Paul Roos Gimnasium vs Grey College Historic Overview

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Saturday 19^th August see the might of Grey College coming down to Stellenbosch to take on Paul Roos Gymnasium at their Markotter sport fields. The second last edition of the 2017 Premier Interschool derbies promises to be a humdinger as usual because of the rich history between these two great rivals.

The Rugby Teams of Grey College and Paul Roos first played against each other in 1967. The annual derbies started in 1988 and in 1992 the entire schools started participating in the Interschools. Since 1967 Grey and Paul Roos have met 33 times with Grey winning 24 of these encounters.

Many legendary old Grey Springboks (and many other old Greys) that now live in the Cape are sending their sons to Paul Roos, such as Theuns Stofberg (old Grey Springbok), Robbie Blair (old Grey Springbok), Frikkie Naude (WP), Chris Smith (WP) and many more

Some highlights down the years of these two great schools:

1967 – Grey and Paul Roos first met in 1967 at the old Coetzenberg stadium when Grey went on tour to the Cape during the July holidays.

The legendary ’67 Grey College First Team has been regarded by many as one of the greatest Grey First Teams of its era. The team was gifted with outstanding athletes such as the two prop forwards and the two flank forwards (twins Danie and Dennis du Plessis) that formed the Grey Relay team which won the 4×100 m Relay at Free State Interhigh athletics that year.

Dawie Snyman (Springbok) was flyhalf and vice-captain and Wilhelm Landman (Grey School Captain that played Western Province) was Grey’s fullback that year. Grey’s backline was on fire that day with Nelson Babrow at centre (WP) and two speedy wings.

Grey won this historic encounter 22-0 and one of the highlights was a try scored by the referee – Oom Johnnie Meiring from the Matie Club! One of Grey’s centers went through a gap and with only the Paul Roos fullback in front of him he passed inside. The man on his inside was Oom Johnnie who caught the ball and then raced towards the tryline to score right under the posts.

Only to blow his whistle and to call back play for a scrum where he caught the ball. This was exemplerary of the spirit in which this game was played. Although both teams had tremendous respect for each other and were pretty serious on the field with such a big encounter there was still a mutual respect and camaraderie from both sides.

This cameraderie resulted in numerous friendships that were forged off the field in subsequent years. In the Paul Roos 1967 team was Johan Carinus (who now farms outside Stellenbosch) and among their matrics of that year was business tycoon Johann Rupert and Braam van Velde (who also farms outside Stellenbosch these days). All three Paul Roos old boys became very good friends with the Grey fullback, Wilhelm Landman, and later in life Rupert played a big role in Landman’s career when Landman became the MD of Richmont South Africa. Today Dawie Snyman (who later became Springbok) is the assistant coach of the Paul Roos First Rugby Team. All these seeds were already planted during the first Grey vs Paul Roos match in 1967 in Stellenbosch.

1974 – Paul Roos went on tour to the Free State and their first game was against Sentraal where Paul Roos lock and SA Schools captain George Rautenbach’s ear was stepped on by a Tralie player and resulted in George missing the Grey game with a hole in his ear.

The Paul Roos team had 3 Western Province Craven Week players – George Rautenbach, Agie Koch and Jan (Gans) Coetzee. Agie was then chosen as captain against Grey. Most of the Grey team played for Free State Schools that year and Jan Geldenhuys and Gerhard Weitz were selected for SA Schools. Grey had a strong pack of forwards but was equally matched by Paul Roos with their stalwart WP Craven Week lock Jan (Gans) Coetzee. Grey won 22-3 and ten days later 14 of the Grey team was selected for Free State Craven Week which lost against WP.

Several of the Paul Roos players played for WP Craven Week and this time George was fit to play with special protection that was made for his ear. George became the SA Schools captain later that year that toured overseas along with Jan Geldenhuys from Grey. Both Jan and George became team mates again in subsequent years at Maties in Stellenbosch.

George Rautenbach also founded MEGAPRO in 1986 – South Africa’s first Sports Marketing agency. Today George is not only the face of MEGAPRO but arguably the face of Sports Marketing in South Africa.

1977 – Grey played Paul Roos on tour in the Cape after the Craven Week. The match was remembered as a mud bath and given all the rain leading up to the match the venue was switched to Coetzenberg B field. Despite the heavy field Grey scored four tries and beat Paul Roos 20-10. This Grey First Team had four SA Schools players – Jan Richter, Jacques Nell, Abrie Marais, and Willem Daffue.

