17 June 2023
In a clash of outstanding teams, Michaelhouse came from behind to snatch an 18-15 victory over Hilton College on Gilfillan Field on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to record their 100th victory in the great rivalry.
It was a tremendous tussle between two well-coached and resilient teams, but there was a desperation to everything that Michaelhouse did. Maybe, that is what got them over the line.
That desperation was borne out of their 17-20 defeat to Hilton earlier in the season on Meadows when they opted to go for a win instead of kicking a simple penalty to draw. That decision, too, likely had something to do with the fact that they hadn’t beaten Hilton since 2016. It’s no longer seven years and counting.
Irony
The irony of that decision by Michaelhouse on Meadows is that it was Hilton on their home ground who spurned the draw on this occasion and Michaelhouse who kept them out to secure the win.
These two sides are extremely well matched. Evidence of this lies in the cumulative tally for their two matches this season: 35-35.
Michaelhouse were without their hugely influential 8th man, Wandile Mlaba, who suffered torn knee ligaments, which have put him out of action for six months – a big loss for ‘House and a big loss for the Sharks under-18 A side. Yet, they pulled together and got the job done.
Emotional
After the game, emotions ran very high, not just among the Michaelhouse 1st XV, but throughout the supporters of the red and white, who rushed the field in joyous celebration when the final whistle blew. Naturally, ‘House skipper Fortune Mpofu was a popular man. He was mobbed, with many seeking selfies with the winning captain.
Looking exhausted but exhilarated, he told Pinnacle Schools: “It’s the biggest day of my life, not just for me, but for each and every single Michaelhouse boy standing here.”
It might sound like a cliché, but it was very real when he added: “Words cannot describe this moment. It’s our 100th win. I just cannot find the words to describe how I’m feeling.”
“People had the dog in them”
There was plenty of emotion in Michaelhouse’s performance, from 1 to 15, plus the bench, which Mpofu acknowledged: “People had the dog in them. They were hungry. They wanted more,” he said. “Of course, we lost the last Hilton Michaelhouse. We just had to show them what we’ve got.”
Mpofu also lauded the character his side showed throughout the season, saying they had started slowly in a 24-24 draw against Helpmekaar, but had then pulled off an “amazing” 27-20 victory against Maritzburg College.
“Ever since then, we have been building, becoming a better team, and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better team than this,” he smiled.
Struggling to hold back tears of joy
Campbell Ridl, the team’s Sharks’ under-18 A centre, enjoyed a splendid outing, which included setting up Leo Muziva for the winning try. After the game, Ridl was struggling to hold back tears of joy.
“I’m speechless. I’m trying to fathom what my emotions are now,” he said.
“It has been such an honour playing with this team. Last year, we had an amazing team but, this year, I think we bonded especially well with the grade 12s and grade 11s. I think that helped us a lot.”
Remarkably, the 2023 season record will show that Hilton won at Michaelhouse and Michaelhouse won at Hilton. “On Gilfillan, especially, it’s hard to win. Through many weeks, we have been working on this and it came right in the end,” Ridl said.
A key moment
Muziva, who scored the winning try, was one of the Michaelhouse heroes. Apart from going over when put into space by Ridl, in one of the key moments of the match, he charged down an attempted chip and chase from Hilton fullback Ivan Jjuuko, snaffled the bouncing ball and went over in the left-hand corner, which is where he scored both of his tries.
Spare a thought, though, for Hilton. This Michaelhouse victory would not have meant so much if they hadn’t had to dig so deep to win. It wouldn’t have meant so much if Hilton had not raised the bar so much in recent seasons. It was a dogged team effort by Hilton, and it revealed the strong character of Chris Horak and his side.
Under a fierce onslaught from Michaelhouse, they gave as good as they got. They didn’t shrivel in the face of the challenge. They rose to it. And they could have come away with a draw.
The fact that they, like Michaelhouse earlier in the season, went for the win, speaks volumes about the players’ belief in one another. It was also telling that they made such a decision, not deviating from the norm, even when facing their biggest rival of them all. On the biggest stage, they made a brave decision. Unfortunately for Hilton, they weren’t rewarded for their bravery.
Good decision-making
It wasn’t a particularly pretty game, but the decision-making was, for the most part, good. The teams ran the ball when the situation allowed it, they kicked when they needed to, and they kept it tight and drove it up, without being impatient about getting the ball out to their backlines. There was an impressive maturity to the sides’ approach. Credit to the players and credit to their coaches.
In the end, it was fitting that Michaelhouse recorded their 100th win – Hilton are on 96 – in a contest that, truthfully, could have gone either way. The milestone victory needed to be memorable, and it was.
1st XV result
Hilton 15-18 (HT 5-6) Michaelhouse
Hilton
Tries: Akhona Kunene, Matthew Stewart
Penalties: Chris Horak
Conversion: Chris Horak
Michaelhouse
Tries: Leo Muziva x 2
Penalties: Luke Davidson x 2
Conversions: Luke Davidson
All the rugby results
While Michaelhouse claimed wins in the 1st XV and 2nd XV matches and dominated the open age groups games, it was Hilton who recorded victories in the u16A, u15A and u14A games. Michaelhouse, though, came away with more wins. At the end of the day, the record read: Hilton four wins and Michaelhouse 12 wins.
1st: Hilton 15-18 Michaelhouse
2nd: Hilton 19-21 Michaelhouse
3rd: Hilton 36-7 Michaelhouse
4th: Hilton 21-24 Michaelhouse
5th: Hilton 12-22 Michaelhouse
6th: Hilton 0-50 Michaelhouse
16A: Hilton 17-5 Michaelhouse
16B: Hilton 5-22 Michaelhouse
16C: Hilton 10-19 Michaelhouse
16D: Hilton 19-24 Michaelhouse
15A: Hilton 19-14 Michaelhouse
15B: Hilton 7-21 Michaelhouse
15C: Hilton 15-53 Michaelhouse
Leave a Reply