Paarl Gimnasium  vs Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies). The third game for the season is a real mouth-watering derby as two North and South giants come together for their fifth official Interschools. Before this annual fixture was introduced in 2017, the two schools did not regularly get to play each other and only duelled on the odd occasion at festivals. Since their first encounter in 1967, they only played 20 games in 56 years with Paarl Gim winning 11, Affies seven and two draws. This year the giant from the North travels down to the beautiful Paarl to challenge the hosts at their fortress at Jan Kriel grounds. Paarl Gym will look to avenge their loss of last year and keep their dominance over their rivals from Pretoria.

Scores through the Years:

Affies 2023 Season:

Affies has five games under the belt thus far and started off with three victories in a row. They then stumbled against Paarl Boys High as well as neighbors Garsfontein in their last two games. They will want to get back to winning ways against Paarl Gym this weekend.

Paarl Gim 2023 Season:

Paarl Gim have also had five matches this year and impressed with their ability to fight back in tough games to close it. Against both Stellenberg and Wynberg they were under pressure at some point during the game, but managed to absorb it and come out on top. The one loss was against a very good Grey College at the North/South festival, but they seem to be back on track.

Rugby at Affies

Affies is regarded as one of the top rugby schools in South Africa. They have produced a host of Springbok players in the past and continue to supply loads of talent in the SA Schools and SA Academy sides. Affies also have many players at every provincial level of rugby.  They are fortunate to have a huge talent pool in the school culminating in real depth. There are more than ten senior teams each year, and teams as far as G-teams are filled at each age group.

Each year Affies challenge the country’s leading rugby schools like Grey College (Bloem), Maritzburg College, Glenwood High School, KES and many more. At these derby matches, each and every team gets an opportunity to take the field for the Red, Yellow and Green. Over the last few decades Affies have produced top quality players such as Louis Schmidt, Wynand Olivier, Fourie du Preez and former Blue Bulls captain Pierre Spies (also an Affies choir boy) to name but a few. Perhaps Affies’ most unknown star was Francois Swart who played fly-half for Die Witbulle (the school’s first team) alongside scrum-half Fourie du Preez. The formidable duo played for the Blue Bulls and were fast becoming the next Springbok half-back pair. Tragically Swart died in 2004 and since then Affies hosted an under-15 rugby tournament in the Easter Holidays bearing the name of Francois Swart. The long standing legacy of Affies rugby grows as each year passes and upcoming stars are still being produced. Prolific batsman AB de Villiers is also a product of Affies and played in the No 10 Witbulle jersey in his matric year.

Affies Springboks

Rugby at Paarl Gimnasium

Paarl Gim is without a doubt one of the Big Five rugby schools in South Africa. To date they have produced 25 Springboks of which 23 have been capped in Tests for South Africa.  The inception of rugby at the school was in 1902 and in the early years no strict age-groups were defined. The school operated as a rugby club resulting in the staff frequently turning out in the colours of the school. The headmaster back then, FC Wahl, also captained the school’s 1st XV!.

Their biggest rival is Paarl Boys’ High which is situated in the Southern Paarl. Their annual Interschools have the unofficial title of “Biggest Interschools” in South Africa. In 2012, while still at school, their captain and pivot Handré Pollard represented South Africa at the U20 World Cup tournament with aplomb. Called up for the injured Johan Goosen, Pollard played a vital role in SA winning the final against New Zealand. He again represented SA U20 in 2013 and captained the side in 2014. Paarl Gim’s latest contribution to the Springbok family is Grant Williams, who was capped in 2022.

Paarl Gim Springboks

The netball and rugby derbies will be broadcast live on Saturday, 22 April at 11h00 and  13h00 on SuperSport Schools (channel 216) The Premier Interschool Magazine Show will broadcast from 19 April at 17.30 on SuperSport Schools (channel 216)