With the massive Gym-Boys' High Interschools barely five days away, much of the focus will naturally be on the fortunes of these two sides last Saturday. But they can wait; pride of place last Saturday goes to Boland Landbou's 22-15 win away to Rondebosch.

Both sides had a lot to prove both to themselves and their supporters after the previous weekend and so it was that the anticipated crunch match between two sides at virtually full strength lived up to expectations.

Leading 19-10 at the break, thanks to tries by Charl Smith, Stewart Halvorsen and a charge-down by scrumhalf Philip Molnar, the visitors withstood a barrage of sustained assaults on their line, with the frustrated 'Bosch camping within metres of their target for extended spells. In the end, literally and figuratively, all they could show for it was a solitary try by flyhalf William Keet.

Not surprisingly, this result caused elation amongst the visiting spectators. Their young heroes now face local rivals Hugenote on Thursday, followed by Boishaai and Oakdale, all three away from the Farm!

The two Paarl schools couldn't have enjoyed more different outings.

Gim were forced to haul out the stops against a very slick HTS Drostdy side before claiming a 26-24 victory courtesy of a penalty by flyhalf Handré Pollard. The hosts looked awkward and unfocussed for the most part and the result is unlikely to allay many of their Old Boys' fears.

A few kilometres down Main Street, the Strepies savaged SACS 75-0, amassing eleven glorious tries in the process. Unsung hero Ignus Nagel, a disarmingly affable loosehead, helped himself to two tries, as did outside centre Donovan Nicol. Believe it or not, unselfish playmaker first centre Johan Peens dotted down for the first time this season! Fullback Rhyno Smith slotted ten conversions for a personal haul of 25 points.

Bishops did likewise to Kasselsvlei, their 76-0 romp producing twelve tries, four of which went to pivot Tim Swiel, three to left wing Greg Alexander.

Paul Roos were kept honest by a determined Wynberg side up at Lovers Walk before triumphing 31-24. Both sides scored four tries in a very even contest, the only difference ultimately proving to be in the goalkicking department, where the Young Maties' André le Roux contributed eleven points.

Oakdale kept the Eagles' banner fluttering with a 14-12 Classic Clash win over Marlow outside Cradock, while Outeniqua dispatched visitors HTS Daniël Pienaar 16-5.

Griqua giants Noord-Kaap made the trip down to the South Western Districts with a team hit by injuries. Their hosts, Langenhoven Gym, gave a pretty good account of themselves, if one considers the gulf in resources between the two, losing 5-27. Go-to man on the day for the Big Hole Boytjies was left wing Charlton Koopman, who dotted down twice.

The Struisies of Oudtshoorn High met with stern resistance in all quarters on their outing to Uitenhage, ending up on the wrong end of a 10-16 result against Eastern Province powerhouse Die Brandwag.

Langenhoven High ploughed along on their merry way, running in six unanswered tries against visitors York High of George. Left wing Rowan Prins crossed his opponents' line three times, while flyhalf Brion Beyers contributed 18 points from the tee.

The Porterville - De Kuilen encounter at the former's Sports Day produced a thrilling hour or so of entertainment. Both sides scored four tries, but, as chagrined home coach Heini Redelinghuys observed, his team could score only in the corners while the Kuile did so under the crossbar. The result was thus a 28-20 win for Kuils River's finest, who are still basking in the glow of last weekend's victory over Rondebosch. Montana held Vredenburg's Weston Secondary to a 12-12 draw in the event's other game.

In a thrilling derby Dirkie Uys of Moorreesburg sank hosts Hopefield 19-14 by means of a controversial try which even the victorious coach immediately informed the referee should not be allowed to stand.

It seems that Wednesday's shock defeat to New Orleans has taken its mental toll on Schoonspruit. On Saturday they did the unthinkable, losing 23-25 on their Wesbank pitch to Clanwilliam's Augsburg Gym. What hurts even more is that the visitors were well under full strength, two of their four tries coming from outside centre Emile Barron, one of several second team players filling in.

Halfway between Boishaai and Gym, Labori also had reason to cheer wildly as the Vikings held on to beat much-fancied Stellenbosch 17-16. The hosts took the try-scoring stakes 3-1, outside centre Enrico Adams supplying two of them, but the visitors' fullback Charlton Coetzee's eleven points ensured short fingernails.

Overberg's jaunt out to Robertson also went down to the wire, the hosts eventually coming out on top 22-20. Two tries by left wing Rudi September just weren't enough to counteract the accurate boot of the Red Wine Rovers' flank Pieter Kriel, who, much to his teammates' relief, slotted five penalties.

Hottentots Holland pulled off something of a surprise when they held highly-successful visitors Hermanus to a 15-15 draw, outscoring their visitors by three tries to two in the process.

Bonnievale raised a few eyebrows with a 22-17 home win against Jan van Riebeeck, right wing André Matthys dotting down three times. Hosts Vredendal outlasted Charlie Hofmeyr 8-3.

Swartland did remarkably well to restrict Western Province second tier guests Stellenberg to a 28-18 victory. The Rockies have suddenly been struck by a spate of injuries, which will have to be remedied soon if they are to stand a chance against traditional rivals Hugenote on 20 August.

Last week Swartland visited the Strand; this week it was the Blackies' turn, the Wellington lads duly disposing of the Beach Boys, 27-3.

In the Western Province super league programme Durbanville cruised on unscathed, leaving hapless hosts HTS Bellville on the receiving end of a 55-8, nine-try hiding. Bellville emphasized the gulf between the second and third divisions by whipping Milnerton 51-17, DF Malan were a step above Primrose RFC, 17-3, while Monument Park contrived to fritter away a 20-7 half-time lead at home to Brackenfell, handing the delighted Brakke a 34-20 victory!

By Tony Stoops