It’s now more than ten years since the Wit Bulle of the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool of Pretoria managed to beat Grey College of Bloemfontein.

The two First XV’s will face each other on Saturday at 14:00 in a King Price Derby Series clash on the rugby field for the 48th time since 1923.

Follow all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).

Both schools have made a huge contribution to the success of South African rugby thus far. Affies boasts old boys such as Fourie du Preez, Wynand Olivier, Pierre Spies and RG Snyman.

Grey has produced a long list of Springboks with old boys such as Frans Steyn, Bismarck du Plessis, Ruben Kruger, Naka Drotské, Andre-Hugo Venter, Jan Serfontein and Johan Goosen, to name just a few.

The Wit Bulle’s last victory over Grey in 2015 (29-18) was, moreover, achieved in Bloemfontein, with centre Louritz van der Schyff leading the charge. Other players from that year’s Wit Bulle who have carved out careers for themselves after school include Ruben van Heerden (Stormers), Ruan de Swardt (Proteas cricket) and Schalk Erasmus (Toyota Verblitz).

Affies thoroughly thrashed Jeppe High School for Boys 78-10 last week. The Wit Bulle have clearly found their feet in the 2026 season.

The bad news for supporters of the team from the Jacaranda City is that Grey College has also shifted into a higher gear since suffering three consecutive defeats earlier in the season. The team from the City of Roses defeated Noordheuwel (34-12) and Jeppe (54-14) during the Absa Wildeklawer tournament, as well as beating Paarl Boys’ High by 31-21 last week.

The Wit Bulle have also already measured their strength against Boishaai this year. They beat the Paarl side by 40-37 thanks to a try in the dying moments by replacement centre Estian Marx.

If Affies wants to secure a victory, they will need to keep Grey’s loose trio of Niel du Randt, Henru Erasmus and Xander de Beer in check. Moreover, the Bloemfontein team’s two locks, Alexi Tyropolis (captain) and Prestan Bennett, have also packed down on the side of the scrum for the First XV.

This means that Grey has more than enough stamina in its engine room up front.

Affies’ captain and lock, Martin van Niekerk, has had an excellent season so far this year in the loose play as well as in the lineouts. His lock partner, Reubenne Vlok, also enjoys getting stuck into the thick of things up front.

The Wit Bulle probably has some of the most dangerous wingers in South African schools’ rugby this year. The team’s fullback, Joshua Gouws, also served on the wing earlier this year, while the wingers, Dandré Brink and Dehan Botha, possess plenty of power and pace.

Affies’ coaches, Ruan Jacobs and Jaco Koch, have also decided to select Rico du Plessis at outside centre for the clash. When given the opportunity this year, Du Plessis has succeeded well in unlocking Gouws, Brink and Botha on the attack.

The teams:

Affies: 15 Joshua Gouws, 14 Dandre Brink, 13 Rico du Plessis, 12 Juan Ferreira, 11 Dehan Botha, 10 Reuben Smith, 9 Fourie Roberts, 8 Keegan Fourie, 7 Caleb Pretorius, 6 Lohan Bitzer, 5 Reubenne Vlok, 4 Martin van Niekerk (captain), 3 Hannes Nagel, 2 Carl Els, 1 Francois de Beer.

Grey College: 15 Lamla Mgedezi, 14 Johan Dormehl, 13 Eddie Mabena, 12 Ruan Roux, 11 Jaco Oosthuizen, 10 Christoff Crous, 9 Jonathan Drysdale, 8 Niel du Randt, 7 Henru Erasmus, 6 Xander de Beer, 5 Prestan Bennett, 4 Alexi Tyropolis (captain), 3 Hennie Bredenhann, 2 AJ Hendriks, 1 Frans-Paul Troskie.

Source: Hannes Nienaber

Source: Google