Louis Schreuder – Paarl Gimnasium Captain
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:15
Paarl Gimnasium, one of South Africa’s truly great rugby schools, celebrates its 150th Anniversary this year. A co-ed school of 1100 learners, Gim has approximately 500 boys. The school fields twenty very competitive rugby teams each week.
Paarl Gimnasium is a serious heavyweight in South African rugby. Never mind the fact that two of South Africa’s most prominent current Springboks, Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger, are Old Boys, they have produced twenty-five famous Boks over the years. Included in their number are Jan Pickard, Schalk Burger (snr) and two 1995 RWC heroes in Balie Swart and Kobus Wiese. Swart and Wiese played in the unbeaten 1983 team, one of 11 unbeaten teams that Gim have produced. No mean feat in the tough Western Province league.
Louis Schreuder has the honour and privilege of captaining the 1st XV in this auspicious year.
Louis Schreuder was born in Paarl and has been at Paarl Gimnasium since junior school. His parents have since moved to Wellington, and so he currently resides in the school hostel. Apart from captaining the 1st XV Louis is a school and hostel prefect. A born leader and clearly a people’s person, Louis has captained all the teams he has played in at Gim either from scrumhalf or flyhalf. Louis inherited at least some of his immense rugby talent from his father, Bertie, who played for Boland as a utility back for a number of years. Louis will be attending the Western Province Rugby Institute in Stellenbsch next year. If things go well there he may pursue a career in rugby; otherwise he will study at Stellenbosch University.
Louis has represented Western Province at every age group level. He played for the Western Province Academy team last year and for the Craven Week team this year. Louis said that he really enjoyed Craven Week this year despite the fact that Western Province didn’t do as well as expected. Apart from the nine mates he had with him at the week from Gim he was able to meet and make lots of new rugby friends.
It was no surprise to Louis that Western Province’s best performance (and only win) of the week came when all nine the Gim boys were in the starting fifteen and they thumped the Blue Bulls. The confidence in the team that day was evident from the outset and Louis had a great tactical game, kicking well and providing the perfect link between backs and forwards. Louis was at a bit of a loss to explain their poor performances against the Pumas and the Golden Lions. In the Pumas game it may have been the altitude which cost them in the last twenty minutes, while against the Golden Lions they found themselves 19-3 behind. Louis had to leave the field injured but Province did well to come back into contention in that game.
Louis said that he never really gave any thought to making the South African Schools team, although after the Bulls came some sources did whisper in his ear that it may be a possibility. From what Louis saw, his good friend Enrico Acker of Outeniqua and South Western Districts was in his opinion the best scrumhalf at the week. Although neither Louis nor Enrico made South African Schools, Louis was very happy that two members of his team, Helmut Lehmann (flank) and Ruan Smith (prop) did make the team.
As mentioned Louis is a great tactical player whose strengths can be likened to those of Springbok icon Fourie du Preez. Like du Preez, Louis has a good kicking game but is at his best when pulling the strings and orchestrating his team’s attack. His play may be likened to Fourie du Preez but Louis’s rugby hero is the ex-All Black maestro Justin Marshall.
The 2008 Paarl Gim 1st XV are just five games away from entering the record books as another unbeaten team. Louis attributes the success of this year’s team to the fact that they are a very balanced team with a formidable set forwards and a very slick set of backs. Despite having nine Craven Week players there are no real stars and the team spirit has been excellent. Louis says they are fifteen good friends.
Gim have two big games left. Bishops away in two weeks time will be tough. Bishops are a good team and a formidable opponent at home. Gim may also be without their two South African Schools players and will have the small matter of the looming local derby a week later in the back of their minds.
Louis rates their win against Outeniqua at their 150th Sports Festival as the season highlight thus far. The success of any season at Gim though is measured by one result: Inter-schools, arguably the greatest schoolboy rugby derby in South Africa and for that matter the world. The match is played at the Paarl town stadium and usually attracts a crowd in excess of 20 000 people, many of whom are Old Boys who have travelled from far and wide to watch.
When Gim play Boishaai in three weeks time they will go into the game as favourites, a tag that never sits well going into the big game. Louis says that Boishaai have under-performed slightly this year. He reckons they have a very good team capable of beating any team in the country on their day. He’ll be hoping with all his heart that that day isn’t the first Saturday in August!
