NEWS
Paarl derby headlines 2023 Premier Interschools fixtures list
The 2023 Premier Interschools season is upon us and promises thrilling match-ups between some of the country’s top sporting schools. Here are the full schedule, headlined by the Paarl derby.
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The 2023 Premier Interschools rugby calendar sports a total of 12 matches stretching from the 25 March to the 26 August.
The continued participation of top calibre teams highlights Premier Interschools prestigious status amongst players, coaches and supporters. Schools rugby play an invaluable role in the development of South Africa’s sport culture, and instils the values of sportsmanship, teamwork and respect in young players.
ALSO READ: Best of SA schools rugby in 2022 — Big hits, lethal steps, skills, bumps and more!
In keeping with the tradition of Premier Interschools, viewers can once again expect some of the best rugby fixtures this season.
The fixtures feature 15 different schools over a 12-match period. Of those games, 50% of the clashes are derbies between Western Cape Schools Paarl Gim, Paarl Boys’, Paul Roos, Outeniqua, Oakdale, Boland Landbou, Bishops and Rondebosch.
The headline games of the season are Paul Roos vs Paarl Gim on 6 May, Grey College’s away match against Paarl Boys’ on 13 May followed by Boishaai against Paul Roos on 27 May. The Paarl derby between Boishaai and Gim is the next big fixture, scheduled for 5 August and the game which ends the season will see Bishops host their bitter rivals Rondebosch.
Here are the full 12-match Premier Interschools fixture schedule:
Durban High School (DHS) vs Maritzburg College (25 March)
The Premier Interschools 2023 season kicks off on the east coast in Durban when host DHS takes on old foes Maritzburg College from Pietermaritzburg. DHS have been rebooting their rugby prowess the last few years and with ex-Paarl Boys coach Peter Engeldouw at the helm, it looks like they are heading in the right direction.
The last ten encounters between these two rivals have seen College winning six, with DHS winning three, while there has been one draw. The last time DHS were victorious over College was last season under their new coach when they clinched a comprehensive 38-14 win. This shows they are a team to be reckoned with.
Paul Roos vs Grey High School (15 April)
Grey High travel down to Stellenbosch to take on the might of the Maroon Machine at home. The visitors have not tasted victory against their rivals since 2017 and will be eager to set the record straight at the Markötter Stadium.
This is the same venue where they erased a 20-point deficit in 2014 with a young Curwin Bosch at flyhalf, to complete a remarkable 27-26 comeback win. Paul Roos are in a rebuilding phase, playing at fortress Markötter will motivate them immensely not to make the same mistakes they did in 2014.
Paarl Gimnasium vs Affies (22 April)
Affies travel to Paarl for their annual clash (now in its seventh year) with Paarl Gim, but only four matches have been played due to Covid. Having won only one of these encounters will see them try and even up the numbers.
Their overall record against Gim in the last decade saw them winning three out of the nine matches with one draw. The game will take place at Gim’s Jan Kriel fields.
Paul Roos vs Paarl Gim (6 May)
Paarl Gim’s next big fixture is only two weeks later when they travel to Stellenbosch to face Paul Roos. They have a score to settle as Paul Roos upset them last year on home turf and won a closely contested game 26-24.
Paarl Gim will be out to return the favour and beat the Maroon Machine on their beloved Markötter in front of a partisan home crowd. The last ten matches have Paarl Gim winning seven and Paul Roos three, so the home team would like to make it two-in-a-row.
ALSO READ: 2022 Schools recap — Paul Roos vs Grey
Paarl Boys’ High vs Grey College (13 May)
The mighty Grey College visit Paarl in May to contest a match that could possibly decide the number one spot on this years’ school rugby calendar. Both teams are predicted to have cracking teams in 2023 and with Grey having competed in the World Schools Festival in December 2022, they have already shown that they are a great side in the making.
The boys from Paarl, under the guidance of head coach Sean Erasmus, have been unstoppable in recent years. Could 2023 be the start of another great run for this Erasmus-led team?
ALSO READ: Grey College fixtures pit them against tough opposition in 2023
Paarl Boys’ High vs Paul Roos (27 May)
Paarl Boys’ High host another big derby in May when neighbours Paul Roos comes visiting from down the road. The Maroon Machine has a similar record against this Paarl team, who has won seven of last ten encounters in this fixture. The Stellenbosch outfit will not be content to leave Paarl without a win in 2023 and this derby could be one of the most contestable to date.
