3 June 2023
Clifton College enjoyed a good weekend against their traditional rivals from Johannesburg, Saint David’s Marist Inanda.
After Clifton claimed a deserved 1-0 win on the Astro on Saturday morning, the Clifton 1st XV beat Saint David’s for only the second time, and they did it in style, claiming a 23-point victory.
Down through the age groups, too, matters mostly went Clifton’s way. They ruled on the Astro, while Saint David’s managed three convincing rugby wins. Clifton picked up five in response.
Rugby
With the blue of the Indian Ocean providing a beautiful backdrop, the Clifton 1st XV sprinted out to a strong start against Saint David’s, building up a 14-3 lead on the Riverside Sports Club field.
However, they, then, allowed their discipline to slip and allowed their visitors from Johannesburg back into the game by conceding a long laundry list of penalties. That gave the boys in black and gold the advantage in both territory and possession, and they made Clifton pay.
Over they went for two tries and Saint David’s were 15-14 ahead. Clifton, though, had the opposition’s number, with their pack, once again, proving itself to be a unit to be reckoned with. The platform they laid, and the holes they punched in the visitors’ defence, was telling.
Meanwhile, the Clifton defence stood up in a big way. Their only blemish came when they condeded a soft try in the first half, after a Saint David’s backline pass had gone awry. That should have been that, but Michael Langston and his team didn’t close down the visitors quickly enough, and that cost them the lead as Saint David’s manufactured something out of nothing.
Just before half-time, a gritty goal-line stand was a crucial passage of play. With Clifton a man down and the Joburg boys exerting huge pressure, a try could have significantly altered the story of the game. Instead, it was Clifton who had the final say in the half, bulldozing their way over the line from a tap, just five metres out. It was, in essence, a 14-point swing.
In the second half, the Durban boys stuck to their guns and slowly gained the ascendancy.
From being one point down, Clifton powered their way to a 38-15 victory, although Saint David’s did themselves no favours by giving up two long-range intercept tries in the second stanza, the last of which came in the last movement of the match.
Results
1st: Clifton 38-15 Saint David’s
2nd: Clifton 27-10 Saint David’s
3rd: Clifton 36-0 Saint David’s
16A: Clifton 26-19 Saint David’s
15A: Clifton 5-31 Saint David’s
15B: Clifton 0-28 Saint David’s
14A: Clifton 28-0 Saint David’s
14B: Clifton 0-34 Saint David’s
Hockey
Clifton’s 1st XI wrapped up a strong season with a 1-0 win over the visiting Saint David’s Marist Inanda team on the Riverside Sports Club Astro on Saturday.
The winning goal was scored with five minutes remaining in the second chukka, with Mitchell Tillard putting the finishing touch on a well-executed penalty corner variation.
“It was a bit scrappy at times. We grinded it out,” Clifton’s captain Connor McKenzie told Pinnacle Schools afterwards.
“That’s been us this season. We’ve had games where we’ve played well and played to our structure. But for games like this, tight games, like against Maritzburg College, we’ve grinded it out. We showed heart.”
What stood out in the Clifton performance was the side’s organisation in defence and the manner in which it kept Saint David’s in front of them. It was a quiet day in goal for the Durban school’s goalkeeper Adrian Dippenaar.
“We pride ourselves on our defence. If you don’t concede goals, you can’t lose,” McKenzie said.
For the captain, who has been selected for the KZN Coastals under-18 A team, it was his last match for Clifton. Asked how he was feeling in the aftermath of the game, he said: “A bit of sadness. Five years at this school, so it’s good to go off with a win. It’s been a journey and I couldn’t be prouder and happier. I am proud of the school.”
Finally, reflecting on the season, he said: “In the beginning, we were under-rated, quite the underdogs. We lost a lot of big players at the end of 2022. We took it on ourselves to prove the doubters wrong. We’ve grafted hard. From the first game until now, we’ve improved massively.”
Meanwhile, there was a very big win for the Clifton under-16 A team, and a comfortable victory for the under-14 A side.
Results
1st: Clifton 1-0 Saint David’s
2nd: Clifton 2-2 Saint David’s
3rd: Clifton 2-0 Saint David’s
4th: Clifton 2-1 Saint David’s
16A: Clifton 9-0 Saint David’s
16B: Clifton 2-1 Saint David’s
16C: Clifton 0-0 Saint David’s
16D: Clifton 5-4 Saint David’s
14A: Clifton 5-0 Saint David’s
14B: Clifton 4-0 Saint David’s
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