Grey also produced a record four old Boys (Morne du Plessis -captain, Dawie Snyman (vice-captain), Theuns Stofberg and Robbie Blair) in the starting Springbok team against the World XV of Willie-John McBride during the inauguration of the new Loftus Versfeld. Two of these Grey old boys’ sons went to school at Paul Roos (Robbie Blair and Theuns Stofberg) while Dawie Snyman is assisting Paul Roos with their rugby program.

1988 – In 1988 Grey played Paul Roos the first time again since 1977 during a pre-season tour to the Cape. It was their second game of the season on 30 March 1988 at Markotter in Stellenbosch. There was a large crowd and the legendary Doc Craven also attended the game.

The 1988 Grey First Team had five Springboks – Charl Marais, Ruben Kruger, Pieter Muller, Naka Drotské and Heinrich Füls. Andre Blom went on to play for the US Eagles. The entire Grey First XV was chosen for the starting line-up of the Free State Craven Week that year.

Also in the Grey team was Jannie Momberg who attended Paul Roos until std.8 before he finished off his school career at Grey following in the footsteps of his brothers – Niels and Steyn while his younger brother Altus also attend Grey all the way from Stellenbosch. As a result, this was a unique experience for Jannie who was probably the only person at the game that knew all 30 players (many of his primary school friends also played for Paul Roos). Even the referee Johan Carinus (who played for Paul Roos against Grey in 1967) was an old friend of Jannie’s family.

Although Grey had several future Springboks in their team, they were still finding their feet and hadn’t “clicked” as a unit yet in the early season. Nevertheless, Charl Marais scored Grey’s first try in the corner after a grubber from Naka Drotské. The game was close and Grey won the game in the final minutes with a disputed try by Pieter Muller. To most observers he knocked the ball on, however the referee allowed the try and Grey won 16-9.

1990 – Grey and Paul Roos were invited to play in the main match of the Van Rensburg Rugby Day in George after the schoolboy rugby season. This memorable festival originated from the Van Rensburg brothers in George who was passionate about schoolboy rugby and wanted to see SA’s top rugby schools compete against each other, especially those who does not get the opportunity to compete on a regular basis. They were visionaries in the early nineties to host such a festival which was the front runner of many other festivals to follow many years later. The difference with the Van Rensburg Rugby Day and many other Easter Festivals is that the Rugby Day was hosted at the end of the schoolboy rugby season and comprises of one full day of rugby (vs multiple days) and included SA’s top schools as performed throughout the year. It also included many other festivities around George throughout the weekend and thousands of spectators, fans and old boys from across the country attended this unique event which was only in existence from 1990 – 1991.

The build up to the 1990 Final match between Grey and Paul Roos was televised on TopSport TV and legendary rugby critic Zanderg Jansen was doing most of the pre-match build up. He was also the host at the event and was the judge in selecting the best team, forwards and backline of the festival, and man of the match awards from all the top rugby schools participating including Bishops, Paarl Gimnasium, Paarl Boys’ High, Affies etc. The following year Johan Small-Smith (Grey old boy) was passionately involved in the Festival and was also supporting Zandberg Jansen during the announcements on the best teams of the Festival.

Both Grey and Paul Roos was unbeaten leading up to this match and Grey had five SA Schools players in their side that year (Pieta Steenkamp, Alex Fenwick, Nico Linde, Jean Craven, and Andre Venter). The 1990 Paul Roos side was the first unbeaten Paul Roos side in 37 years and had two future Springboks – Justin Swart and Cobus Visagie.

It was a tightly contested match with Paul Roos’ forwards gaining the upper hand at scrums while Grey’s backline was firing on all cylinders. Grey’s scrumhalf and future Springbok, Werner Swanepoel, broke blindside from a scrum to score the winning try for Grey with a final score of 17-9.

1991 – The Paul Roos first team of 1991 will go down as one of the best teams the school has ever produced. On 10 August 1991 as part of Paul Roos’ 125 Year Festivities the Grey First Team and Cherries was invited to play against Paul Roos at Markotter. Paul Benade (old Grey) was instrumental to help finance the transportation of the buses and other logistics for the Grey teams.

