6 April 2023
Day one of the 2023 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, brought to you by Standard Bank, delivered plenty of drama, and, unfortunately for the hosts and DHS, two gut-wrenching defeats at the death. Westville Boys’ High and Glenwood, however, made sure KwaZulu-Natal schools notched a couple of marks in the win column.
After Kearsney had fallen 20-23 to Dale College, who scored the winning penalty kick with the final play of the game, and DHS had gone down 31-36 to newcomers, Worcester Gimnasium, who crossed for a try in the last minute, it was the Griffin who delivered a no-nonsense victory over Hoërskool Noord-Kaap, winning 31-19 in the early afternoon on a lush Stott Field.
Physical approach
The Westville win was based around a very physical approach, with hard running by the forwards off of the rucks, which then freed up the backline to show what they could do, and some bone-rattling defence, with the hits stopping Noord-Kaap in their tracks on many occasions.
Powerful centre Likhona Finca crashed over for two tries, while winger Michael Satade matched him with a brace of his own. Fullback Tshegofatso Ramaloko added his name to the try-scoring list. Noord-Kaap, meanwhile, notched three of their own, through hooker Liam Harmse, winger Junior Kettledas and flank Shaw Lourens.
“Happy with the result”
“I’m happy with the result,” Westville coach Njabulo “Jabz” Zulu said after the game. “I felt in the first half we played some really good rugby.
“I thought we weren’t ruthless enough when we got ahead. I would have loved us to really build on that and really kill the game, but we allowed them back in with some soft moments. Kudos to them, they took their opportunities.”
“We’ve got a really good forwards’ coach, so I think they really did well and fronted up. The forwards have to set the tone and today I think they really did that.”
Big hits
Questioned about his team’s big hits, a smile crossed the coach’s face. He explained: “We actually have a theme running for the week, based on the movie ‘The Greatest Showman’. It’s about a circus act, about the guys bringing it, about showtime. I said to the team people have come to watch all these games, but they’re curtain-raisers for us. Ours is the big game, and we need to deliver for the people.
“There was a bit of personality in the hits,” he grinned.
Looking ahead to their next game, against the English powerhouse, Hartpury College, on Saturday, coach Zulu said he would like to see his team be more clinical. “I felt at times on defence we got a bit narrow. We were a bit too eager to be physical. But we need to combine the physical attitude with the width and the thinking behind it.
“This English team is really good,” he added, “and they play with good width and good structure, so we have to be organised defensively.”
Zulu burst into laughter when asked about his team winning convincingly after a one-point loss to Glenwood and a one-point win over Northwood. “That’s a massive relief, as well,” he said. “Long may it continue.”
Hartpury vs Dr EG Jansen
Hartpury, who ran out against Dr EG Jansen in the game following Westville’s opener, impressed with the width and structure that coach Zulu had praised.
At one point, it looked as if they might run away with it against Jansies, but the team from Boksburg showed impressive fighting spirit to claw their way back from 14-28 down to force a 28-28 draw, which kept their unbeaten record in 2023 alive with six matches now in the book.
Held the edge
Glenwood then faced Hoër Landbouskool Marlow in the final match of the day. The Green Machine always looked like they held the edge over their opposition from the Eastern Cape, but Marlow kept tussling and giving the ball air down the backline to challenge the Glenwood defences.
Glenwood eighthman Zuki Tom impressed with his pace and hard running, first rounding Marlow out wide on the left, before dotting down under the uprights. He then rocketed his way through a big gap between flyhalf and centre, from about 22 metres out, to go over for the Green Machine’s second five-pointer.
Sisiphiwo Dwayi also went over for Glenwood, near the uprights. A sharp step inside set him free after the Durban boys had stretched the Marlow defence wide to the right-hand touchline.
Marlow were rewarded for their never-say-die approach with a try in the second half. Scrumhalf Dempers Meyer made a sudden break and was hauled in just shy of the Glenwood try-line. AJ Schenk was, however, on hand to pick up the ball and force his way over, which doubled the Marlow total from five to 10.
Strong contesting
While Marlow enjoyed a strong second half showing, Glenwood’s loose-forwards shone at the same time, forcing a good number of penalties with their strong contesting at the breakdown.
“Obviously, I’m very, very happy after the Waterkloof disaster,” said coach Derek Heiberg after the match, referencing Glenwood’s 28-32 loss to Klofies at the Noord-Suid Festival, where they let slip a 28-22 lead late in the game.
