MATCH REPORT
LIONS BEAT ST DAVID’S IN THRILLING ENCOUNTER
Day 2 at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank brought about a big surprise in the first game of the day, as the Golden Lions Presidential XV shocked St David’s Marist, by beating them 19-12. The Lions had really struggled to get wins in their past visits to the festival, but they will definitely be proud to secured a victory over St David’s.
 The game got underway with both teams showing great intensity first up, with the Lions however drawing first blood, when fullback and vice captain Sinothando Tshontyi did well to find space and race over for a try. Bophelo Mahlala did well to follow the try up with a conversion to see his side off to an early 7-0 lead. The rest of the half was very thrilling albeit no further points were scored but both sides played free flowing rugby, with just a few errors breaking off the momentum in the match. When the hooter sounded for the break, both sides had to settle with the Lions enjoying a slender 7-0 lead.
The second half produced a lot more entertainment, especially in terms of getting points on the board. St David’s looked a slightly different outfit, in the way they approached the game, even looking like they could come back and win the game, when they crossed the chalk twice. The Lions on the other hand managed to hold off St David’s challenge by scoring two tries of their own and defended really well to maintain their lead, right until the end. The half was really tightly contested, with each team getting 12 points a piece, with the difference in the end being that solo try the Lions scored early in the first half.
MATCH REPORT
GRAEME COLLEGE EARN FIRST EVER FESTIVAL WIN WITH ST CHARLES VICTORY
Graeme College having made their debut in this years St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank, earned themselves a big victory, when they produced a dominant performance to defeat St Charles College 19-10. Day 1 however saw St Charles bag a victory over HTS Daniel Pienaar, whilst Graeme suffered a loss at the hands of Windhoek Gymnasium.
The match up started on a high note for the boys from Pietermaritzburg, St Charles, when they managed to score an early try inside 5 minutes. Fullback Simiso Ngubane was responsible for finishing in the corner for the Saints, but it was unfortunate that the try was not converted but Graeme trailed 5-0. This however saw the resurrection of Graeme, who slowly got into the swing of things and started to play attractive running rugby, that saw speedster Yanga Bangisa and Sanqoba Makalima dive over twice, with Zusake Kepe converting both to see Graeme 14-5 up. The rest of the half was end to end stuff, with both teams just sadly making errors in good positions. Before the hooter sounded for the interval, St Charles did however get a 5 pointer through Eyethu Majozi to see the scores read 14-10 to Graeme.
The second half saw Graeme really pounce on the errors made by St Charles, in the end only managing one unconverted try that gave them a bit of breathing space. In the end, that was enough to get the boys from the Eastern Cape their first ever win at the festival.
MATCH REPORT
NSW COMBINED HIGH SCHOOLS GIVE NOORDHEUWEL SECOND SUCCESSIVE DEFEAT
New South Wales Combined High Schools continued their great run of form at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank, making it 2 wins from 2 games so far, this time around they managed to defeat Hoerskool Noordheuwel 38-19. Noordheuwel were unlucky to go down once more after having just lost out to St John’s College on day 1. NSW on the other side of the coin, got themselves a 33-19 win over St Alban’s College.
The first half was competitive and tough, with both sides finding it difficult to find weaknesses in each others game plans. There were however scorers in half, with NSW dotting down first and taking a slender lead. Noordheuwel did continue to give their all, in pursuit of leveling matters or even taking the lead but they instead fell behind even further, with NSW this time around getting themselves a converted try, to take a 12-0 lead. That was not how things ended in the half however, with Noordheuwel doing well to claw their way back and leveling matters with two tries of their own. At the break, the sides were deadlocked at 12 all.
The second half saw Noordheuwel put in a great fight in the open 10 minutes but as the game went on, NSW seemed to grow from strength to strength, terrorizing the Noordheuwel defence at every opportunity. In the end things just became too much for Noordheuwel to handle and NSW were eventually crowned 38-19 victors.