The Paul Roos first team of 1991 had the chance to become the first undefeated Paul Roos team in 38 years and after the narrow defeat against Grey the prior year, this was always going to be the pinnacle of all schoolboy matches in 1991. In addition, Grey had five SA Schools players (Andre Venter, Alex Fenwick, Werner Swanepoel, Ollie le Roux and Hugo Venter) including 2 future Springboks – Ollie and Werner. Paul Roos had two future Springboks (Justin Swart and Cobus Visagie) in their side which set the table for a massive showdown.

1999 – Both teams were unbeaten going into the final game of the season. Paul Roos had won all 20 matches and Grey all 15 this season and between them they had played the elite rugby schools of South Africa. Both defeated Affies and Paarl Boys’ High while PRG also beat Paarl Gym and Bishops. This was the showdown for the best Rugby School in SA in 1999 at the end of the season.

Both sides chose attack above defence and there were some thrilling tries, notably when Grey fullback Dandre Gerber scored in the corner after a muscular break by impressive flanker Handrew Haupt. That try put Grey ahead 26-21 after Paul Roos had seemingly taken control soon after halftime when, with the wind at their backs, they led 21-14. With a minute of regular time left the score was 26-26. A penalty in front of the posts enabled Grey to win 29-26.

2004 – In 2004 both Grey and Paul Roos missed some key players towards the end of the season during their Interschools match in Bloemfontein. Grey lost their SA Schools players and the back row included Heinrich Brüssow (Springbok), Deon Stegmann (Springbok) and Richardt Strauss (Cheetahs & Ireland). Pieter Myburgh played SA Schools for Paul Roos that year. This was another closely contested game and Paul Roos’ first victory over Grey in Bloemfontein by 21-18.

2006 – Leading into the final Grey derby of the season Paul Roos was the top rugby school in SA and had a magnificent season in 2006. It was a memorable game for Rector Jock de Jager attending his final Interschools as Paul Roos headmaster from 1993 – March 2007.

Paul Roos had one of their best teams in years and was the top Rugby School in SA in 2006. Many experts compared this team with the likes of 1991 and 1999 PRG teams. Four backline players from the 2006 Paul Roos team were selected for the final trial for the SA u/20 team – scrumhalf Francois Hougaard, flyhalf Coenie van Wyk and centre’s Charl Weideman and Stephan Dippenaar. However, neither Hougaard nor Dippenaar made the Craven Week.

In another close encounter, Paul Roos beat Grey 16-11 which resulted in two consecutive Interschools victories for the first time for Paul Roos in Bloemfontein. Springbok Frans Steyn played for Grey in 2006.

2007 – The class of 2007 produced a remarkable Grey College first team which beat Paul Roos Gimnasium with a record score of in Stellenbosch. The Ebersohn twins Robert (Springbok squad) and Sias (Cheetahs) plus Coenie Oosthuizen (Springbok) played for Grey that day.

Grey College defeated Paul Roos with a record score of 40-14 at Markotter-stadium. The visiting team led Paul Roos 17-9 at the break.

Both locks of Grey College, Pieter Labuschagne and Joubert Horn, played well in Grey’s victory. Boom Prinsloo, Roelf Pienaar (both flanks) and Adriaan Theisinger (eightman) also had great performances on the day.

Grey’s SA Schools centre, Robert Ebersohn, showed once again why he was so highly rated in school’s rugby. Under Ebersohn’s captaincy Grey won all 14 their matches this season.

Springbok Willie le Roux played flyhalf for Paul Roos and kicked three penalties in the first half to keep his team in contention until the break.

This Grey Team had the highest average score for any Grey First Team over the last 40 years with an average of 55 points per game.

2008 – Building on the previous record score at Markotter, the 2008 Grey First Team beat Paul Roos with a record score in Bloemfontein by 47-15. Grey had two SA School players (Francois Venter and Franna du Toit) that year and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach – son of double Springbok Jaco Reinach (Grey 1980) and nephew of another legendary old Grey Herman Reinach (1988). Both Reinach and Venter became Springboks later in their careers.

2009 – The 2009 Grey First Team equaled the 1981 team for most amount of SA Schools players produced by one school up to then, namely six – Pieter Rademan (captain), Riaan Britz, Piet Lindeque, Jean Cook, Carl Wegner and Stephanus Kotze. This record was broken by Paarl Boys High in 2016 when they produced 8 SA Schools players. JP du Plessis played SA Schools for Paul Roos in 2009.

