火にフライパンのうち. This is Japanese for out of the frying pan into the fire.
A few days ago Paarl Boys High returned home from the Sanix tournament in Japan to a hero’s welcome following their second place finish. In just a week their squad had played in 6 games in the Far East with the last game, the final ending in a narrow defeat to the powerful New Zealand school Hamilton.
Now just a few days and roughly 14 700 km later they will be up against unbeaten Wynberg, one of the best teams in South Africa this season, in an away game. That’s going to require their boys to overcome jet lag asap and to compound the challenge they face, they have cope without a number of starters as well. They have a host of injuries from their Japanese tour. Captain Charl-Francois Du Toit (8) as well as regulars like Derick Marais (3), Christo Mostert (7), Paul de Wet (9), Stefan Gouws (10), Heinrich Moller (13), Aulente Losper (12) and Cassiem February (14) will not be available due to injury. That’s 8 players ruled out. Remember Boishaai were already without their initial captain and SA Schools candidate hooker Ruan Brits, who is out for the season. In the end one has to commend the school for being brave enough to honour this Wynberg 1st XV fixture.
Teams:
| WYNBERG | HJS PAARL BH | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Henriques | 1 | Q. Vortster |
| 2 | Bevan Barnard | 2 | C. van Zyl |
| 3 | Alex Goldstein | 3 | L. Kruger |
| 4 | Brandon Wood | 4 | W. Botha (c) |
| 5 | Michael Pollecutt | 5 | R. de Villiers |
| 6 | Staggie Davids | 6 | P. Bester |
| 7 | Josh Helmbold | 7 | A. van Wyk |
| 8 | Keagan Timm | 8 | P. Coetzee |
| 9 | Ryan Southern | 9 | B. Thain |
| 10 | Nicholas Scott | 10 | R. Lombaard |
| 11 | Grant Turner | 11 | W. Gouws |
| 12 | Evan Frylinck | 12 | J-L le Grange |
| 13 | Jihaad Smith | 13 | C. Grain |
| 14 | Ibie Adams | 14 | T. Solomons |
| 15 | Karl Martin | 15 | R. Lafite |
@RBugger: It was a good game, for sure. I have no affiliation to Boishaai, other than going to their games because my daughter has a certain interest there. In the first half the Paarl boys had very few scoring opportunities, and the Berg should have scored more tries if they wanted to win the game. Boishaai was however much better in the scrums and line-outs and the Paarl forwards did a lot to demolish the Berg`s confidence in their forwards in the first half. A crucial tighthead for Paarl in the first half was the first nail in the coffin. It was interesting that Berg did not commit their forwards to the rucks in the second half. Paarl had to sub their whole front row due to injuries in the second half- but by then the damage to Berg`s confidence was already done. They where just trying to score and did not pay attention to where they should have. Once again the depth of BH rugby was on display-any player in the first 30 can play for the first team on any given day.Well done
Jeez, this was a great game of rugby, what heart and commitment shown by Paarl – I thought they were dead and buried at half time! Wynberg had 2 scoring opportunities in the first half which they butchered – the big 8 decided to go himself instead of passing and got demolished, then again, the Berg Flyhalf did the same thing when he had about a 3 man overlap.
In the second half, Berg simply did not commit any forwards to the rucks – Paarl dominated in this area earing themselves a few penalties. Credit to the coaching staff, I have never seen such an amazing display of mauling from a school boy side – their mauling was exceptional!
@BoishaaiPa: Good to hear but we are still without Marais , De Wet , Du Toit etc. . All 3 provincial candidates so although their replacements are doing brilliantly it is still a pity they are out . I suppose it is part of the game . Gym also badly hit by injuries . Too much big rugby in the beginning of the season if you ask me .
@Tandem: No, fortunatly not, Moller(13) and Mostert (6) will be back.
@BoishaaiPa: Every game will be a new battle . This coming Saturday will be even tougher . We will still sit with the same number of injuries .
@Tandem: I’m so glad I had one prediction right today…with the score at 19-7 and Wynberg launching wave on wave of attack and Boishaai defending like demons I turned to the Mollers standing next to me who looked very worried and told them..Dont worry..this team will win today
Beet this team is mentally very tough and are playing for the jersey ! Also great coaching !
Geez this is an incredible win. Years from now no one will remember the circumstances surrounding the score. Wynberg has a good team in 2014. For HJS to come from behind and pull off this win, I wanna say it defies science. There is no maths formula that can explain it.
What a great win, well done #boishaai
@Toffee: I agree..But the seccies ref made mistakes both ways…On the day the 8 injuries affected the seccies the most as they did not look a cohesive unit. The u/16 game was a humdinger!…Boishaai did butcher 2 tries on the line!
@BoishaaiPa. Yep a game of two halves. Congrats to Paarl Boys for never giving up and playing hard to the final whistle. In the 2nd half the Boys High pack totally dominated Wynberg at the breakdown and in particular in the scrums. The Berg could not get clean ball in the 2nd half and the half backs were under immense pressure. Paarl scored three tries driving from lineouts (two from about the 25) and Wynberg had no answer to this. Paarl backline was less impressive on the day. Wynberg used the up and under very successfully in the first half. Paarl seconds were unlucky to lose to Wynberg who got the benefit of some fairly poor reffing but it was nice to see Wynberg win a game! Best game in the day was the under 16A where Wynberg lost a close game 15-11
What a good win for Boishaai. Wynberg were all over them in the 1st half and haltime score was 19-7 for Wynberg. Great second half by the boys in blue to clinch the match 24-22 at the end.
I will still put my money on Boys High. Those Perel boytjies is all class. 8)
@Toffee: i agree that boishaai will always field a strong team but surely wynberg is the big favourites for this game, 8 players in the normal boishaai 1st team are not playing. we are not complaining as on the day that is the boishaai 1st team
@BOG: …and definitely NOT with a sleeping pill to help ease the jet lag
Going to be a hard fought, tight game this. With the current conditions, looks as though it will be a battle of the tight five and half backs, territory going to be key. Also looking forward to the u15 battle
Invariably, after an extended stay in Japan, they suffer from constipation – too much rice. A good dose of epson salts, should do the trick, but definately not the morning of the match
The thing is there is no such thing as a weak Paarl Boys team. The school has fantastic depth. It will be one of the better opportunities for Wynberg to win but Paarl Boys remain favourites. There has also been a lot of rain in the past 24 hours and there is a chance of showers tomorrow. .
Wynberg don’t have much in the way of depth (in my opinion) this year, particularly at forward. I will make a turn to try to catch the under 14a match and the main game.
I agree with this report. It’s going to be very tough for the Boishaai boys this Saturday. BUT, knowing those boys, they will always be a very good team. Good luck!!!!