MATCH REPORT
HELPMEKAAR KEEP ST ALBANS WINLESS
The match up between Helpmekaar Kollege and St Alban’s College was arguably the most entertaining game so far on day 2 at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank. Helpmekaar in the end merely outlasted St Alban’s, after the two sides were only separated by a try for a lot of the second half. In the end, the final whistle sounded with Helpmekaar winning 33-19.
The first half saw St Alban’s really play out their socks, in a game where they were expected to not do so well in, considering the form Helpmekaar had coming into the festival. The opening moments however did see Helpmekaar really dominate proceedings, especially from a physical aspect. This saw the Johannesburg based side eventually race over the line twice, to a 14-0 lead. St Albans then found a way back, scoring two tries of their own, bringing the score to 14 all, before Helpmekaar bounced back to score one more try and take a 21-14 lead at the break.
The second half saw the clash remain slightly in the favour of Helpmekaar, with St Albans putting in a big effort in keeping within touching distance. Helpmekaar did however end up turning it up a notch, running 2 tries to St Albans’ 1 try. The game ended with Helpmekaar sealing off a 33-19 victory. Â
MATCH REPORT
STELLENBERG DO THE BUSINESS AGAINST NELSPRUIT
St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival seasoned campaigners Hoerskool Nelspruit were unlucky to fall on the wrong side of a result, when this time around, they were narrowly defeated by Stellenberg High school 13-5.
The match was initially well contested from both sides, with very little to tell between the two teams. Stellenberg did however have the slight edge as they looked the hungerier of the two, using their forwards well to put all the necessary pressure on Nelspruit. That eventually paid off, with winger Jean-Jacques van Schalkwyk barging over for a try, converted by Nivan Petersen. That was enough to see Stellenberg in the lead, with the score at 7-0 when the hooter sounded for the break.
When play resumed, Nelspruit looked to find their way back into the game but could only get points through hooker Chyle van Zyl, with Handre Homan failing to convert the try. Stellenberg at the other end managed to convert a further two penalties through the educated boots of Nivan Petersen and Meyr Retief, that was enough to get them a narrow 13-5 victory.
MATCH REPORT
ST JOHN’S COLLEGE AND DANIEL PIENAAR GAME CUT SHORT DUE TO BAD WEATHER
A great crowd had gathered around Burger field in the late afternoon, to see hosts St John’s College, take on Daniel Pienaar on day 2 of the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival. The game was however entertaining while it lasted, with St John’s enjoying a 19-0 lead in the first half, before play was stopped due to bad weather.
The match up was a fierce battle at the start, with both teams hitting at each others defences but it was St John’s who grew stronger and stronger as the game progressed. The hosts’ tries came through Jack Montgomery, Michael Bates and Thomas Kilbourn, with Jacques Bohlman and Stefano Osato converting two of the three tries. The game was then stopped and eventually abandoned due to the thunderstorm that prevailed.
MATCH REPORT
PAARL BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL ONCE AGAIN FLAWLESS DESPITE WET CONDITIONS
After the storm had passed, another came in the form of Paarl Boys’ High School at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank. Boys’ High came out all guns blazing in wet conditions on Burger field, defeating Namibian school Windhoek Gymnasium 64-0.
Boys’ High made their intentions clear very early on but Windhoek also found themselves in good positions but were often let down by handling errors, with the ball being hard to pick up with the pitch being wet and soft. Boys’ High were however very simple in their play always keeping their passes short, with their backs running great lines, stepping and offloading for incoming players to pick up and dive in for points. Fly half Kian Meadon was once again great form, helping his side to a 38-0 at the break.
The second half saw Windhoek really struggle to contain Boys’ Highs fast paced attacks and their relentless attacks, that just never stopped coming. As the game progressed, Windhoek grew more and more frustrated, with Boys’ High ringing up the changes at the right time that were also very impactful in the game. In the end Paarl Boys’ High were triumphant by 64 points to 0.
