Bishops will be confident of extending their proud home record on the Piley Rees when they host St Andrew’s, especially after last year’s narrow 31–34 defeat in Makhanda. Bishops are unbeaten on the Piley Rees since 2012.
St Andrew’s have endured a tough start to the 2026 campaign, going down in their opening two fixtures to local Eastern Province co-ed sides Framesby and Pearson—both by single-score margins. While those results suggest they remain competitive, Bishops represent a definite step up, particularly once home-ground advantage is factored in.
For the Bishops faithful, this clash offers an early gauge of just how serious their Platinum Blues are as contenders for the Southern Suburbs derby crown. Initial signs suggest they have the pedigree to mount a genuine challenge and potentially unseat defending champions Wynberg. With SACS also showing encouraging upward momentum, there is the intriguing prospect of four different winners in a four-year cycle—Rondebosch in 2024, Wynberg in 2025, a possible Bishops triumph in 2026, and perhaps SACS to follow in 2027.
That said, the immediate task remains navigating a potentially tricky St Andrew’s side. One area that may come under scrutiny is the effectiveness of the Bishops backline, where outright pace has been questioned. If they can find the right balance between structure and penetration out wide, it could go a long way toward turning promise into sustained dominance.
History of the fixture
The derby started in 1896 when St Andrew’s toured to Cape Town.
After 130 years of tradition and history, the distance of 900 km between the colleges has not dampened this rivalry. Thursday marks the 101st meeting in this remarkable fixture. The first match was played at Newlands, with Bishops winning 5–0.
The fixture really gained momentum after the First World War, despite the travel difficulties of the time. Since 1921, the sides have met almost every year, except during the Second World War and on a few isolated occasions.
It is the third-oldest fixture Bishops play against another school and the second-oldest for St Andrew’s.
It is truly one of the happiest rivalries. If two colleges can go to such lengths—especially considering the extraordinary efforts made in the early years to travel and compete against each other since 1896—it can only be regarded as something unique and a deeply cherished tradition.
In 2022, Bishops and St Andrew’s played each other twice in a single year for the first time. They met at the Grey PE Festival and then again on the Piley later that season, with Bishops wearing green jerseys to mark the occasion.
| TEAM | BISHOPS | TEAM | ST ANDREW’S | ||
| 1 | Sam Bey | u18 | 1 | Mark Ewing | |
| 2 | Joe Lanning | u18 | 2 | Ross Faber | |
| 3 | Jack Hibling | u18 | 3 | Sivatho Mjali | |
| 4 | Dan Coetzee | u18 | 4 | Harry Horwood | |
| 5 | Alex Vintcent | u18 | 5 | James Badenhorst | |
| 6 | Connor Clark | u18 | 6 | Kyle Schwechheimer | |
| 7 | Ethan Venter | u18 | 7 | Adam Ball | |
| 8 | Jack Venter | u18 | 8 | Joshua van Zyl | |
| 9 | Jack Fleck | u18 | 9 | Luke Chorley | |
| 10 | Christian Toweel | u18 | 10 | William Stevens | |
| 11 | Lutho Nyawula | u18 | 11 | Max de Wet | |
| 12 | Boytjie Fyfer | u18 | 12 | Caleb Pennington | |
| 13 | Elijaron Geduld | u18 | 13 | Avumile Bangazi | |
| 14 | Jono Horton | u17 | 14 | Daniel Short | |
| 15 | Caleb Clark | u17 | 15 | Michael Fowlds | |
| 17 | Jarred Kowen | u18 | 17 | ||
| 18 | Cody Cedras | u19 | 18 | ||
| 19 | Luke Hofmeyr | u18 | 19 | ||
| 20 | James Gordon | u18 | 20 | ||
| 21 | Rhys Jack | u18 | 21 | ||
| 22 | Ben Durrant | u18 | 22 | ||
| 23 | Danny Newton | u18 | 23 | ||
| 24 | Lihle Tsobo | u18 | 24 | ||
| Coach | SAM MOFOKENG | Coach | JONNY MALLETT |
@Farmer (Comment #3)
Yes, all results vs SAC
@Gold (Comment #2)
Who did they beat 100-0 hope not SAC
@beet (Comment #1)
I saw the Bishops U14s won 100-0 and the U15s 60-0 so there is definitely some investment in recruitment and a plan to fix their rugby over the next few years.
Bishops win 28-24.
Another tight defeat for SAC. They will be crying over the way they managed their pressure moments in their own red zone during the second half. Backline move gone wrong and charge down clearance by the deadball line. 14 very easy points to Bishops and with it the ball game.
The game had mistakes but it was entertaining to watch. SAC backline seemed to have more of the traditional Bishops flair than Bishops did. Bishops backs seemed to operate a half pace a lot of the time. Bishops 15 was decent. He knew how to make 1st time tacklers miss. If he can up his linking game he could be valued asset.
Both packs seemed to lack intensity up front. Scrums were interesting. Lineouts could have been better but hard to judge the impact of the wind from watching the stream