2 September 2023
Maritzburg College was abuzz on Saturday with the Nashua Midlands Sevens, taking place on Goldstones and Snows, being surrounded by a variety of other activities, including a social hockey tournament on Pape’s Astro, as young and old alike joined in the festivities of College’s Family Day.
With the 2023 rugby season a recent memory, it was cool to see some of the stars of the season in action again, with College choosing to make their senior Sevens event an under-18 competition.
That meant top talents, like Northwood’s Siya Nkosi, a member of the SA u18 Sevens team, and College’s Luyanda Kunene, a member of the SA Schools side, had an opportunity to put their skills on show.
The red, white and black certainly benefitted from the change, with College, playing only their third tournament of the term, emerging undefeated from Pool A after wins over Linpark, Hilton College, Northwood B and Saint Charles.
In Pool B, Northwood ran up some big scores, but they were also held to a 21-21 draw by Michaelhouse, who had finished as runners-up in the DHS Sevens last weekend. House, though, suffered a narrow two-point loss to Glenwood in a 68-point thriller, which left them out of the final four in the Cup competition.
The semi-finals delivered convincing wins for College and Northwood, the two pool-toppers, with College getting by Glenwood by 22 points, and Northwood, impressively, keeping Saint Charles scoreless in a 27-0 victory.
In the battle for the title, there was little to choose between the two sides, but the Knights, who had been threatening a breakthrough win all season, did just enough to claim the honours, sneaking by College 12-10. It left the hosts as runners-up in their own event for the second year in succession.
u18
Pool A
Maritzburg College 45-7 Linpark
Saint Charles 35-17 Northwood B
Maritzburg College 21-10 Hilton College
Linpark 0-37 Saint Charles
Maritzburg College 26-5 Northwood B
Saint Charles 26-21 Hilton College
Linpark 0-53 Northwood B
Maritzburg College 35-26 Saint Charles
Linpark 0-24 Hilton College
Northwood B 31-12 Hilton College
Pool B
Michaelhouse 38-0 Howick
Northwood 31-0 Maritzburg College B
Michaelhouse 33-35 Glenwood
Howick 5-71 Northwood
Michaelhouse 38-5 Maritzburg College B
Northwood 21-12 Glenwood
Howick 0-72 Maritzburg College B
Michaelhouse 21-21 Northwood
Howick 0-58 Glenwood
Maritzburg College B 14-31 Glenwood
9th/10th: Linpark 50-0 Howick
Plate SF: Northwood B 24-5 Maritzburg College B
Plate SF: Hilton College 17-14 Michaelhouse
Cup SF: Northwood 27-0 Saint Charles
Cup SF: Maritzburg College 27-5 Glenwood
Plate Final: Northwood B 26-0 Hilton College
Cup Final: Northwood 12-10 Maritzburg College
Under-15 competition
In the under-15 competition, College, again, topped Pool A. This time, they won against Saint Charles, Northwood B, Linpark and, most impressively, against Michaelhouse.
Glenwood led the way in Pool B, while Kearsney edged out Northwood, the winners of the DHS Sevens, for the runner-up position and a place in the Cup semi-finals.
There, College continued their winning run, holding off a determined Kearsney team, while Michaelhouse eked out a hard-fought win over Glenwood, thus setting up a rematch of two sides who had met earlier in the day in pool play.
It was a much closer duel the second time around, but College grabbed a home victory, defeating Michaelhouse 24-16 to win the title.
Pool A
Maritzburg College 12-0 Saint Charles
Michaelhouse 59-5 Linpark
Maritzburg College 36-0 Northwood B
Saint Charles 21-33 Michaelhouse
Maritzburg College 60-0 Linpark
Michaelhouse 32-5 Northwood B
Saint Charles 66-0 Linpark
Maritzburg College 40-19 Michaelhouse
Saint Charles 10-12 Northwood B
Linpark 14-12 Northwood B
Pool B
Howick 29-14 Midlands Development
Northwood 17-19 Kearsney
Howick 0-63 Glenwood
Midlands Development 5-80 Northwood
Howick 12-33 Kearsney
Northwood 5-35 Glenwood
Midlands Development 5-62 Kearsney
Howick 0-69 Northwood
Midlands Development 0-49 Glenwood
Kearsney 12-35 Glenwood
9th/10th: Linpark 14-14 Midlands Development
Plate SF: Northwood B 52-0 Howick
Plate SF: Saint Charles 7-31 Northwood
Cup SF: Glenwood 19-24 Michaelhouse
Cup SF: Maritzburg College 24-10 Kearsney
Plate Final: Northwood B 19-7 Northwood
Cup Final: Maritzburg College 24-16 Michaelhouse
Meet Maritzburg College’s dust art sensation | Pinnacle Schools (pinnacle-schools.com)
Alongside Goldstones, Maritzburg College grade 11 student, Brent Gademan, showed off his remarkable dust art skills, first drawing an elephant on the back of the Gademan family’s SUV, then adding a couple of images to a Maritzburg College bus, thus ensuring that, for once, it would not have the dust swiftly cleaned off.
Up on Pape’s Astro, a social hockey event – seven-a-side to match the action on the rugby fields – had mixed teams testing their skills against one another. Boys, girls, under-14s through to the open age group, they all played together. This was, after all, the Maritzburg College Family Day and it was about enjoying time out on the Astro with friends and family. The results were largely irrelevant.
Elsewhere, there were entertaining challenges, like doughnut eating competitions – which was not as easy as it may sound – and rugby skills challenges.
A fun day out for the whole family on the first weekend of Spring, with Mother Nature playing along…
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