RJ Barnard is quick for a big boy, but no one in this department has Santos’ explosiveness. Should he pursue his career after school as a high-energy Richardt Strauss-like hooker, an abrasive center like Marius Louw, or perhaps the national Sevens academy guys are taking notes?
| TEAM | OAKDALE | TEAM | PAARL GIM | ||
| 1 | Kai Pratt | u17 | 1 | JJ du Preez | u18 |
| 2 | Gustav vd Merwe | u18 | 2 | Dawie Stemmet | u18 |
| 3 | Tiaan Turck | u18 | 3 | Ely Williams | u18 |
| 4 | Zack Wessels | u18 | 4 | Quintin Potgieter | u17 |
| 5 | Roy Viljoen | u18 | 5 | Marinus Darling | u18 |
| 6 | Erick Steyn | u18 | 6 | Jan Koegelenberg | u18 |
| 7 | Jannes Snyman | u17 | 7 | Wihan Kotze | u18 |
| 8 | Migail Barnard | 8 | Nicolas Nel | u18 | |
| 9 | Jandrian Goosen | u17 | 9 | Sebastiaan Ackermann | |
| 10 | Reinhart Viljoen | u17 | 10 | Chandler Green | u18 |
| 11 | Lee-Winn Pretorius | u17 | 11 | Markus Moolman | u18 |
| 12 | Christian Vorster | u17 | 12 | Kobus Blanckenberg | u18 |
| 13 | Kurt Coetzee | u18 | 13 | Markus Muller | u17 |
| 14 | Duraan Jv Rensburg | u18 | 14 | Freek de Kock | u18 |
| 15 | Waylon Kortjie | u18 | 15 | Josh o’Neill | u18 |
| Coach | MALAN DU PLESSIS | Coach | PIETER ROSSOUW | ||
| TEAM | GREY COLLEGE | TEAM | MONUMENT | ||
| 1 | Dian Venter | u18 | 1 | Wikus Meyer | u19 |
| 2 | Liam van Wyk | u18 | 2 | Keenan Myners | u17 |
| 3 | Danie Kruger | u18 | 3 | Juandre Marais | u18 |
| 4 | Marcel Coetzee | u18 | 4 | Jacques Botha | u18 |
| 5 | AJ Meyer | u17 | 5 | Nathan Erasmus | |
| 6 | Xander Smit | u17 | 6 | Jamaal Feldman | u18 |
| 7 | Juliun Cosmo | u18 | 7 | RJ Barnard | u18 |
| 8 | Liam Santos | u18 | 8 | Vincent Robberts | u17 |
| 9 | Philip McLaren | u18 | 9 | Hanno du Toit | u18 |
| 10 | Alzeadon Felix | u18 | 10 | Cruz la Moer | |
| 11 | Ruben Cilliers | u18 | 11 | Ernesto Oersen | u19 |
| 12 | Pieter vd Merwe | u18 | 12 | Theuns du Plooy | u19 |
| 13 | Thristan Maree | u17 | 13 | Jason Joubert | u18 |
| 14 | Pretorius Ekeji | u18 | 14 | Kealan Milton | u18 |
| 15 | Heinz Stockenstrom | u18 | 15 | Hanu Fourie | u18 |
| Coach | JANNIE GELDENHUYS | Coach | TJAART VAN DER WALT |
Let’s be fair I thought the referee at Oakdale was fair and competent…there were no objections from Paarl Gim side whatsoever…our last three visits were reffed by competent referees which is very important for the rivalry to survive…
@sharpshooter (Comment #2)
I can’t comment on the other matches but I thought the ref in the u19A game did a reasonably good job. I didn’t seem massive prejudice against Gim. If I was a hometown ref in that game, I would felt very little to give a try when Kai Pratt crossed the line near the posts early on in the match. The ref was not in a good position to begin with and called it held up. Also think a hometown ref sets out to make the breakdowns a point of penalisable contention. Gim were allowed to play plenty of attractive flowing rugby and they made it into a very pleasing match to watch. They enjoyed a lot of control. Nice build up tries. Great to see Freek de Kock having a top consistent game from start to finish and Markus Muller looking influential again. Backrow players and Quintin Potgieter also great.
Oakdale are a good defensive team but could not stem the Gim scoring tide and the score was something like 36-14 towards the end. The most interesting choice was Reinhardt Viljoen at flyhalf. He’s been like a sort of Chris Badenhorst type wing and now maybe a Hans Scriba like 10. Maybe better comparisons but I have enjoyed watching him play this season.
Other things. The field looked beautiful. The commentator in the first half was great. Super that Dawie Stemmet’s lineout work got emphasised. Just wish Oakdale could elevate the camera position a bit
SWD REFS
Ek persoonlik sou vir Ekeji 13 toe geskuif het en vir Kenny in gebring het ….maar daar is n rede hoekom Jannie daai span afrig en nie ek nie🤣🤣🤣🤣