Day three of the NMI Toyota Noord-Suid 2026 delivered history, heartbreak, and everything in between. Garsfontein beat Paarl Boys High for the first time ever, Waterkloof and Outeniqua produced a 24-all thriller settled by a last-minute conversion from the corner, and Lehan Barnard scored four tries to lead Paul Roos past Pretoria Boys High. Eight matches, none of them dull.
Framesby 37 EG Jansen 31
EG Jansen led at half-time and looked the more likely winners, but Miles Feltham had other ideas. The Framesby flyhalf was the story of the second half – a solo try, two conversions, and two crucial penalties that kept his side in front when it mattered most.
Werner Breytenbach gave EG Jansen a flying start, the winger finishing twice in the opening exchanges. His first came after a sharp break by centre Duwayne Zeekoei, Breytenbach doing the rest with pace and footwork. His second was arguably the better score – Juan van Aswegen finding him with a brilliant offload and Breytenbach going around his opposite number to finish. Van Aswegen converted to make it 12-5 at the break, EG Jansen looking comfortable.
Framesby’s response in the second half was built on opportunism and individual brilliance. Jamiel Swarts got them going with a fortunate but well-read score – Van Aswegen receiving a wicked bounce from a Framesby kick and Swarts pouncing on the follow-up. Feltham converted. Then Feltham took matters into his own hands entirely, collecting in his own 22 and producing a solo run of genuine quality – stepping his way through the EG Jansen defence before converting his own try.
Swarts grabbed his second shortly after, collecting a stray EG Jansen pass and finishing clinically. Feltham’s conversion was first-class. Josh Potgieter then powered over from a rolling maul after Framesby won a lineout on the back of EG Jansen handling errors, and suddenly the lead had changed hands completely.
EG Jansen refused to go away. Ajay Olivier crossed twice from rolling maul situations and prop Marlo van der Merwe was unstoppable from a tap penalty, Dian Botha converting. With EG Jansen within striking distance, Feltham slotted a penalty to stretch the lead, and when EG Jansen came again in the final minute, Framesby held firm. One last penalty, one last kick from Feltham, and it was done.
Nelspruit 42 Voortrekker 22
Voortrekker led at half-time and were good value for it, but Nelspruit’s forward pack found another level after the break and ran away with a contest that had looked too close to call for large stretches.
Nelspruit drew first blood through a rolling maul, Obuhle Nyumba getting the touchdown after Nelspruit went to the corner from an early penalty. Ewan van der Merwe converted. Voortrekker hit back through prop Morpopa Lepondo, who handed off an opponent before forcing his way over in a score the referee awarded despite some doubt about whether he had been held up. JC Pretorius converted and then slotted a penalty to nudge Voortrekker ahead. Lock Francois Maree then produced an immense carry that got his side on the front foot, and when Vlag Janse van Rensburg spotted an opportunity at scrumhalf and took it, Pretorius converting, Voortrekker had built a 15-14 half-time lead that reflected their first-half effort.
Nelspruit were a different proposition after the break. Their forward pack began making brutal carries in the second half and the momentum shifted completely. Number eight Vian Louw was the first to benefit, finishing after a powerful run that Voortrekker simply could not stop. Centre Jeandre Aucamp then showed sharp instincts, picking up from the base of a maul, spotting a gap, and going over. With Voortrekker cut adrift, Wessel Hattingh crossed to make it a six-point game with 15 minutes left and set up a tense finish.
Nelspruit steadied. Lock Christiaan Botha crashed over from close range after a period of relentless forward carries, and when scrumhalf Kamo Monkwe spotted a gap off a tap penalty – the ball having gone wide before the move broke down – he snipped over to seal it. Van der Merwe converted throughout.
Waterkloof 24 Outeniqua 24
A draw was probably the fairest result in a match that swung one way then the other before a moment of late magic forced Waterkloof into one of the most pressure-filled kicks of the tournament.
Waterkloof opened the scoring through a Liam Schutte penalty after Outeniqua conceded under sustained pressure. The game then went quiet until the 22nd minute when Outeniqua took a quick tap from a penalty, powered forward, and Wiaan Baart forced his way over. The conversion was good and Outeniqua had the lead. Waterkloof responded immediately – scrumhalf Marcel Tsiakos spotted the chance from a penalty, went himself, and converted his own try to level it up.
Outeniqua centre Jade Lottering then produced the try of the half, bouncing his opposite number and going over with the kind of force that only a big centre can generate. Taylor Marais added a penalty just before the break to send Outeniqua in 17-10 ahead.
Waterkloof came out for the second half with purpose. Stiaan Theron crossed after a sustained assault on the Outeniqua line and the conversion levelled it again. Then Almero Gerritsen caught Outeniqua napping five metres out after a series of heavy carries, going over with the conversion giving Waterkloof a lead that looked like it would hold.
It did not. In the final minute Outeniqua scrumhalf Fagan Hendricks produced a moment of genuine brilliance to get over the line and bring it back to two points. Schutte then faced the hardest kick of his day – a conversion from the corner with the match on the line. He slotted it without flinching. A draw, and both sets of supporters had every right to feel hard done by.
Monument 75 Drostdy 41
Eleven tries, two hat-tricks, and a scoreline that will be talked about long after the tournament is done. Monument were simply irresistible, running in 75 points against a Drostdy side that contributed fully to a spectacle that produced 18 tries in 70 minutes.
