RUGBY
Westville Boys’ High and King Edward VII filled the 70 minutes of their showdown on Bowden’s Field on Saturday with thrills as the schools delivered shots then took shots in a spectacular 36-36 draw.
It was one of those games – a contest that reminded spectators why there is little to match schoolboy rugby at its best.
Unfortunately for those not at the game, there were some breaks in the SuperSport Schools broadcast, hence the lack of match highlights, but check out the spectacular try that brought Westville level at 36-36 with time on the clock expired.
KES brought down plenty of teams to do battle on the field, but they were also impressively supported by a large red-clad contingent of parents.
For most of the game, there was little to separate the teams as they traded blows. It was 12-12 at the break, but KES, with two tries in quick succession pulled clear at 24-12. That double-strike could have sunk Westville’s hopes if it had not been for the Griffin‘s strong character.
They stormed back to level the scores at 24-24. Then, KES, twice went ahead, only for Westville to find an answer.
Both sides crossed for six tries, and they both impressed with their ability to punish errors by their opposition. There also kicked three conversions each. Swirling winds made goal kicking a very tricky proposition.
Westville excelled in the tight scrums, while the Red Army held an edge when mauling, which brought their captain, SA Schools’ hooker Esethu Mnebelele, a hattrick of tries. Both schools were accurate at lineout time.
“We struggled a bit with the maul,” Westville coach Jabz Zulu said. “We found a solution for that at the end, with the sack. Unfortunately, it took us too long to come up with that solution. But I was proud of the pack. They defended well today.”
KES coach Marco Engelbrecht was also impressed with Westville’s effort. “You’ll get great character from an Njabulo Zulu team,” he said. “His players will die for him, I can tell you that for free, and they certainly came out today and showed that. That’s awesome to see, and it’s good to test yourself against that.”
The final try, set up by Jade-Will Koopman, was a fitting finish to the scoring. The Westville flyhalf struck the left upright with his conversion attempt from the touchline. He, later, was narrowly wide with a long-range penalty, just before the final whistle.
In the immediate aftermath, Koopman was upset, feeling he had let his side down. He hadn’t. He had played a massive part in their matching a very good team. Coaches from both sides comforted the no. 10 and reassured him, he had performed superbly. Well done to both coaching staffs, those were impressive responses.
Reflecting on the game, KES coach Engelbrecht, generously, said: “Credit to them. I thought we got lucky. I thought they probably deserved to win on their home ground.
“I thought we handled them nicely, and I’m proud of our boys, as well.”
Scores
Westville Boys’ High 36 (12) – Tries: Blake Allbon (2), Oliver Gcina, Jadrian Afrikaner, Wandile Simelane, Zekhethelo Siyaya. Conversions: Jade-Will Koopman (3). King Edward VII 36 (12) – Tries: Esethu Mnebelele (3), Regan McGurk (2), Haniel Monkoti. Conversions: Simphiwe Moyo (3).
While the honours were shared between the 1st teams, KES was victorious in the remainder of the open age group games.
They also claimed a narrow win in the u16A game, but the schools picked up two wins apiece in the age group.
At u15 level, Westville were the comfortable winners in the clash of the A teams, but the Johannesburg school won the remainder of the u15 games.
KES also picked up the u14A win. In an evenly contested age group, however, there were two draws and a further win each for KES and Westville.
RESULTS
1st: Westville 36-36 KES
2nd: Westville 5-26 KES
3rd: Westville 14-21 KES
4th: Westville 17-31 KES
5th: Westville 10-40 KES
6th: Westville 15-45 KES
16A: Westville 28-33 KES
16B: Westville 21-17 KES
16C: Westville 0-19 KES
16D: Westville 12-0 KES
15A: Westville 24-5 KES
15B: Westville 3-15 KES
15C: Westville 5-12 KES
15D: Westville 12-45 KES
15E: Westville 5-45 KES
14A: Westville 14-22 KES
14B: Westville 7-7 KES
14C: Westville 22-10 KES
14D: Westville 12-12 KES
14E: Westville 12-55 KES
HOCKEY
With the Aitken Cup, Top Eight and Boden Trophy taking place over the weekend, to determine the champions of Johannesburg at 1st team, u16 and u15 level respectively, some KES teams did not make the journey down to KZN, which meant no games between the 1st teams or u16A sides. However, the u14A sides did meet.
Not surprisingly, Westville won that game. They also won all four of the u14 matches without conceding a goal. The Griffin is blessed with a richly talented group of u14 players, and they continued their impressive run of results on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in Johannesburg, the KES u15 team won the Boden Trophy, with a 2-1 win over Jeppe. The u16 Top Eight win went to Jeppe, however, who edged out KES in a penalty shootout. Jeppe also claimed the Aitken Cup, beating Parktown Boys’ High 2-0 in the final.
RESULTS
2nd: Westville 1-1 KES
3rd: Westville 3-2 KES
4th: Westville 1-3 KES
16C: Westville 2-1 KES
16D: Westville 1-1 KES
16E: Westville 1-2 KES
16F: Westville 1-0 KES
14A: Westville 2-0 KES
14B: Westville 3-0 KES
14C: Westville 6-0 KES
14D: Westville 4-0 KES
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