Roos roar in season finale whilst Queen’s quell Dale’s derby-day challenge
The penultimate KP Derby series weekend saw a double-header, hosted in Paarl and Qonce respectively.
(Paul Roos’s first XV celebrating in front of the school’s old boys - Credits https://gallery.photostories.co.za/paulroosgreycollege )
A final goodbye to the Markotter was in store for the Paul Roos matrics, as their 1st XV took on the hearty challenge of Grey College at home. Meanwhile, Dale hosted the much anticipated derby with Eastern Cape rivals Queen’s College, as 38th travelled to 40th in the country.
Starting with the two most successful Springbok breeding schools in the country. Paul Roos, the Maroon Machine, hosted Grey College with the two schools having created over 100 Springboks. With the Markotter the stage this year round, Roos was looking for revenge for last year’s devastating one point defeat in Bloemfontein. The visitors this year, College, were fresh from 3 straight victories and six in the last seven. A hot streak that nonetheless had still left them fifth and behind their hosts in the rankings. Emotions high as the teams closed out their seasons with this fixture, all was set as thousands gathered to watch a classic. Despite Roos getting things started with a fine penalty kick from Travis Pheiffer, Grey would respond well with some terrific rolling maul action to see Aj Hendricks crash over to score the first try of the game. 20 minutes passed without any damage to either side of the scoreboard, however this would break after a fantastic offload from Jean Hamman allowed Cadynn Samuels jot down a five pointer for the Maroon men. Once more Grey would not allow this to pin them down, responding with a five pointer of their own. A yellow card for the visitors would however undermine their efforts to have the last laugh in the first 35’, as Roos capitalized with the extra man to score with the final play of the half. Gerard Bekker the man for Paul Roos. Spurred on by the home crowd, Paul Roos would re-enter the Markotter with renewed vigor and would soon experience a time of great prosperity. Three unanswered tries in just over 10 minutes of play would almost fully seal the match for the home XV. A time of massive dominance that would culminate in a Gerard Bekker break away try after acutely reading a Grey College attempted pass. Completely and utterly pinning College back with this momentum, eventually seeing Roos roar into a 32-17 lead. Determined to leave the Western Cape without a whimper, College would pound away at the Roos defense. Scoring twice in the final ten to see their score jump to 29. A Stef de Villiers try in between the two seeing Roos end with 37. And so, Paul Roos and Grey College bow out of the KP Derby Series 2026 and the school boy rugby for 2026. A great win for Paul Roos, however both will certainly look at that top 3 in the country as a goal for 2027.
In other derby-day news, Dale College hosted Queen’s College. The Dale A-Field hosted hundreds of onlookers as the KP Derby Series banners were up and the logo paint was fresh on the green grass of Qonce. Queen’s made the journey keen to make up for last weekend’s loss to Graeme College. A loss that broke a very strong 5 game unbeaten streak. The hosts got the game off to a bang as a cross field kick found Achumile George on the left wing. The youngster scoring the game’s first try within the first few minutes of play. However, before the clock hit 9, Queen’s had responded. Swinging the ball wide after a scrum to see winger Sinqobile Xhentsa seize the space on offer. A conversion a few minutes later saw Queen’s take the lead, 7-5. The battle of 14s would ensue as George would get his second under the poles and once more give Dale the lead. Both sides’ wingers making the most of their electrifying pace. Nothing more of note would occur in the first 35 after an entertaining beginning. Dale going into the break 12-7 up. As things got underway once more, it would be the away side who would rise to the pace of the game quicker. Bonga Nyakaza scored Queen’s second soon after the second half began. The fullback initiating a strong fifteen minutes for the visitors. Ten minutes later and Zeacke Mata had found a hole in the Dale defense, jotting down under the poles to give Queen’s their first lead of the match. 19-12. A further penalty for Queen’s would see them notch 3 more points and close the game off. Seeing a final 15 or so minutes out without any scoreboard damage. Leaving Qonce with a derby-day dub. 22-12 and major bragging rights over rivals Dale.
In other news, the Southern Suburbs Derbies saw Rondebosch slam a stop to Wynberg’s hope of a Southern Suburbs slam. Clinching a fabulous 33-29 victory while across the suburb and SACS saw off Bishops in a dominant display, 55-22. Outside the Western Cape and Grey High defeated Selborne in a hundred-pointer affair, 61-47. HTS Drostdy would also record a weekend win, beating Outeniqua 37-26.
