9 April 2023
Westville Boys’ High faced a stiff test in Saturday’s opening game at the 2023 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, brought to you by Standard Bank, when they took on ACE League champions, Hartpury College, on Stott Field.
The English side had shared a 28-28 draw with EG Jansen in their first outing on Thursday, with the Boksburg school coming back from 14 points down to keep their unbeaten record for 2023 intact. Westville, meanwhile, had beaten Hoërskool Noord-Kaap 31-19, but Hartpury had done their homework after watching the Griffin in action.
Westville likes to hit it up hard off of the tackle area and Hartpury focused on stopping the South African side’s thrusts and then contesting the ball to prevent it being quickly recycled.
Hartpury in control
For almost an hour, it worked for Hartpury. They managed to slot three penalties. Westville, meanwhile, could have taken a pretty straightforward shot at goal in the first half, but they opted for a lineout from the penalty. An errant throw meant a missed points’ scoring opportunity.
Coach Njabulo “Jabz” Zulu said he exhorted his charges to believe in themselves at half-time. “I said to the group, it felt like we kept throwing little punches. We didn’t want to throw big punches. It didn’t look like we had belief. In the second half, when we almost had to chase the game, we were much better.”
The Griffin certainly bossed the set scrums in the first half of the contest, with tighthead, Bryce Stockton, all 134 kilograms of him, proving to be a giant-sized problem for the English side.
“The scrums were beautiful. There were times when we lacked. But the boys kept their heads up, making each and every scrum matter,” Westville captain, Tebogo M’khomazi told Pinnacle Schools afterwards.
Slick handling
Hartpury, though, gave as good as they got in the loose exchanges, and their backline managed to make good ground on a number of occasions by getting the ball wide through slick handling and good running lines.
“I think they were very quick. They played good rugby,” M’khomazi said. “They played wide. Usually, in South Africa, we play tight rugby, and today we played wider, so we had to get our defence wider, spread out and get our spacing perfect. Sometimes they broke through the line beautifully, but I think we held them well today.”
Turning point
The match turned with 13 minutes to play when, with Hartpury on the attack and nine points to the good, Siya Ndlozi intercepted a pass and raced through to score under the posts with a theatrical dive after a 75-metre run. Tshegofatso Ramaloko added the extras from directly in front to reduce the deficit to two points.
Only two minutes later, Westville were over for a second try. From a set scrum, the ball went down the backline to centre, Likhona Finca, and he cut through the Hartpury defence with an outside break. He drew the covering defender, Ben Elliott, before setting Ndlozi on his way over the whitewash for his second try.
Another successful kick from Ramaloko put Westville into a 14-9 lead. Hartpury tried manfully to find an answer, but the Griffin’s defence, although tested, had found the answers all throughout the match and they weren’t about to let it slip at the death.
Delight and happy cheers filled the air as the final whistle went and Westville claimed a big scalp. It was Hartpury’s first loss of the season.
Hartpury captain: SA schools the toughest
Their captain, Mason Watkin, who had been rested for the clash, told Pinnacle Schools: “We went unbeaten through the ACE League, including five bonus point wins. We’re right at the end of our season, but these two games [at the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival] are, by far, the toughest games we have played: physical, skills, in every aspect.”
He said Hartpury had scouted Westville well and carried out their gameplan effectively; it was unfortunate that the match swung on an intercept try.
The English team must be commended for the manner in which they played the game, both on the field and off of it. It was noticeable that they interacted with the opposition after their two matches, took photos and showed mutual respect towards them. They’re making friends and building relationships in the best traditions of rugby.
Playing the South African way
Questioned whether or not it meant more that Westville were playing a champion team from England, Griffin captain Tebogo M’khomazi said: “Every game is the same. It’s just that today we had to play our South African type of rugby. We had to be physical.
“We had to take them to the gutters, as our coach says, and we had to punish them where it hurts, and I think we did that in the second half. In the first half, we were a bit lacking. In the second half, we went toe-to-toe with them. Coach said ‘let’s get them’, and we did.”
Marlow vs Worcester Gimnasium
Marlow, beaten by Glenwood 22-10 in their first game, took on Worcester Gimnasium, who had edged out DHS 36-31 in their opener, in the second match of the day. Based on those two results, many would have favoured Worcester to win, after their victory over a very good DHS side, but that proved to be an incorrect assumption.
Marlow rose to the occasion, dominated possession, and came away with a deserved 30-15 victory, exactly doubling up the Western Cape side’s two tries, a conversion and a penalty.
Glenwood vs Dale College
Glenwood then faced Dale College, who had shocked Kearsney in their showdown on Thursday, slotting a penalty just before the final whistle to snatch a 23-22 victory.
Much like they had struggled in the set pieces against Kearsney, so, too, the Dale scrum also found itself in reverse against Glenwood, but it took the Durban boys until the 19th minute to break open a scoreless stalemate.
Standout player
Star centre Okonta Chijundu, who has been a standout player for the Green Machine, created an overlap and, then, provided support and a sharp turn of pace when he received the ball back to go over in the left-hand corner.
