28 May 2023
The visitors, Maritzburg College, took the honours in their Pietermaritzburg derby 1st XV match against Saint Charles on Old Orchards on Saturday afternoon, winning 46-8 in crispy, cool conditions.
College have enjoyed a fine year and have progressed nicely throughout the season. With a powerful pack, a solid halfback pairing, and some of the best counter-attacking play to be found anywhere, they’re a difficult problem for any opposition to solve. On Saturday, Saints simply didn’t have the answers.
Finishing prowess
College’s counter-attacking brilliance saw the two wings, Colm Reardon and Langelihle Makhatini, again on the scoresheet. Reardon, especially, has been a try-scoring machine this season, and the fact that he didn’t feature in any of the Sharks’ provincial selections is somewhat baffling.
“Very good counter-attacking,” reckoned Maritzburg College 1st XV coach Tim Orchard. He also highlighted one of those counter-attacks, which produced a try, saying: “We scored a quick tap penalty from our own five, so we went 95 metres to score.” It was a special score, showing awareness, inventiveness, and a sharp, cutting edge.
The difference in the game, Orchard said, was physicality: “Gain-line domination on attack and defence.
Lineouts
“Also, the set piece. They actually reverted to quick tap penalties, instead of going for lineouts, because their lineout didn’t function.”
That was an especially pleasing development for Orchard because the lineout is the one aspect of the game that has, at times this season, been a little shaky for College.
The red, black and white had been expected to win and they delivered, hitting the front after three minutes and pushing on from there to build up a 15-3 advantage at the break, before adding 31 points in the second half.
Saints, though, had their moments, and managed a try through their 8th-man and captain, Daniel Mason, after the break.
Hockey
On the AstroTurf, the matches between the two schools’ A teams throughout the age groups were very tight. In fact, only three goals were scored between the sides in the 1st XI, 2nd XI, u16 A and u14 A matches.
In the lower teams, the advantage, mostly, belonged to Maritzburg College, but props to the Saints’ u16 D team, which claimed a 2-0 win over their College counterparts, while all around them the visitors dominated the B, C and E games, scoring 15 goals without reply.
Results
Hockey
1st: Saint Charles 0-0 Maritzburg College
2nd: Saint Charles 0-2 Maritzburg College
3rd: Saint Charles 2-2 Maritzburg College
4th: Saint Charles 0-4 Maritzburg College
5th: Saint Charles 0-12 Maritzburg College
16A: Saint Charles 0-1 Maritzburg College
16B: Saint Charles 0-5 Maritzburg College
16C: Saint Charles 0-6 Maritzburg College
16D: Saint Charles 2-0 Maritzburg College
16E: Saint Charles 0-4 Maritzburg College
16F: Saint Charles 1-2 Maritzburg College
14A: Saint Charles 0-0 Maritzburg College
14B: Saint Charles 2-0 Maritzburg College
14C: Saint Charles 0-1 Maritzburg College
14D: Saint Charles 3-0 Maritzburg College
Rugby
1st: Saint Charles 8-46 Maritzburg College
2nd: Saint Charles 7-33 Maritzburg College
3rd: Saint Charles 10-12 Maritzburg College 5th
4th: Saint Charles 6-10 Maritzburg College 7th
5th: Saint Charles 5-15 Maritzburg College 9th
16A: Saint Charles 0-46 Maritzburg College
16B: Saint Charles 7-17 Maritzburg College u16D
15A: Saint Charles 3-39 Maritzburg College
15B: Saint Charles 31-7 Maritzburg College u15D
14A: Saint Charles 7-50 Maritzburg College
14B: Saint Charles 10-50 Maritzburg College u14D
14C: Saint Charles 44-14 Maritzburg College u14 F
Leave a Reply