13 May 2023
It is full credit to Michaelhouse for snatching a 31-27 victory over DHS out of the jaws of defeat at Balgowan on Saturday afternoon.
It was a tense tussle throughout but, with 10 minutes to go DHS seemed to have it in the bag. They led by 10 points, but the visitors did not play clever rugby and failed to close it out.
Pounced
In those last minutes, Michaelhouse pounced on mistakes made by DHS when they attempted to run the ball deep in their own half and they nailed two tries to win and send their loyal supporters into raptures.
Most of the first half was a scoreless arm wrestle, but towards halftime the game opened up a touch and Michaelhouse took a 10-8 lead into the break.
In the second half, DHS built what looked like a commanding 27-17 lead, but as the game wound down they unravelled, and Michaelhouse cashed in with a flurry of late scoring to secure a memorable win.
Disappointed
DHS Director of Sport Nathan Pillay was a disappointed man.
“A neutral observer would say it was a great game of rugby, but we are not happy with how we played towards the end to throw away the win,” Pillay said. “We tried to run the ball and it came back to bite us.”
“Well done to Michaelhouse. They took their chances, but we should not have provided them with those chances.”
Heavy fixture list
Perhaps tiredness had something to do with it.
“DHS and Paarl Boys have played more games than anyone else in the country,” Pillay said. “Both schools have played 15 matches since February. We have won most of our games and it has been a good season, but we go into a much-needed break now.”
DHS have the coming week off, and then the following week is their Founders Day encounter with Kearsney.
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