Grey College claimed a 37-3 victory over hosts Paarl Boys’ High, while there were wins for Paarl Gimnasium, Bishops and Selborne on an action-packed Saturday of schoolboys rugby.

In a masterclass second-half performance, Grey College at Brug Street in Paarl thoroughly outplayed hosts Paarl Boys’ High 37-3 in the Premier Interschools season opener.

Three second-half team tries along with a well-rounded performance in both open play and off the tee from Grey No 10 and man of the match Jean Smith – son of Italy and former Cheetahs head coach Franco – helped Grey extend their unbeaten streak to three against Boishaai since 2018. This win also breaks Boishaai’s unbeaten streak for the 2021 season.

The defensive effort of the home-side forward pack – led by Le Roux, Ndabamba and Luca Ribbens – kept the visitors at bay, restricting them to just one try in the first half. It was, however, the boot of Smith, both from the tee and in open play, that allowed the visitors to spend most of the second quarter of the first half inside Paarl Boys’ High territory.

A mammoth 70-metre penalty kick from Smith took play deep into Boishaai territory and a clinical lineout throw by Juanre Breitenbach had the hooker crash over for the opening try of the match. Smith added the extras as the teams headed into the half-time break with Grey in a commanding 16-0 lead.

It took the Paarl Boys’ High nearly an hour (45 minutes to be exact) to get their first points, as young flyhalf Cobus Louw made no mistake with his penalty attempt to make it 16-3.

It was the visitors, though, along with Smith’s ability to dictate matters both on attack and defense, who scored two tries within quick succession with the first going to wing Alfondso Isaacs.

A Grey scrum on the halfway line set up the visitors’ second try, with Smith’s deft grubber kick collected by Isaacs, who had two Paarl Boys’ High defenders to beat, before diving over the whitewash. The second came as a result of some brilliant visionary and handling skills by loose forward Lukas Meyer, offloading to Abrahams. The Grey scrumhalf going in for the boys from Bloemfontein’s third try, Smith converting both tries to make it 30-3.

The visitors were not done, though. A clinical chip kick in the final minute of the match from inside centre Alec McIntyre was collected by his centre partner, Banie Britz, who ran nearly 60m to dive over in the left corner. Smith made no mistake from the tee and kept his perfect record for the match, seven from seven, intact.

Staying in Paarl, Boishaai’s near neighbours, Paarl Gimnasium, claimed a 25-10 victory over Stellenbosch-based Paul Roos Gimnasium. In the Western Cape’s southern suburbs, Bishops College claimed an entertaining 29-22 victory over SACS, while Wynberg beat Rondebosch 19-5.

In the other big game in the Western Cape, Oakdale continued their excellent start to the 2021 season by beating Stellenberg 33-19.

Over in the Eastern Cape, Selborne won their derby against Queen’s College 32-10, while St Andrew’s College beat Grey High 26-23.

In KwaZulu-Natal, Maritzburg College beat Durban High School 34-10, while Michaelhouse claimed a 26-24 away victory over Kearsney College.

In the northern provinces, Monument claimed a 24-14 win over Waterkloof, Garsfontein strode to a 44-0 win over HTS Middelburg, while Marais Viljoen edged a 32-31 victory over Helpmekaar.

RESULTS:

Western Cape

Paarl Boys’ High 3 Grey College 37 (SuperSport Rugby, 1:55pm)

Paarl Gimnasium 25 Paul Roos 10 (SuperSport Schools, 11:45am)

Boland Landbou 19 Drostdy 26

Bishops 29 SACS 22 (SuperSport Schools, 11:45am)

Rondebosch 5 Wynberg 19

Stellenberg 19 Oakdale 33

KwaZulu-Natal

DHS 10 Maritzburg College 34

Kearsney 24 Michaelhouse 26

Northwood 6 Hilton 31

Glenwood 13 Westville 3

Eastern Cape

Dale College 20 Grens 22

Grey High 23 St Andrew’s College 26

Queen’s College 10 Selbourne College 32 (SuperSport Schools, 2pm)

Gauteng (Virseker Cup)

Monument 24 Waterkloof 14

HTS Middelburg 0 Garsfontein 48

Noordheuwel 6 EG Jansen 26

Helpmekaar 31 Marais Viljoen 32

Pietersburg 5 Ben Vorster 28

KES 11 Affies 15

Photo: Thinus Maritz/Gallo Images