Paul Roos hurt Grey
Paul Roos Gymnasium of Stellenbosch beat Grey College of Bloemfontein 9-3 on the Markötter Field in Stellenbosch on Saturday. It was a great occasion even though tarnished by the absence of several top players. It was the last FNB Classic Clash of the season.
There were nearly 20 000 spectators at the 1st XV match which was the highlight of the weekend which saw more than 500 Bloemfonteiners descend on Stellenbosch for various activities.
Grey, sadly, were without eight of their top players, seven of whom played for South Africa Under-18 who, watched by some 200 spectators, beat France in Wellington. The missing players were captain Pieter Rademan, fullback Riaan Britz, centre William Small-Smith and Piet Lindeque, flyhalf Johannes Goosen, locks Jean Cook and Carl Wepener. In addition their SA Schools hooker Baksteen van Heerden was injured. Paul Roos were without their captain Rick Schroeder, who seriously injured a knee at practice, fullback Craig Barry and tighthead Kelvin de Bruyn who were in the SA Under-18 group.
There had been heavy rains in the Cape and the field was heavy. Neither side managed to score a try though both came close, especially Grey in the last ten minutes or so as they fought to keep their famous record intact. Both teams defended with great bravery and concentration. The scoring belonged to the flyhalves. They did all the scoring, all of it in the first half - three penalties to Paul Roos (all in the first quarter of the match) and one to Grey in a match in which Grey were much penalised and suffered two yellow cards for repeated infringements. In a schools match! One was for a deliberate knock-on which prevented a try and could well have ended in a penalty try and one for repeated infringements. For a while Grey were reduced to 13 men but still held out.
The foundation for Paul Roos's victory was in their forwards. They dominated the line-outs and in the second half had the upper hand in the scrums, but it was particularly at the post-tackle contest that they did well with their two fetchers on the flanks.
Grey were generous in defeat refusing to make excuses for losing though they are not used to losing. Their last defeat was in 2005, also against Paul Roos. Paul Roos were jubilant in victory. As the final whistle went there was a touching moment when centre JP du Plessis, the star of the match, raced to Rick Schroeder, on crutches on the side line. The two embraced, shed tears of joy, said a prayer and then joined in the local happiness.
Scorers:
For Paul Roos:
Pens: Lucas Roothman 3
For Grey:
Pen: François Venter
Teams
Paul Roos Gymnasium: 15 Errol Jaggers, 14 Dawie de Koker, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Wouter van Niekerk, 11 Tshotsho Mbovane, 10 Lucas Roothman, 9 Ethan Searle, 8 JJ Jordaan, 7 Constant Strydom, 6 Lourie Engelbrecht, 5 Basil Liebenberg, 4 Ross O’Mahoney, 3 Pieter Stemmet, 2 Renier Marais (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff
Coaches: Stephan Jordaan, Frans van Niekerk
Grey College: 15 Niel Marais, 14 Rudolph Muller, 13 Hanro Oosthuizen, 12 Inus Keyser, 11 Setho Tom, 10 François Venter, 9 Nicol Linde, 8 Niel Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Egbert Ras, 5 GF Bondesio, 4 Cobus Nel, 3 Stephan Pretorius, 2 Johan Meintjies, 1 Stephan Kotze
Coaches: Ingo Machts, Roelf Meyer
Referee: Quinton Immelman (Western Province Referees' Society)
