There’s no rugby match bigger in South Africa this weekend. That’s not an opinion. That’s a reality. It’s not in the URC, not in the Currie Cup, and it’s not in some televised overseas clash of overpaid professionals going through the motions. It’s in Paarl. It’s Paarl Gimnasium versus Paarl Boys’ High.
It’s the fiercest, most historic and most authentic rugby rivalry in this country. On Saturday, August 2, Faure Street Stadium will host 20,000 in school colours. It’ll be hot, it’ll be hostile, and it will matter more than anything else played over the weekend. Because in Paarl, this isn’t just a fixture. It’s identity. It’s blood.
For the boys from these schools what matters more than being No 1 in South Africa or the world is to be No 1 in Paarl on derby day.
Saturday is special, but this week was significant for the boys from 2020, who were denied derby day because of Covid. Five years on, in their first authorised old boys' game, this ‘forgotten generation of matrics’ finally got to experience Derby Day.
A big shout out to a favourite of mine, No 10 Jack Cloete, who doubled as scrumhalf in Paarl Boys High’s win. His old man, my best mate, Craig (Cloete) was a schoolboy gem before his knees said there would be no rugby played after his 21st birthday.
Boshaai, in Sean Erasmus’s first spell in charge of rugby at the school, were unstoppable in South Africa and in the derby. Erasmus left, Gim found inspiration in old boy, former Springbok winger and rugby general of the school Pieter Rossouw.
In 2024 they hammered Boshaai 30—8. It was not what this derby is about because so often it has come down to the last play of the game.
This season Gimmies have been irrepressible in 16 wins from 16 with schoolboy sensation Markus Muller at the forefront of every try, try assist, tackle, conversion, penalty kick and turnover. This kid is special and he has already been signed to the Stormers.
For the boys from these schools what matters more than being No 1 in South Africa or the world is to be No 1 in Paarl on derby day.
Boshaai are 15 from 16 and Erasmus believes a handful of future Test Springboks will play on Saturday, with both schools having historically combined for 58 Test-Springboks.
Handré Pollard, double World Cup winner, is a Gimmie. The popular Schalk Burger and his old man are Gimmies. Jean de Villiers, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry and Grant Williams of the current Springboks.
Boshaai have Cameron Hanekom, Evan Roos and Thomas du Toit among the current Boks, with Corne Krige and the incomparable Prince of Wings Carel du Plessis among the Boshaai Bok elite.
Gurthro Steenkamp, a prop from Boshaai, who was South Africa’s Player of the Year in 2011, and has gone on to so many good things as a player and coach in France, is another standout rugby talent.
Muller is the talk of South African rugby. He alone is worth wanting to be in Paarl on Saturday.
(Pieter) Rossouw has been as industrious as he has been inspiring since taking charge of rugby at Gim. He’s shaped this team in his playing image — creative, composed and ruthless.
Gim don’t just win, they dismantle. Their 68—22 demolition of Wynberg was another reminder of how good they are at punishing teams who dare to try to keep up. And they don’t play schoolboy rugby. They play a brand that wouldn’t look out of place at age-group provincial level.
But Boshaai will come. They always do. And they won’t come quietly. This is not a side lying down because they’ve lost once this year.
Erasmus, since returning to Boshaai, has added more steel, structure and smarts.
Boshaai’s season has had its moments. They came from behind to beat Paul Roos and they matched Grey College blow for blow and took them down.
This team has quality. They’re not unbeaten, but they’re dangerous. And that’s what makes Saturday even better. One team is chasing perfection. The other is chasing redemption.
And then there’s the week itself. Paarl isn’t a town in the days leading up to this game — it’s a battlefield. Flags hang from houses, shops, bakkies. Every old boy’s got a story, and every youngster wants to live one. The first teams might only kick off on Saturday, but the war started long before in the week.
Old boys play hockey, cricket, and tennis. The Big Brag lights up the town. And then Faure Street becomes a cauldron. Noise like a Test match. Atmosphere like nowhere else in the world. And when the whistle goes, what has gone before in the season counts for nothing.
Paarl Gim are the favourites.
They’ve beaten everyone and are polished. But this is the Paarl derby. It writes its own stories. It doesn’t care for favourites. This match matters because it always has and always will. It is not about professional rugby, but about something more pure, which is who governs schoolboy rugby in Paarl for the next year.
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