Bishops dazzle at School’s Day

Eighth man Nizeem Carr of Bishops walked away with the Man of the Match award in the final fixture of the 2009 Canal Walk WP Rugby School’s Day between Bishops and Paarl Gymnasium at Newlands last night. A well structured Bishops side displayed great skills and slick passing, but only managed to put one try past the boys from Paarl, who put up a strong performance.

The annual School’s Day at Newlands has become a highlight on the Youth Rugby events calendar, affording 10 Primary and 10 High school’s the opportunity to play at the home of rugby, as the war cries of some of the country’s most well known rugby school’s echoed around the ground.

A host of mini rugby matches started the tournament, with four promising players selected by former WP and Springbok great Chester Williams, to attend a coaching clinic courtesy of Canal Walk. Belvue Primary, Chuma Primary, Pinedene Primary, Durbanville Prep, Ikhusi Primary, Walter Teka Primary, Methodist Squirrels and Zimasa Community School all took part in the under 9 section.

Up next Rondebosch Prep went down to a spirited performance from Fanie Theron Primary in the under 13 category, with the team from Kuilsriver outscoring the Rondebosch boys two tries to one.

In the senior team matches, Stellenberg beat Milnerton High 10 – 5, with Wynberg Boys showing that they will be a force in the Province this year, beating Bellville High 20 – 5.

Paarl Boys High, who’d packed the stands from early in the day, gave their supporters reason to cheer, when they outscored rivals SACS three tries to one, in the third under 19 match of the day. Paarl Boys also walked away with the Spirit Award – a signed and framed Vodacom Stormers jersey and a cheque for R5000 for the school, to be used for sporting equipment.

In the curtain raiser to the main match Paul Roos Gymnasium triumphed over Rondebosch Boys. The final score was 10 – 0. And whilst the main match between Bishops and Paarl Gym was a low scoring affair, the spectators could not have asked for a better end to a great day of intense rivalry and running rugby.