Glenwood added a second try through JJ Ndwalane just before the break, but Dale reduced the deficit to only three points when eighthman Lindokuhle Xozwa forced his way over after the Eastern Cape side had laid siege to the Green Machine’s try-line. Flyhalf Lindokuhle Ndlela tacked on the extras.
Glenwood, though, found an immediate reply through Chijundu. It was simple, but brilliant. Exhibiting exceptional hands, he snatched the ball out of the air, just before Dale received the high, hanging kick off. Then, with some open ground ahead of him, he accelerated away from the defenders to dot down for a second time.
This time Renaldo La Fleur was on target, putting Glenwood into a 19-7 lead, which is how it remained until the end of the clash.
On Monday, the Green Machine take on Dr EG Jansen with an opportunity to finish the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival with a perfect three wins from three matches.
Kearsney College vs Dr EG Jansen
With the crowd packed in, Kearsney, then, tackled Dr EG Jansen, who had impressed with their fighting spirit in an engrossing draw against Hartpury College. Kearsney, meanwhile, wanted to right their ship after too many penalties conceded cost them the game against Dale College on Thursday.
As they had done against Dale, the Botha’s Hill boys started well and owned the territorial battle in the early going. After eight minutes they were rewarded when, after an incisive attack, tighthead Anele Cele ran onto a loose pass and barrelled his way over the try-line. Chad Croshaw was wide right with his conversion attempt, but the home team had a 5-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute, captain Nathan Matthee levelled for EG Jansen when he broke off of a driving maul and sprinted through to score to the left of the uprights. David Twala bisected the posts to put the Gauteng team two points in front.
Quick reply
It didn’t take long for Kearsney to find a reply. EG Jansen spilt the kick off and the one-stripes recovered. A clever grubber by Roydan Madatt turned the Jansen defence. Meanwhile, lock Jack Rankin was flying onto the ball. He knocked it ahead with a knee, then regathered a high bounce before diving over for five points under the posts. Croshaw’s easy conversion left Kearsney with a 12-7 advantage at the break.
Early in the second half, a beautifully judged kick forced Kearsney scrumhalf Chad Croshaw to clear down the left-hand touchline from deep inside his team’s 22m. EG Jansen flyhalf Matthew Bergman then set a counter-attack in motion with a wicked sidestep, before feeding the ball to Twala. The fullback used a goose-step to get into the clear, then drew centre Siso France before sending Bergman over for a tremendous try that levelled the scores.
EG Jansen had Kearsney on the back foot with some robust mauling by their pack. But the Kearsney boys tackled their hearts out to keep their opponents at bay. Pushing for another score, the Boksburgers were almost punished when winger Junior Dlamini, up quickly on defence, intercepted a pass, but the gap to the try-line was quickly shut.
Decisive try
Just before the hour-mark, a kick over the top from Croshaw ran away from Bergman, who was on the cover defence. Right at the try-line, it popped up and France, with an energetic chase was there to snaffle the ball out of the air and crash over for a try. Bergman, very unfortunately, collected France on the head as he attempted to catch the ball, and received a yellow card.
Another missed conversion meant there were just five points between the teams. Kearsney 17-12 Dr EG Jansen.
That proved to be the final score as the character of the home team kept a desperate EG Jansen off of the scoreboard. It was a hugely improved performance from Kearsney and did justice to their ability.
DHS vs Framesby
Narrow losers on day one, when a try in the final minute saw Worcester Gimnasium claim the win over DHS, the Blue Typhoon hit their straps against Hoërskool Framesby on Saturday afternoon, running in four tries, each converted by flyhalf Deano Boesak, who also slotted a penalty, to two tries for their opponents.
When the DHS team is on its game, they play a most attractive 15-man style of rugby, both on attack and defence, making them hard to counter. And that is what Framesby had to try to deal with.
Bandile Zama, Dale Hendrikse, Hopewell Ntshangase and Zongce Simka all crossed the whitewash for the Horseflies, while flyhalf Boesak contributed 11 points with his boot.
They face Hoër Landbouskool Marlow on Monday. It should be a cracker. The team from Cradock gave a good account of themselves against Glenwood, and then accounted for Worcester Gimnasium, who beat DHS in their Thursday encounter, of course. The Blue and Gold will, no doubt, want to make a statement by claiming victory in their last outing of the festival.
Monument vs Noord-Kaap
In the day’s last game, Hoërskool Monument ran riot against Hoërskool Noord-Kaap, powering their way to a 50-5 victory. They crossed for eight tries, one of which was a penalty try.
This season, Monnas have won five of their six matches, including a 44-26 win over Paul Roos Gimnasium. Their sole defeat, to the undefeated Hoërskool Outeniqua, was a match they should have won. They let slip a 27-8 lead and eventually went down 27-34. A tough lesson learned, no doubt.
RESULTS
Westville 14-9 Hartpury
Marlow 30-15 Worcester Gimnasium
Glenwood 19-7 Dale College
Kearsney College 17-12 Dr EG Jansen
DHS 31-10 Framesby
Monument 50-5 Noord-Kaap
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