Closer Gim games at Stellenberg have often been characterised by two recurring themes — the tricky wind and the gritty defence of the home side. The 2026 edition proved no different. Mother nature again played its part, but it was the Jade Brigade’s uncompromising, bodies-on-the-line defence that ultimately proved decisive, refusing to allow Gim any sustained continuity or confidence with ball in hand.
The first major talking point came at scrum time, where Gim enjoyed clear dominance. That platform proved the catalyst for the opening try, scored by No.8 Hendre van Zyl. Stellenberg responded with a penalty before Gim closed out the half with an excellent piece of execution straight from the training ground. A well-worked phased move off a lineout created space for centre Ethan Barker to cross in the right corner, giving the visitors a 12–3 lead at the break.
With the wind now at their backs, Stellenberg produced a remarkable second-half surge, piling on 17 unanswered points. Their centre pairing were instrumental in both Jade tries.
From a lineout set-piece launch, outside centre JC Swart provided the decisive moment. The 11-second flat 100m runner showed impressive footwork to step around a defender before sending replacement wing Emile Cilliers over in the left corner to close the gap to 12–10.
Inside centre Daniel Mongie, alongside captain Yanos Molnar at No.8, emerged as two of the day’s influential standouts on D. When a messy lineout left Stellenberg with static ball, the hosts improvised. Mongie timed his run to perfection, collecting a flat pass before slicing through the defence to score. Ace player Ethan van Biljon added the conversion and later slotted a second penalty to push Stellenberg into a 20–12 lead.
Gim had struggled to find a higher gear for much of the match, but a late injection of urgency finally produced reward when highly rated back-three player Tom Saunders crossed for a try.
There was still time left on the clock, and Gim showed good composure under pressure to work their way into promising territory after Stellies kept turnover ball alive instead of killing the game. However, fortune deserted Gim at the crucial moment, allowing Stellenberg to hold firm and celebrate a memorable victory.
For the Jade Brigade, it was a result to savour — a giant-killing performance that gives the school a dream start to its 40th year of existence, while toppling the number one ranked side heading into the 2026 schoolboy rugby season.
| TEAM | STELLENBERG | TEAM | PAARL GIM | ||
| 1 | Waldo Schloms | u18 | 1 | Jayden Steyl | u18 |
| 2 | Seth Coetzee | u18 | 2 | Charles Whitehead | u18 |
| 3 | Janu van Deventer | u18 | 3 | Sebastiaan Becker | u18 |
| 4 | Rocco Buchanan | u17 | 4 | Bernhardt Schulze | u18 |
| 5 | Juvan Burden | u18 | 5 | Jean Dreyer | u18 |
| 6 | Robert Hewitt | u18 | 6 | Corne Niemand | u18 |
| 7 | Carlo Brink | u18 | 7 | Dirk Hugo | u18 |
| 8 | Yanos Molnar | u18 | 8 | Hendre van Zyl | u18 |
| 9 | Daniel Steffen | u18 | 9 | Mickyle Booise | u18 |
| 10 | Ethan van Biljon | u18 | 10 | Louis Koen | u18 |
| 11 | Morne Pretorius | u17 | 11 | Waldemar de Klerk | u18 |
| 12 | Daniel Mongie | u18 | 12 | Ethan Barker | u18 |
| 13 | JC Swart | u17 | 13 | Derik Cloete | u18 |
| 14 | Ralton Rhode | u19 | 14 | Corne de Beer | u18 |
| 15 | Liam Jacobs | u18 | 15 | Thomas Saunders | u18 |
| 16 | Liam Joubert | u18 | 16 | Reynhart du Toit | u18 |
| 17 | Uzi Blanckenberg | u17 | 17 | Karel Dirker | u18 |
| 18 | Tiaan Vermeulen | u18 | 18 | JG vd Berg | u17 |
| 19 | Jayden Young | u17 | 19 | Ravid Jacobs | u18 |
| 20 | Ryk van Renen | u18 | 20 | Ruan Lindeque | u18 |
| 21 | Daniel Coetzee | u17 | 21 | Alexander Kotze | u18 |
| 22 | JR Wessels | u17 | 22 | Adrian Conradie | u17 |
| 23 | Emile Cilliers | u17 | 23 | Hannes de Kock | u18 |
| 24 | 24 | De Waal Viviers | u17 | ||
| Coach | DIVAN BATT | Coach | PIETER ROSSOUW |
Congratulations Stellenberg with a great win. All you have to do now is to repeat this result next year and the years to come. After taking all the results into count there appears to be a lack of depth (16 out of 19 wins to Gim)
Veels geluk ook aan Divan Batt se afrigting sukses asook vir vanoggend se positiewe berig in vanoggend se Die Burger.
@Mountainview (Comment #7)
Makes sense, thanks
@Leon (Comment #6)
Has to do with school’s 40 year anniversary this year, I think they gave up some home fixtures last year to have majority at home this year. 2025/2026 cancel each other out, should be bussiness as usual from next year.
@Snelvuur (Comment #4)
I agree, yes. Something happened last year as it has always been pretty well balanced out before 2025
Paarl Gim skop af et n verloor. Dit sal hul seisoen goed doen.
@Leon (Comment #3)
Yep, I know. My point is more that their seasons are not balanced well from a WP league perspective. Generally, you want more or less half your games home and half away. Feel like that will require some correction going into future seasons.
@Snelvuur (Comment #2)
They only had 3 home games in 2025
So well deserved for Stellenberg – a programme that has been building for a number of years now. But now the real challenge will be to back this up. They only have 3 games away from home this year (not sure how that happened 😂) so they really have a great chance to put together an incredible season.
Jade Brigade played A-grade didn’t fade but stayed and slayed!!!