3 April 2023
The Maritzburg College 1st XV gave the vaunted Grey College all they could handle at the NMI Menlyn North-South Festival in Pretoria on Monday night, going down 24-37 after trailing just 17-19 at half-time.
Giving his thoughts in the aftermath of a wholehearted effort from his charges, College 1st XV coach Tim Orchard said: “Massive heart, massive fight, College guts against Grey. It’s what they expect from us.
“They never think we’re going to lie back and roll over and die. They have this picture in their minds of College boys: never-say-die, putting pressure on the breakdowns, really hurting their ball carriers, heart on defence.”
The physical battle
While Grey might have come out on top on the scoreboard, they certainly didn’t win the physical battle. College was up for it and forced Grey into conceding a number of penalties at scrum time. Grey looked flustered. With their scrum on the back foot, their lineouts, too, became a bit of a lottery. College were also far from clean in their lineout record, but Grey appeared to become more flustered as the game continued.
To use a boxing match as an analogy, in the battle of the two packs, Maritzburg College took the victory on points. But you’ve got to do something with the ball when you win it and the College backline also rose to the occasion.
“They really functioned well. With the ball the forwards gave them, they really did well,” Orchard said. “Our backline was massively under the pump going into this game. The Grey backline was expected to execute well and put us to the sword.”
Instead, it was Grey that struggled for rhythm against the College line-speed on defence, and they found it hard to contain College when the backline used the entire width of the field.
Crowd support
Such was the intensity of the challenge posed by Sasha Kadira and his team that the big crowd sensed an upset was possible. Chants of “Maritzburg” could be heard from the side-lines, with other school teams getting behind the boys from the KZN capital, eager to the see the giants of South African schools’ rugby have their colours lowered.
In the end, it didn’t quite happen, but there was much to be happy about for coach Orchard and his impressive side. They took the game to Grey College with courage and vigour, and they caused Grey massive problems, giving the Bloemfontein boys by far their toughest match of 2023 thus far.
“They definitely got behind us,” Orchard told Pinnacle Schools about the support from the crowd. “We were the big underdogs, and we gave an underdogs’ performance. It felt good. I think everyone expected us to lose big. The expectation was for Grey to canter to an easy 30-point win.”
Well and truly challenged
Previously, Grey had handed Paarl Gimnasium a 33-12 defeat in their first match of the North-South Festival. They had also run out 48-0 winners over Saint Andrew’s College, won by 40 points over Hoër Landbouskool Marlow, 52 points over Welkom Gimnasium, and 28 over Hoërskool Trio. But on Monday evening in Pretoria, they were well and truly challenged.
They knew it and they felt it, and it was clear in the handshakes after the game that Maritzburg College had earned their respect.
Hat-trick of tries
In the final tally, Grey outscored Maritzburg College by six tries to four. But what a game for College fullback Luyanda Kunene! How many players can say they scored a hat-trick of tries against Grey College? Well, number 15 for Maritzburg College, still only in grade 11, can say he did.
He turned in a scintillating performance, causing Grey all sorts of problems with his incisive running, often straightening the line and slicing through the Bloemfontein school’s defences.
Captured the imagination
The other player who truly captured the imagination was another grade 11 learner, Phiwayinkosi Khubeka. He not only owned his front row battle against the Grey College tighthead, Jean Erasmus, a Craven Week player, but he also made significant metres every time he carried the ball. Ripples of excitement ran through the crowd every time he was in possession.
But this was not about two outstanding performances. This was about a Maritzburg College team effort that echoed the values that the school holds so dear – a never-say-die spirit that has burned deeply inside College boys over the generations: scrappy, honest, hard-working and proud.
Red, black and white
Matches are not just about the win and loss record. College proved it on Monday evening in the toughest test any South African school faces on the rugby field. There are lessons to be learned in victory and in defeat, and there are also victories to be taken from defeat. The world is not black and white. But it very nearly was red, black and white on 3 April 2023 in Pretoria.
Encouraged, College will head into the heart of the rugby season knowing they can go toe-to-toe with any opposition. For many Old Boys, the result will be heartening, and the school, too, will be boosted by a show of its capabilities. Director of Rugby Hendre Marnitz, no doubt, will also be thrilled to see the 1st XV show another gear to their game.
Boys’ thoughts
So, how did the College 1st XV feel after the game? Orchard explained: “They were extremely happy and proud to be shown the respect they got from the Grey guys after the game. But they were also disappointed that we gave them some soft points. If we hadn’t done that, we could have been in a position to win that game.”
RESULTS
Maritzburg College 1st XV 24-37 Grey College 1st XV
Maritzburg College 2nd XV 12-31 Grey College 2nd XV
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