Affies beat Pretoria Boys' High 34-26 in their Mutual & Federal Premier Interschools match, while Paarl Gym hammered Rondebosch 57-26.
Affies have had a poor season and recently fell out of the top 20 rankings. They were still too good for Boys' High, though, recording their eighth successive win in this fixture since 2008.
This Pretoria derby was an action-packed affair, yielding a total of nine tries in a fantastic advert for schools rugby.
Flank Gavin Foster’s fifth-minute try put Affies ahead, but Pretoria Boys’ hit back with a converted try from captain Blake Blew. Affies then landed a double blow, when captain Ruan Roelofse and Foster crashed over in quick succession, with flyhalf Eddie Fouche adding one conversion.
The hosts grew in confidence and were full of running, but the Pretoria Boys’ defence stood firm and when they did transgress at the breakdown, Affies refused to kick at goal, setting up one lineout after the other. But just as it looked as if the hosts were coasting, left wing Sipho Phiri rounded-off a brilliant team effort for Pretoria Boys’ to reduce the deficit to five at the interval.
The visitors enjoyed a better passage of play after the restart, but failed to bother the scorers. And when they were reduced to 14 men, after inside centre Rossouw Basson played the ball on the ground, Affies pounced. Two quick-fire touchdowns by big framed prop DP de Plessis and mercurial fullback Eduan Keyter opened up a 19-point lead for Affies.
Armand Marais and Mitchell Baumann pulled two tries back for Pretoria Boys’, sandwiched between a Fouche penalty for the opposition, but it was too little, too late.
In other matches, Paarl Gym thrashed Rondebosch 57-26, EG Jansen beat Menlopark 24-17, Diamantveld toppled Northern Cape 24-7, Bishops overcame SACS 26-12, Garsfontein defeated Centurion 42-12, Nelspruit edged Kempton Park 33-29 and Monument breezed past Middelburg 25-5.
Results:
Affies 34 Pretoria Boys’ 26
Paarl Gym 57 Rondebosch 26
EG Jansen 24 Menlopark 17
Diamantveld 24 Northern Cape 7
Bishops 26 SACS 12
Garsfontein 42 Centurion 12
Nelspruit 33 Kempton Park 29
Monument 25 Middelburg 5
By Mariette Adams
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
