Hoër Volkskool Graaff-Reinet captain MC Marais feels that his side are the underdogs going into their FNB Classic Clash against Union High School this Saturday.

The matric pupil admits that his side's inconsistent form has contributed to HVS being the underdogs for the match but they are keen to spring a surprise in this keenly-anticipated Interschools clash.

"We have been training hard for the last three weeks and I feel that the team is a solid unit.

"We are coming off a defeat in our last match and that makes us the underdogs for Interschools, but we are hungry to get the victory this time around," Marais told classicclashes.co.za.

The tighthead prop is also keen to erase the memory of last year's defeat to Union High, saying that HVS were overconfident going into that match and that cost them dearly in the end.

Marais though does not feel any pressure going into the this weekend's match, saying that since he has already experienced three Interschools matches he is treating it as "just another game".

He hopes that his calmness rubs off on his players on game-day and is confident that the rapport he has instilled in his team, since inheriting the captaincy earlier this season, stands HVS in good stead.

"I'm actually surprised that the guys listen to me at all," joked Marais.

Asked who his rugby hero is, the 18-year-old pointed to Springbok eighthman Pierre Spies for his motivational speaking and Bok hooker Bismarck du Plessis because "he's just so big."

Marais, who weighs 84 kilograms and stands 1,71 metres tall, has set his heart on doing electrical engineering once he completes matric this year.