Both Grey and Paul Roos played without their SA Schools players during the last match of the season. Hero of the day was flyhalf Lucas Roothman, who landed the three decisive penalties, while Grey full-back Niel Marais could only manage one. This ended a winning streak for Grey since 2007.

2010 – The 2010 Grey College First Team is regarded as one of the best Grey Teams in modern times. Grey produced six SA Schools players that year – William Small-Smith (captain), Anrich Bitzi, Kevin Luiters, Paul Jordaan, Johan Goosen, and Neethling Fouche. Grey beat all of South Africa’s top rugby schools including Paarl Gym, Paarl Boys’ High, Monnas, Affies, Grey High, Glenwood as away games which is a remarkable performance. Paul Roos also had a very successful season with three SA Schools players (Steven Kitshoff, JP Lewis and Tshotso Mbovane) so the table was set for a climax in Bloem. With tighthead prop Steven Kitshoff, Paul Roos had a very strong scrum but was also penalized several times. Johan Goosen scored 36 points (including one try) on the day when Grey won a nail biter 41-29.

2014 – Grey was back on top of the school’s rankings in 2014 and their final match against No 2 ranked Paul Roos was the decider for the season. The star of the match was again Henry Immelman as he scored both of Grey’s tries and kicked two penalty goals from inside his own half. He missed his first kick – from just outside of his own 22. But then Grey were playing with the wind in the first half. Grey scored two tries to one but Aidynn Cupido, son of WP legend Wilfred, kicked 15 points for Paul Roos on the day.

2015 – In their last rugby match of their 150^th year celebrations Paul Roos pulled out all the stops and secured a rare win over Grey College. This was the one that counted for the boys in Maroon. To win your last big derby match against the old foe surpasses any odd loss they might have suffered during the season. Paul Roos’s defence won them the day and although they scored three good tries of their own, their defensive effort in the second half, when they virtually had no ball, made sure they claimed the honours by winning 19-12.  The stars of the show were Paul Roos’s SA Schools flyhalf Damian Willemse along with winger Nico Leonard who both contributed with tries and was outstanding in attack and defence.

Results Down the Years:

Paul Roos 2017 Season:

Paul Roos started their season with a good win over a strong HTS Drostdy side at their own rugby day in March and then moved on to St Johns where they won all three their games, coming back strongly against Helpmekaar after being down 22 to nil at one stage. They narrowly lost in the last seconds of their match against Paarl Gimnasium and then beat Affies in probably their best match of the season so far.

They then lost two games in a row against Waterkloof and Grey High before coming back and beating an in-form SACS side that in turn have beaten both Paarl Gym and Boland Landbou. Against Paarl Boys they were starved of possession and could only manage three penalties without scoring a try and could not get their dangerous back three into the game.

Their next four matches got their season back on track again and a good win against a very tough Oakdale side showed what this team is capable of.  They are not as consistent as they would like to be but on any given day when they click, they can beat the best teams out there.

Paul Roos had five of their players representing WP at the annual Craven Week in props Tristan Leitch and Alex Mbete, flanker Philip van Dyk, scrumhalf Gerado Jaars and centre Rufus Dercksen.

Paul Roos Results for 2017

Grey College 2017 Season:

They started the season like a house on fire and swept all and sundry away. They looked unstoppable throughout the season until the first dent showed against Affies when they just managed to scrape home against a team that kept coming back at them. A week later the tough game against Affies took its toll when they were blitzed by Paarl Boys’ High in the second half and although they fought back bravely, they could not overcome the deficit going down 31-46 to the No 1 team in SA.

Selborne College took this opportunity to further rub salt in the wounds when they beat Grey in East-London just a week later by one point. Most of the Grey team represented Free State at the annual Craven Week and it seems they got their mojo back during this tournament when they went unbeaten in three matches, keeping their best for last and beating a good WP side with ease. Some revenge for the loss against Paarl Boys some would say!

Grey once again possesses a backline of sublime speed and skill with the Kriel brothers being instrumental in most of the moves. Fullback David and younger brother Richard who can play wing or centre, is usually in the thick of things when the ball is on the move. Flyhalf Christopher Schreuder is a well-rounded pivot with great hands, vision and an educated boot that can dictate any situation on the day.

