The prospect of playing in front of 20,000 screaming people would be enough to put any schoolboy off his game. Not Jaco Jordaan.

Jordaan, the captain of Paarl Gimnasium, has put any thought of the crowd putting him off his game well out of his mind, when his side meets Paarl Boys' High in their FNB Classic Clashes - and Interskole - match on Saturday.

"The team has decided that we won't let the crowd dictate how we play.

"It's all about the players on the field and for us the only people who matter will be the guys in green on the field," the 17-year-old No.4 lock told classicclashes.co.za.

Jordaan though does admit to being a bit nervous ahead of the game, but feels that his side have nothing to worry about.

"It will be the first time that I play in this fixture for the First XV, but I believe that as the underdogs, we won't have anything to worry about," said the matric student.

"In fact, being the underdog is a nice position to be in," he added, "as there's no pressure on us going into the match."

This particular fixture is a fiercely contested one, with virtually all of Paarl splitting their support between the two schools.

The last fixture between the two schools saw them play to a 19-all draw, leaving everyone's honour satisfied - for that year at least.

Jordaan though has put the last game between the two sides out of mind and is concentrating on Saturday's clash. "We as a team decided what it is that we want to achieve on Saturday. We've put in some solid practice sessions and we're looking forward to getting onto the field."

Rugby is a game that seems to flow in his blood as both his brother and father are players. The sporting pedigree is by no means limited to the males in the clan, with Jordaan saying that his mom was quite the sportswoman too.

The matric pupil is quite a fan of Springbok star Heinrich Brüssow and has been disappointed that injury has kept the flank out of action for so long.

What about the future, then, for Paarl Gim captain Jaco Jordaan?

Well, Jordaan has his sights set on doing a B.Comm degree at Stellenbosch (Maties) and hopes to continue playing rugby for that most famous institution too - no doubt with the lure of Varsity Cup rugby.

By Zunaid Ismael