Paarl Gim have been named the Rugby365 No.1 schoolboy rugby team of 2026, with Paul Roos and Stellenberg completing the podium in the final Top 50 rankings for the year.
The Western Cape schools dominate the top three, though the silver and bronze positions generated considerable debate. Stellenberg beat Paul Roos head-to-head during the season, but a 7-29 defeat to seventh-placed Paarl Boys High proved the decisive factor in Paul Roos edging their Boland neighbours for second place.
Garsfontein finish fourth despite a strong overall campaign, their Virseker Noordvaal semifinal defeat to Waterkloof proving costly. The Pretoria school had a penalty attempt to rescue the match in the dying seconds but fell short, and that result ultimately cost them a shot at the podium. Affies follow in fifth, penalised for a loss to 19th-ranked Michaelhouse alongside heavy defeats to both Paul Roos and Paarl Gim.
Grey College endure one of their worst seasons in recent memory, dropping losses to Affies, Nudgee College, Stellenberg, Paul Roos and Paarl Gim to finish outside the top five. Monument finish eighth after Waterkloof's late-season surge — built on the back of that Garsfontein upset — pushed the Wit Bulle to that position, with a defeat to 32nd-ranked Diamantveld and a heavy loss to Garsfontein counting against them. Paarl Boys High claim seventh, with Maritzburg College rounding out the Top 10.
HTS Drostdy emerge as the rankings' standout surprise package, with victories over Oakdale, Outeniqua and Wynberg lifting them into the 11-to-25 bracket, though heavy defeats to Paul Roos and Monument capped their ceiling.