The centre pairing was where Monument did their damage. Blessing Monareng crossed three times, a constant threat every time he touched the ball, combining with Juandré Ehlers whose intelligent lines and physical carrying repeatedly put Drostdy on the back foot. Ehlers got his own try to reward an all-round display that was as good as anything seen at the tournament. Ruan Genis was the other hat-trick scorer, the Monument back following up his standout performance against Grey College with three more tries that confirmed his status as one of the most dangerous runners in the country at schools level.
Up front, number eight Ryno van der Westhuizen led from the front, crossing twice as Monument’s pack set the platform for everything that followed. Cameron Kourie was excellent from the tee with seven conversions, Jaydon Viljoen adding three more.
Drostdy were not without their moments. Willvino Paultin lit up the Affies A Field with two tries of genuine individual quality, and fullback Anwill Jacobs impressed throughout. Seven tries in total from the visitors was a remarkable return given the scoreline they were working against.
Jeppe 34 Diamantveld 21
Jeppe returned to winning ways with a five-try performance that was too much for a Diamantveld side that pushed them hard in the first half but could not sustain it after the break.
Number eight Mihle Dyakala was named player of the match for a performance that embodied everything good about Jeppe’s display – strong carries throughout and some thunderous defensive work that kept Diamantveld at arm’s length when they threatened. The midfield pairing of Phano Letsie and Joel Akilo were composed and difficult to break down, Letsie adding a try to his defensive contribution.
Diamantveld’s Clinton Brits was a constant threat at outside centre and tested Jeppe repeatedly, but his efforts could not prevent a second successive Noord-Suid defeat for the side from Kimberley. Haco Klopper, Victor Greeff, and Tyler Campher all crossed, with Deon Klopper converting all three, but Jeppe had enough in the tank to see it out comfortably.
Paul Roos 43 Pretoria Boys 12
Paul Roos were dominant from the first whistle and never looked like losing this one, though Pretoria Boys High showed enough in the second half to suggest they will be a different proposition as the tournament progresses.
Lehan Barnard was the story of the day. The hooker scored four tries – three in the first half alone – and was the driving force behind everything Paul Roos built at the set piece. His hat-trick came from the driving maul, each one a carbon copy of the last – lineout secured, maul set up, Barnard on the end of it. His fourth after the break completed a remarkable individual display and confirmed him as the standout performer of the match.
Christian le Roux earned player of the match honours for a tireless shift at openside, winning height in the air and disrupting Pretoria Boys High ball at the breakdown throughout. Travis Pheiffer controlled the game at flyhalf, landing four conversions and putting in a kicking clinic that kept Paul Roos on the front foot. Tristan Armitage and Werner de Bruin also crossed, the former benefiting from a fortunate bounce that he did well to react to.
Pretoria Boys High were scoreless at half-time but came back with more purpose after the break. Mbala Ndima, industrious throughout, got their first, and Aya Mabuza finished off a long-range effort that was one of the better individual tries of the day. Reinier Kruger converted both but the gap was already too wide.
Garsfontein 31 Paarl Boys 28
Garsfontein made history on Monday, beating Paarl Boys High for the first time ever at the Noord-Suid tournament – and they did it the hard way, coming from behind in the second half to win 31-28 in a match that went down to the wire.
Ruan Fluks was the difference. The Garsfontein flyhalf controlled the game with a maturity beyond his years, dictated play with intelligent tactical kicking, and was faultless from the tee with three conversions and a penalty. He walked away with both the player of the match award and the Fairtree Player of the Day recognition – the latter a tournament-wide honour that speaks to just how good his display was.
Paarl Boys High were quickest out of the blocks. Luhan Hattingh crossed early after a well-constructed passage of phases and the visitors led 7-0. What followed was a first half that belonged almost entirely to Garsfontein. Their hooker Justin Blom and openside flanker Stefan van der Vyver both crossed as the Pretoria side targeted the breakdown and the fringes relentlessly. Right winger Yuvrah George then showed what he can do with a sliver of space, finishing Garsfontein’s third try of the half and sending them in 21-7 ahead.
Paarl Boys High were not done. They came back hard in the second half and Aleit Stander’s long-range try – completely against the run of play – swung momentum their way. Ruben de Jager and Trichard van Tonder also crossed as Paarl pushed Garsfontein all the way, with Daniel Meisenheimer converting four to keep his side within striking distance. But Drewyn Baron had the final word, diving over in the corner with time almost up to seal a win that Garsfontein will not forget.
15) Anwill Jacobs (Drostdy)
14) Yuvrah George (Garsfontein)
13) Blessing Monareng (Monument)
12) Juandre Ehlers (Monument)
11) Ruan Genis (Monument)
10) Ruan Fluks (Garsfontein)
9) Fagan Hendricks (Outeniqua)
8) Mihle Dyakala (Jeppe)
7) Luhan Hattingh (Paarl Boys)
6) Christiaan le Roux (Paul Roos)
5) Christiaan Botha (Nelspruit)
4) Trichardt van Tonder (Paarl Boys)
3) Ruben Lombard (Garsfontein)
2) Lehan Barnard (Paul Roos)
1) Marlo van der Merwe (EG Jansen)