Outeniqua vs Paarl Gim (22 July)
Outeniqua celebrate their 100th anniversary this year and if the grapevine is to be believed, they have one unbelievable team to represent them for their centenary year. This current group of U18s was very strong as juniors and hardly lost a match coming through U/14, U/15 and U/16 levels in years gone by.
Paarl Gim will travel to George for this humdinger that could be the highlight of Outeniqua’s season. The two sides have a very even record over the last ten games with Paarl Gim having won five, Outeniqua four and one stalemate.
Grey High vs Grey College (29 July)
The end of July the friendly city of Gqeberha again for the classic encounter between brother schools Grey College and Grey High. These two schools have the same founder in Sir George Grey and have been rivals for years. Grey High have only one victory in the last ten matches since 2014 and will dearly love to catch up to their rivals school.
Paarl Boys’ High vs Paarl Gimnasium (5 August)
The ninth match of the season features two great rivals in local schoolboy rugby namely Paarl Boys’ High and Paarl Gimnasium for what is arguably the biggest schools rugby rivalry in the world: The Galpille against the Bloedworse, South vs North. A whole town divided for one week into two definitive camps. One is either Blue and White or Gold, Maroon and Green.
The passion that goes with this rugby derby is undeniable and for more than 100 years the matches have been so closely contested that the average winning margin is just four points. When the final whistle blows, there will be nothing left on the field but blood, sweat and tears (literally and figuratively) in both victory and defeat.
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Waterkloof vs Monument (12 August)
The clash between Hoërskool Monument (Monnas) and Hoërskool Waterkloof will take place in Pretoria. This is the first Northvaal derby in the Premier Interschools series for this season and promises to be a match of high intensity.
While Monnas and Waterkloof’s regular Interschools only started in 1996, this has become one of the most eagerly anticipated games on the schoolboy rugby calendar given the rich rugby history and heritage of the schools. Both sides are consistently among the top rugby schools in the country. But in terms of results from this fixture, Monnas have the edge over Waterkloof, winning seven of their last ten encounters.
Oakdale vs Boland Landbou (19 August)
Another big interschool derby is scheduled for August with the farmers clash between Boland Landbou from Paarl and Oakdale from Riversdale. These two schools regularly produce teams of outstanding quality from a very small player pool. They are rarely out of the top 20 rankings and have produced numerous Craven Week players for their two unions.
This Interschools match-up is usually a very close affair with neither team having a clear upper hand. The last ten games have seen both winning five each. While they have played each other on an irregular basis pre-1992, Oakdale and Landbou have been playing each other on an annual basis since 1992 then. This year they will meet for the 29th time.
Bishops vs Rondebosch (26 August)
Premier Interschools season finale will feature one of the oldest school derbies in the country. Rondebosch versus Bishops is one of the most highly anticipated schoolboy games in the Western Cape. This will be game number 201 for them, the first of which took place in 1911. In 1908 they played a once-off U/16 match while the annual derbies started in 1911. The first match between these two schools saw Bishops run rampant on the day, winning the encounter 112-0 with Painton Cowen scoring 86 points in the match.
This is one of the longest running interschool derbies in the country and because they compete twice a year, the number of games played against each other are high. Pride and bragging rights are at stake in the leafy suburb of Rondebosch. The two schools are only about 400m apart and are situated in the shadows of the former home of WP Rugby, Newlands Stadium.
PREMIER INTERSCHOOLS 10TH ANNIVERSARY MARKED WITH TOP SPONSORSHIP DEAL
To mark Premiership Interschools organisation celebrating its 10th anniversary, it has been announced that Sportsmans Warehouse has come on board as the new title sponsor.
“Sportsmans Warehouse, Southern Africa’s home of sports equipment and apparel, is a wonderful brand to have at the forefront of school sport and Premiership Interschools is proud to be associated with them. “In the build up to some of the biggest events on the school sporting calendar, we are thrilled to participate in a phenomenal season of sport, tradition and comradery through our partnership with Premier Interschools,” said Raymond Thomas, Finance Executive of Sportsmans Warehouse.
