St John’s overrun by the Red Army while Jeppe grows in confidence
King Edward VII showed their strength as they ran over their rivals by 41 points on Saturday, leaving the visiting St John’s College scratching their heads after a big defeat. Rewatch all the action on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).
The Reds were in good form, despite coming off a recent loss against Paarl Boys’ High, and performed fluently and confidently on attack and defence.
St John’s drew first blood, winning a penalty, which was easily slotted by Bryson Walker, but from there on the rivalry was painted red.
Flanker James Kobrowisky and 8th-man Kebotile Maake scored two each as the host’s pack dominated the forward exchanges. The KES rolling maul was a huge weapon and it was those mauls that created the opportunities for the big front rankers to power over the St John’s try line.
Simphiwe Moyo showed again that he is an exciting talent at flyhalf, and he converted seven of his side’s eight tries. His performance highlighted the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes with coach Marco Engelbrecht.
Kyle Watson crossed for a try for the visitors. The nuggety hooker, who excelled as a ball carrier during the St John’s Easter Festival, is off to a good start to the season.
Perhaps the only slight negative for KES was a yellow card shown to winger Haniel Monkoti for not rolling away quickly enough from a ruck, which reduced the home team to 14 men. It could have been costly in a tight game but, fortunately for the Red Army, it didn’t hurt them on Saturday.
For large parts of the match, St John’s were forced to play from deep inside their own half as the Reds’ onslaught kept them on the back foot.
This coming weekend, KES is set to face Parktown Boys’ High School, while St John’s have the weekend off.
Down the road, Jeppe continued their excellent form. They look like the team to beat in Johannesburg.
On Collard Field, they rolled to a 36-point victory over St Stithians, winning 47-11 to extend their winning streak to three on the trot, which, of course, included that famous 22-19 victory over Grey College at the NMI Toyota North-South Tournament.
Jeppe has established itself as one of the top rugby schools in the country over the last few years and, while they went down to Garsfontein and Paarl Boys’ High earlier in the season, not many sides would fancy their chances against the Kensington school now.
Their captain, Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, tacked on two more tries to his season’s tally. He’s an exciting talent, and when he has possession of the ball there is a sense that something special is about to happen.
Saints will be disappointed with the result, after a nice run of victories. However, their flyhalf Chris Anderson has looked the part and his assured play is a big positive for the side.
Jeppe hosts Westville Boys’ High School, from KwaZulu-Natal, this coming weekend. It will be a tough challenge from a feisty side which shocked Monument recently but, right now, Jeppe will fancy their chances against any opposition.
Point Scorers
King Edward VII 59 (28) – Tries: Kebotile Maake (2), James Kobrowisky (2), Indi-Gusha Mboniswa, Olunje Mehlomakulu, Haniel Monkoti. Conversions: Simphiwe Moyo (7). St John’s College 18 (13) – Tries: Kyle Watson, Riley Elliot. Conversions: Bryson Walker. Penalties: Bryson Walker (2).
Jeppe High School for Boys 47 (26) – Tries: McMillen Mongwana (2), Khuthadzo Rasivhaga (2) Matthew Coetzee, Ndimphiwe Mjiji, Lesego Zungu. Conversions: Coetzee (6). St Stithians College 11 (6) – Try: Hlelo Ngwenya. Penalties: Chris Anderson (2).