“We showed character. We knew they were a very good team. We knew they were going to be very physical. We knew we would have to defend for long periods of time, and we were disciplined, so we were happy with that. I was also happy that when we had our moments to score, we capitalised.”
“I am incredibly proud”
“The bodies will be battered. That’s the nature of the short turnaround time, but I am incredibly proud as a coach. All, I guess, you can ask for as a coach is desire, and they gave me that.”
Glenwood kicked for the corners in the early going, trying to pin Marlow in their own half. Coach Heiberg explained: “Our game management against Waterkloof was really poor, and that is what cost us. So, maybe at times we over-kicked it, so it’s the balance we’ve got to find as a team.
“But we wanted to try to play for territory. We wanted to turn their pack, because we know they’ve got quite a big pack, and hopefully wait for the bad kick, and then transition from there. It worked really nicely. In the second half, we just had to dig in.”
After securing the win, Glenwood celebrated with hugs and smiles all round, enjoying the taste of victory. “That’s the nature of sport,” coach Heiberg said. “On Monday night, we were sitting there without a word to say. Today, we are feeling completely different emotions. That’s the great part about it. Not so great for the coaches, but great for the players,” he said with a chuckle.
Some good, some bad
Kearsney ran out in the 09:00 game against Dale College and did many of the things one associates with victory. They dominated their opposition in the set scrums, and they scored tries early in the first and second halves. However, they could not overcome conceding a massive number of penalties, which must have been in the region of 20 by the time the game was over.
It was pretty much a case of one step forward, two steps back, and the constant stream of penalties prevented the young men in maroon from building up any momentum. Their basics – passing and catching – were shoddy, and it had everything to do with them incurring the displeasure of the referee time after time.
After Chad Croshaw crossed for an opportunistic try at the start of the second half, Kearsney looked on course for a comfortable victory at 20-5 ahead. But Dale kept at it, continuing to run the ball, which is their calling card. A penalty by flyhalf Lindokuhle Ndlela and tries to Lindokuhle Xozwa and Athi Msileni brought them level as time wound down.
Then, almost predictably, after what had happened throughout the match, Kearsney gave away another penalty, and it proved to be one too many. Ndlela slotted a penalty from the 22 and Dale celebrated a gutsy win as the final whistle blew.
Ten tries shared
DHS and Worcester Gimnasium shared 10 tries between them – five each – in a 67-point celebration of running rugby in the following match.
Both sides looked sharp with the ball in hand, and both exhibited some cutting counter-attacking ability. It went back-and-forth throughout, with one team scoring, only for the other to find an answer. With less than 10 minutes to play, they were level at 31-31.
Then, with time down to less than a minute, Hope Dliso snatched a dramatic win for the Capetonians with a try in the corner.
It was a real blow to the gut, but the Blue Typhoon won’t be down for long. They have shown this season that they’re a team to be reckoned with, and any opposition is in for a challenging day against them.
Monument cruises
In the day’s other high school match, Hoërskool Monument rolled to a 28-7 victory over Hoërskool Framesby. Monument is in good form. At the Noord-Suid Festival earlier this month, they ran out 44-26 winners over Paul Roos Gimnasium, beating the Western Cape power for the first time in 22 years, before losing a tight one to the undefeated Hoërskool Outeniqua, 27-34.
The day began with an under-13 match between KZNRU Ibutho/Mark Godefroy and Umhlali Prep School, with the latter claiming a 22-0 win.
FIXTURES
Saturday, 8 April
08:00 KZNRU Ibutho/Mark Godefroy u13 vs Highbury Prep School
09:00 Hartpury College (UK) vs Westville Boys’ High School
10:20 Worcester Gimnasium vs Hoër Landbouskool Marlow
11:40 Glenwood High School vs Dale College
13:00 Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen vs Kearsney College
14:20 Durban High School vs Hoërskool Framesby
15:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
Monday, 10 April
08:00 Westville Senior Primary School vs Hillcrest Primary School
09:00 Worcester Gimnasium vs Glenwood High School
10:20 Hoër Landbouskool Marlow vs Durban High School
11:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Dale College
13:00 Westville Boys’ High School vs Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen
14:20 Hoërskool Framesby vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
15:40 Kearsney College vs Hartpury College (UK)
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