South African schoolboy rugby puts professional leagues to shame

South African schoolboy rugby has long been hailed as a mecca for the best young rugby talent in the world.

Key to this success has been deep-rooted rivalries years in the making. None of these rivalries is bigger than the rivalry between crosstown rivals Paarl Boys High and Paarl Gimmnasium.

It helps that at any point, the two schools are ranked inside the top ten teams in the country and, as such, possess several Craven Week stars and future internationals.

Between the two schools, they have produced more than forty Springbok players in their long, illustrious histories, including current stalwarts Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe.

Facing each other for the first time in 1915, a game in which Paarl Boys High School won 10 – 0. The two schools have faced each other every year, bar one since then.

With such a long history, it is no surprise that the two schools have a remarkable support base that would rival the biggest clubs in the professional game.

A tradition in most South African schools is the strong presence of school alumni who remain passionate about their alma mater throughout their lives.

In a clear display of this deep-rooted adoration for the two schools, their most recent fixture saw a whopping 25,000 fans turn out to watch the number two-ranked team in the country, Paarl Gim face the number seven-ranked Paarl Boys.

In the end, Paarl Gim would edge the result 20 – 17 to secure the 2023 edition of this storied rivalry.

The attendance for Paarl Gim v Paarl Boys High this past weekend
by u/za3030 in rugbyunion