Paarl Gimnasium and Paarl Boys’ High will do battle this weekend to determine South Africa’s No 1 rugby school in 2025.
Both sides have had stellar seasons to date and stand head-and-shoulders above every other school in the country, but they haven’t faced one another.
Yet.
That will all change on Saturday, 2 August at Faure Street Stadium in Paarl when, if reports are to be believed, somewhere between 25 000 and 30 000 spectators are expected.
Old boys from both schools are said to be flying in from around the world to attend.
In terms of the number of Springboks produced by each school, Paarl Gimnasium lead 31-26.
The last Paarl Gimnasium Springbok was John Grobbelaar (#939 – out of 952), while Paarl Boys’ High’s most recent green and gold old boy was Cameron Hanekom (#945).
Coin flip
Both schools boast a who’s-who of Springbok old boys from Jan Pickard, Jean de Villiers, Schalk Burger (senior and junior), Kobus Wiese and Handre Pollard (all Paarl Gimnasium) to Boy Louw, Ryk van Schoor, Mannetjies Roux, Carel du Plessis, Corne Krige, Frans Malherbe and Thomas du Toit (all Paarl Boys’ High).
The result is a coin flip.
All we hope is that the weather stays fair, the referee doesn’t try steal the limelight – and you don’t miss the match!
Paarl Gimnasium Springboks (31)
| Springboks | Date of birth |
| Japie Le Roux | 21 Aug 1882 |
| Boy de Villiers | 1 May 1884 |
| Pietie le Roux | 22 Jan 1885 |
| Tommy Thompson | 4 Oct 1886 |
| Stevie Joubert | 8 Apr 1887 |
| Attie van Heerden | 10 Mar 1898 |
| Manus de Jongh | 10 Oct 1902 |
| Pierre de Villiers | 14 Jun 1905 |
| Pieter Morkel | 1 Jul 1905 |
| JC van der Westhuizen | 22 Nov 1905 |
| Jan Pickard | 25 Dec 1927 |
| Hugo van Zyl | 20 Aug 1932 |
| Wynand Mans | 21 Feb 1942 |
| Schalk (snr) Burger | 6 Oct 1955 |
| Kobus Burger | 31 Mar 1964 |
| Kobus Wiese | 16 May 1964 |
| Balie Swart | 18 May 1964 |
| Mornay Visser | 30 Mar 1969 |
| Pieter Rossouw | 3 Dec 1971 |
| Louis Koen | 7 Jul 1975 |
| Chris Rossouw | 14 Nov 1976 |
| De Wet Barry | 24 Jun 1978 |
| Marius Joubert | 10 Jul 1979 |
| Jean de Villiers | 24 Feb 1981 |
| Schalk (jnr) Burger | 13 Apr 1983 |
| Ashley Johnson | 16 May 1986 |
| Lourens Adriaanse | 5 Feb 1988 |
| Louis Schreuder | 25 Apr 1990 |
| Handré Pollard | 11 Mar 1994 |
| Grant Williams | 22 Jul 1996 |
| Johan Grobbelaar | 30 Dec 1997 |
Paarl Boys’ High Springboks (26)
| Springboks | Date of birth |
| Louis Louw | 23 Jun 1884 |
| Cocky Hahn | 7 Jan 1886 |
| Dirkie de Villiers | 20 Jul 1889 |
| Theuns Kruger | 17 Jun 1896 |
| Champion Myburgh | 10 Oct 1897 |
| Jack Bester | 6 Oct 1898 |
| Manie Geere | 9 Sep 1905 |
| Boy Louw | 21 Feb 1906 |
| Fanie Louw | 16 Sep 1909 |
| Ben du Toit | 10 Nov 1912 |
| Ryk van Schoor | 3 Dec 1921 |
| Theuns Briers | 11 Jul 1929 |
| Piet du Toit | 9 Oct 1935 |
| Mannetjies Roux | 12 Apr 1939 |
| Haas Schoeman | 15 Mar 1940 |
| Carel du Plessis | 24 Jun 1960 |
| Corné Krige | 21 Mar 1975 |
| Wium Basson | 23 Oct 1975 |
| Gürthro Steenkamp | 12 Jun 1981 |
| Frans Malherbe | 14 Mar 1991 |
| Thomas du Toit | 5 May 1995 |
| Salmaan Moerat | 6 Mar 1998 |
| Evan Roos | 21 Jan 2000 |
| Quan Horn | 27 Jun 2001 |
| Cameron Hanekom | 10 May 2002 |
| Ruan Venter | 29 Nov 2002 |
Who’s your money on: Paarl Gimnasium or Paarl Boys’ High?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African website’s newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
