It was back to business for school rugby the past weekend, following the mid-year holidays, and there were good wins for most of the top sides. THEO GARRUN reports.

Bloemfontein’s Grey College were not in action, but Paul Roos Gimnasium, their rivals for the best team crown this year, were – they thrashed Wynberg 73-14 at the weekend and are looking good.

Paarl Gimnasium also had a good win, 57-0 over Outeniqua, while Oakdale caused a bit of a surprise by beating Paarl Boys’ High 47-29.

REPORT: Paarl Gim thrash Outeniqua

Elsewhere, Marlow ended St Andrew’s College’s good run, beating them 39-31, while Glenwood continue to impress, thrashing HTS Middelburg 83-0. Grey High School beat local rivals Framesby 39-13.

In the north, Jeppe’s good season continued when they beat Waterkloof 41-26 and KES completed the double over Pretoria Boys’ High, beating them 23-10 in Pretoria.

In the North Vaal Virseker Cup competition, there were wins for Helpmekaar (31-25 over Garsfontein), Monument (40-26 over Menlopark) and Transvalia (33-19 over Nelspruit). With two rounds to go, those three look like semi-finalists, with either Menlopark or EG Jansen likely to make up the four.

REPORT: Monument fightback floors Menlopark

There are some massive clashes coming up in the next three weeks, starting this Saturday with the annual Grey High vs Grey College interschools in Port Elizabeth. Grey College have been arguably the best in the land this year and must be favourites, but there is a lot of passion involved in this game and there have been surprises in the past.

Different, but equally passionate, will be the ‘agricultural’ derby between Oakdale and Marlow in Riversdale. It’s not a real derby – the schools are 700km apart – but it’s a longstanding rivalry between schools that are similar in nature.

There is a proper derby in Joburg where Jeppe host KES in the second leg of their double-header. Jeppe won the first clash 24-21 in April, but comparable results since then suggest that it could be easier this time.

There is another real derby, in Pretoria, where Waterkloof host Affies.

The three big Boland-based Western Province schools all take on Cape Town rivals. Boishaai face SACS, Paul Roos play Rondebosch and Paarl Gim host Bishops.

Big games coming up in the weeks following include Paarl Gim vs Paarl Boys’ High (4 August), Glenwood vs Grey College (4 August) and Paul Roos vs Grey College (18 August).

Selected fixtures for Saturday, 28 July:

Garsfontein vs Nelspruit
Helpmekaar vs Parktown
Transvalia vs Menlo Park
HTS Middelburg vs Monument
Pretoria Boys’ High vs Maritzburg College
Jeppe vs KES
Waterkloof vs Affies
Grey High vs Grey College
Oakdale vs Marlow
Selborne vs Queens
Paarl Gim vs Bishops
Paul Roos vs Rondebosch
Paarl Boys’ High vs SACS