GREY HIGH SCHOOL 39-7 LIONS INVITATIONAL XV
Grey High School finished their campaign at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank on a high note after they registered a comfortable 39-7 win over the Lions Invitational XV.
Grey were dominant in the first half running away with a 19-0 lead at the break. The Lions Invitational XV were playing hard but the physical difference between the two sides was evident and quite a factor. Grey used their forwards well and their speedy backs were active in the game, giving the Lions a few headaches to deal with at the break.
The second have saw a great start from the Lions, who managed to score a converted try giving Grey something to think about in the early exchanges of the half. The Lions certainly had a better showing in the second half, but they still found it difficult to completely contain Grey who ran in a further three tries. Credit must go to the Lions who gave it their all despite Grey registering a 39-7 win.
HILTON COLLEGE 36-10 GRAEME COLLEGE
Hilton College did well to recover from a day two defeat against Jeppe, to clinch a comfortable 36-10 victory over Graeme College at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank.
Hilton looked good for much of the first half, with Graeme College never throwing in the towel. Graeme saw their discipline letting them down quite a bit as the half progressed, which pegged them back on the scoreboard as Hilton were able to enjoy the better of the spoils at the interval with a 18-10 lead.
The second half was thoroughly dominated by Hilton, with Graeme College perhaps living to regret not taking early penalty opportunities gifted to them. Hilton were more dominant at set piece and enjoyed much of the territory battle, often always kicking Graeme back into their half disrupting their play. In the end a fine Hilton performance saw two penalties and two tries enough to earn the boys from KwaZulu Natal a 36-10 victory.
HOËRSKOOL NOORDHEUWEL 54-11 ST BENEDICT’S COLLEGE
Hoërskool Noordheuwel were too strong for St Benedict’s College defeating them 54-11, on the final day of the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank.
St Benedict’s were the first to get points on the board through a penalty early in the game. Their lead was however short lived as Noordheuwel hit back with a converted try. Bennies stayed in the fight with a penalty before Noordheuwel ran rampant scoring three tries, with Bennies finding one of their own at the stroke of the half time break, which saw Noordheuwel 28-11 up.
The second half was a strong showing from Noordheuwel, who ran at free will scoring four tries without a response from Bennies. Noordheuwel looked up for the fight at the restart, while Bennies looked deflated as the game progressed. The fight St Benedict’s showed in the first half disappeared a little which led the score run away with them as Noordheuwel became more relentless. At full time it was no surprise with Noordheuwel 54-11 winners.
ST JOHN’S COLLEGE 18-7 ST CHARLES COLLEGE
St John’s College bounced back well to claim the scalp of St Charles College 18-7 at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank.
St John’s were keen on finishing their run at the festival on a high note, as a failed conversion attempt at the death against Graeme College saw a big victory slipping through their hands as they had to settle for a stalemate. This time around against St Charles things were different as a good defensive display saw St John’s enjoy a 12-0 lead at the break in a hard-fought battle. St Charles were never pushovers in the contest as they looked set to score in moments in the half with St John’s just standing firm in defence to keep the Saints at bay.
The second half saw the game continue in the same vein as St Charles continued to find a way through the St John’s defence without much success. St John’s did manage to slot two penalties in the half however St Charles never allowed the St John’s Blues to get comfortable, seeing them registering a converted try of their own. St Charles certainly defended better in the half, but their discipline let them down, seeing St John’s punishing them for those mistakes. In the end, it was a good game of rugby from both sides with St John’s enjoying the victory courtesy of the team’s first half performance.
HOËR LANDBOUSKOOL BOLAND 50-15 WELKOM GIMNASIUM
A second half onslaught saw Hoër Landbouskool Boland beating Welkom Gimnasium 50-15 at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank.
The first half was a good contest that was dominated in major parts by Boland, but Welkom did well to stay in the fight. Boland would have felt that they should have been a few more points up in the half but credit must be given to Welkom for challenging well. Welkom just made too many mistakes in crucial parts of the field that often saw them kicked back into their own half, where Boland did well to try turn the territory into points. At the break it was Boland who were up 18-10.
The second half saw more open game with Boland Landbou pulling away significantly on the scoreboard. Welkom had a fair share of opportunities to stay in the game by getting points but often squandered the points on offer. Boland put in quite a shift despite playing a man down on two occasions due to dangerous play. This never stopped Boland from piling on the points as Welkom seemed to drop their heads in the later stages of the game, seeing Boland ending their run with 50-15 victory.
HOËRSKOOL NELSPRUIT 24-31 PRETORIA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL
Pretoria Boys High School continued their great run by coming out as victors against Hoërskool Nelspruit at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank.
Boys High who enjoyed a big victory over Grey High school on day two, picked up from where they left off when they met Nelspruit on Burger Field. The first half saw a dominant display in the opening exchanges from Boys High, with Nelspruit only getting the scoreboard ticking late on with two unconverted tries. That led to the boys from Pretoria enjoying a slender 14-10 lead at the break, which came at the right time for the Candies breaking the Nelspruit momentum.
The second half brought about a different feel to the game as it became end to end, with the Nelspruit continuously getting their forwards in the mix. Boys High stood up to the challenge making their tackles, which forced errors from Nelspruit that Boys High pounced on. The half saw more points, but Nelspruit continuously lagging eventually falling short by seven points. Well done to both teams for bringing the entertainment after two bruising days of rugby.
MARITZBURG COLLEGE 26-22 JEPPE HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS
Maritzburg College made it three wins from three games at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, proudly brought to you by Standard Bank on the final day with a 26-22 win over Jeppe High School for Boys.
The game between these two sides was always going to be one of small margins but the wet weather conditions took away quite a bit from the way both sides traditionally play. The first half saw College look threatening, pinning Jeppe in their half in the opening exchanges, which after some time saw the Maritzburg outfit registering the first converted try. Jeppe then slowly got into the swing of things, scoring a converted try of their own before scoring an unconverted one just before the break to see them leading 12-7.
The second half saw the game delayed for a little while, due to the lightening alarm going off keeping players off the field. When all was clear and the players back on the pitch, it was Jeppe who drew first blood through a penalty extending their lead to 15-7. This seemed to bring a fight from the College boys, who then saw the backs and forwards begin to combine well scoring three further tries in the game, with Jeppe only registering one other on the last move of the match. Maritzburg College were the happier team at fulltime, claiming a well deserved 26-22 victory over Jeppe on Burger Field.
