26 June 2023
The four KwaZulu-Natal Schools participating in the 2023 Independent Schools Rugby Festival at Saint Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein remained unbeaten after the completion of the second round of matches on Monday.
Hilton College and Saint Charles College powered their way to easy wins over Saint Alban’s College and Union High respectively, but Clifton College found stiff opposition in the form of Saint Stithian’s College, while Cornwall Hill College sprang a big surprise by pushing Kearsney College all the way to the final whistle.
Hilton’s emphatic 64-3 win over Saint Alban’s was the biggest victory of the day, just ahead of that achieved by Saint Charles in their game. It was, as usual, a wonderfully efficient performance from coach Brad McLeod-Henderson’s charges, who executed the basics well to put the Pretoria school to the sword.
Saint Charles College, too, ran riot against Union High, romping to a 57-0 victory, ripping through their opponent’s defences with regularity.
Clifton College put together an excellent first half against Saint Stithian’s College to open up a 24-0 lead at halftime. It was a different story after the break, with Saints producing a strong fightback. But it wasn’t enough as Clifton claimed a 29-19 win.
In the last game of the day, Kearsney took on Cornwall Hill College and the boys from Botha’s Hill appeared set for a comfortable win after scoring two early tries. It was anything but comfortable in the end. Cornwall Hill fought tigerishly in a somewhat testy game and pulled a try back quickly. It was only when time was almost up that Kearsney secured victory, with a penalty making the final score 15-7.
Leave a Reply