24 June 2023
It must have been a little bit of a shock to the system for Clifton College, from warm weather Durban, to kick off at 08:00 against Union High of Graaff-Reinet in the opening match of the 2023 Independent Schools Rugby Festival at Saint Andrew’s in Bloemfontein on Saturday morning.
It was cold, but Hicking Field did, however, look surprisingly green for this time of the year in the City of Roses.
From the start, Clifton immediately demonstrated what has been plain all season in KwaZulu-Natal: they have a pack to be reckoned with. Union struggled to contain the Durbanites in the set scrums and in the mauls.
Union, though, were full of running and found success when they moved the ball down the backline.
Centre Jude Langmead was their standout player on the day, consistently challenging Clifton with his direct, hard running.
Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the fact that the Clifton line-up was somewhat changed, but play was scrappy in the early going. Too often, 50/50 passes were attempted when setting up a ruck would have served the team better.
Clifton, though, made good use of their dominant pack to open up a decent advantage after 18 minutes, driving over from a lineout, and a fine conversion from wide on the right put them 12-3 to the good.
Half-time
From the restart, Union surged onto the attack, but Clifton stood firm, stopping the Capetonians metres from the line, thanks to a couple of last-gasp tackles. Union, though, were quickly back into the Clifton 22, and they eventually powered their way over in the left-hand corner to make it Clifton 12-8 Union at the break.
Then, in the second half, in typical fashion, Clifton forced Union all the way back onto their try-line with a series of pick ‘n goes. It looked as if they had done over, but that was not clear to the referee. However, from the resulting five-metre scrum, centre Joshua Kennedy went over. His conversion attempt was good, too, and Clifton were 11 points ahead at 19-8.
Forward pressure from a lineout earned Clifton another try after a strong burst from 8th-man Bryce Beeslaar, who troubled Union throughout the game. Nathan Shotland was first to the ruck and claimed possession before driving over for the five-pointer. Suddenly, Union looked beaten. Clifton had their tails up.
Back onto the attack
They roared back onto the attack and a series of penalties were blown against Union. Each time, Clifton took quick taps. It looked as if the dam would break, but the team from Graaff-Reinet eventually forced a penalty of their own to relieve the pressure.
All the play, though, was taking place in the Union half, and annother quick tap penalty by Clifton resulted in a further try, this time from 8th-man Bryce Beeslaar to make it 29-8. That’s how it ended.
Nathan Shotland, who went over for two tries, was named the player of the match.
Results
Clifton College 29-8 Union High
Saint Charles College 21-5 Cornwall Hill College
Kearsney College 47-12 Saint Alban’s College
CBC Boksburg 38-5 Free State Development XV
Saint Andrew’s School 21-24 Saint David’s Marist Inanda
Hilton College 43-5 Saint Stithian’s College
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