On his outside at No 12 is a 2017 SA Schools centre Rikus Pretorius. This hard running big centre keeps opposition defence channels very busy and creates space for his teammates to run into. At outside centre they have Janco van Heyningen who represented the SA Academy side last year. This quick footed player can dance through any opposition defence at the slightest chance and should be watched very carefully.

On the other wing, they have Henk Cilliers who swopped positions with Van Heynigen during Craven Week and was a revelation at outside centre. At the base of the scrum they have youngster Ross Braude who has a quick crisp pass and feeds his backline good ball, while always keeping an eye open for the opportunity to slip around the blind side. The captain Marcel Theunissen is a hard working No 7 flanker who leads from the front and set the example for the rest of his forwards while hooker Ruhan Greyling is another Bismark du Plessis in the making.

Unfortunately, Schreuder, Pretorius and Greyling will not be available for Grey College against Paul Roos as all three were picked for the SA Schools team and will be playing against England, Wales and France during this period. It should not disrupt the Grey College team too much as their depth is legendary and usually the replacement players are of the same calibre who will slot in seamlessly.

Grey College Results for 2017

Rugby at Paul Roos:

The words Paul Roos and rugby are synonymous as the great man was the originator of the now famous Springbok emblem and name for the South African national team. He is seen by many as the “father” of South African rugby and it is fitting that the school that carries his name is such a powerhouse in South African school’s rugby.

Paul Roos has to date produced the most South African players to represent their country on a rugby field with Juandré Kruger becoming their 50th player when he played against England at Kingspark on 9 June 2012. Their latest Springbok is prop Steven Kitshoff who made his debut against Ireland in 2016.

The following players from Paul Roos represented South Africa on the rugby field:

Arthur Nicholas de Kock (1891), Jacob Stephanus (Japie) Louw (1891), James Alexander (Jim) McKendrick (1891), Robert (Bob) Shand, Paul Johannes de Waal (1896), Japie Krige (1896), Bob Loubser (1896), Pieter Albertus Ryno Otto (PO) Nel (1903), Paul Johannes Roos (1903), Koei Brink (1906), Henry John (Pinkie) Daneel (1906), Boy de Villiers (1906), Freddie Luyt (1910), Dick Luyt (1910), Koot Reynecke (1910), Gideon Daniël Roos (1910), Wakkie Krige (1912), John Douglas Luyt (1912), Tom van Vuuren (1912), Nic du Plessis (1921), Theuns Kruger (1921), Charlé Meyer (1921), Mannetjies Michau (1921), Phil Mostert (1921), Tokkie Scholtz (1921), Jackie Tindall(1921), Attie van Heerder (1921), PK Albertyn (1924), Nico Bosman (1924), Daunce Devine (1924), Kenny Starke (1924), George Murray Daneel (1928), Manus de Jongh (1928), AF du Toit (1928), PK Morkel (1928), Boet Prinsloo (1928), Ferdie Bergh (1931), George Lionell van Reenen (1937), Ballie Wahl (1949), Tjol Lategan (1949), Jannie Engelbrecht (1960), Gertjie Brynard (1965), Hempies du Toit (1980), Cabous van der Westhuizen (1994), Justin Swart (1996), Cobus Visagie (1999), Andries Bekker (2008), Schalk Brits (2008), Francois Hougaard (2009), Juandre Kruger (2012),Willie Le Roux (2013). Steven Kitshoff (2016)

Rugby at Grey College

Grey has served Bloemfontein, the Free State, South Africa and the world well over the past 150 years. Grey has been able to make adjustments and remain relevant in a changing environment in which it has developed, grown and excelled. The brand is known and revered throughout South Africa and even internationally and the products of the school make a positive difference wherever they are.

Parallel medium education, tolerance, respect for others and loyalty to the school are not only traditions, but firm foundations in a global village. Grey is structured on these foundations and it is constantly adapting to new developments. The wave of change washing over our country confirms the value of Grey’s traditions.

Grey College has produced 45 Springbok rugby players. Since WW II it has produced more Springbok players than any other school in SA, their latest being centre and Cheetah captain Francois Venter.

List of Grey Springboks:

The game will be broadcast live on Saturday 19 August on SuperSport Ten from 13.55 (kick-off at 14.00)

You can also catch the build-up Premier Interschools Magazine Show from Wednesday 16 August at 19.45 on SuperSport One featuring Steven Kitshoff, Craig Barry and Coenie Oosthuizen.

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