Whitewash for the boys from Paarl

THE schools from the southern suburbs of Cape Town were no match for their country cousins from up the N1, who enjoyed a clean sweep on Saturday.

The teams from Paarl made the trip to the foot of Table Mountain with great effect as Gym annihilated Sacs 73-3, while ‘Booishaai’ snatched victory with an injury-time try, winning 33-29 against Wynberg.

In a game of fluctuating fortunes, and with the lead changing hands several times in the closing stanza, the game at Wynberg was a thriller.

It was the willingness, however, of Booishaai to run the ball that was a feature of the game.

At flyhalf, Ruan van Willing was their key playmaker with his sleight of hand and judicious kicking.

The first half was very much thrust and parry until the visitors struck twice first via Van Willing.

The No 10 was again in the act when a skip pass enabled wing Scott Nel to score. Centre Dan van der Merwe converted both to put them 14-3 ahead after Yaqeen Ahmed had slotted over a penalty for 'Berg.

The home side gradually clawed their way back into the game and after Booishaai conceded three successive penalties in the red zone, fullback Lyle Arendse copped a yellow card, which led to a penalty try, making the half-time score 14-10

The second half was a roller coaster affair. After Ahmed kicked his second penalty, ‘Berg went ahead for the first time in the game.

A powerful run by captain and No 8 Xola Nyali saw him link with scrumhalf Sange Mbuto to score close in. When Ahmed converted they were 19-14 ahead.

Stung by this reversal, Booshaai struck back in typical fashion when they mauled their way over from a line-out with hooker HB Odendaal on hand for an unconverted try.

Two further penalties by Ahmed to a converted try by centre Aiden Jacobs saw the score locked at 26 all.

With the clock ticking away and Wynberg applying pressure Booishaai infringed yet again. The unerring boot of Ahmed put them 29-26 ahead with 90 seconds remaining.

It was then that Booishaai showed their pedigree. With the last roll of the dice from a line-out inside their half they spun the ball wide and quick hands saw fullback Arendse breach the defence to romp home for the winning try.

A few kilometres down the road, Paarl Gym underlined why they were the top ranked school in the Western Cape. They were in rampant mood, outscoring Sacs by 11 tries (including a penalty try) to none.

Their heavyweight forwards were on top of the set-pieces and dominated the rucks and mauls. Their backs were well marshalled by flyhalf Kyle Smith revelled in the surfeit of possession to run the Sacs defence ragged.

The home side battled valiantly to stem the tide but committed too many unforced errors to be effective.

Meanwhile, in Stellenbosch, Paul Roos completed the whitewash with a 24-7 win over Rondebosch.