Four teams unbeaten on day one of SACS Water Polo Tournament
Gauteng’s St John’s College and St Stithians College, along with the Western Cape’s Bishops Diocesan College and Rondebosch Boys’ High, were the only teams to win all four of their matches on the opening day of the SACS Water Polo Tournament, proudly sponsored by Hussar Grill, in Cape Town on Saturday.
The tournament, which pits 20 of the best water polo-playing schools against each other, runs through to Monday, with the final scheduled for 14:30.
Catch all the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
The opening day, as expected, delivered fireworks as teams battled for position in their pools, while aiming to build momentum ahead of day two.
Pool A, which features last year’s champions and hosts, SACS, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), Selborne College, and Wynberg Boys’ High, was dominated by St John’s College.
The Gauteng side, led by Jon-Marc de Carvalho and the experienced Vlado Trninic, was in top form and showed their dominance from the get-go, beating St Benedict’s College 7-1 in their opener.
They added another three wins, beating St Alban’s College 5-0, before edging out SACS, 5-4, and completing their day with a resounding 6-2 win over Wynberg Boys’ High.
Sunday sees St John’s take on Paul Roos, Parktown Boys’ High, Northwood, St Andrew’s College, and Selborne College.
There are three teams just behind St John’s in Pool A, Selborne College, SACS, and Paul Roos. They each managed three wins from their four outings.
Selborne lost 2-3 to Northwood later in the day, while PRG went down 1-4 against Selborne, and SACS lost to St John’s.
The bottom three teams on the Pool A log are Parktown Boys’ High and St Alban’s College, who are without a win, and Makhanda’s St Andrew’s College, who scored a win, a draw, and two defeats in their four outings.
Pool B has taken on a similar narrative to Pool A, although it includes three teams – Bishops, St Stithians College, and Rondebosch -with perfect records after Saturday’s heavy programme.
Coach Jabulani Sibiya‘s Bishops side is among the favourites and they didn’t disappoint, scoring four convincing victories, beating Grey College 8-2, Grey High 7-3, Clifton College 4-1, and Pretoria Boys High 8-2.
St Stithians was also in top form. They opened their account with a 3-1 win against Grey High and followed up with a 7-0 win over Pretoria Boys’ High. Then, they sneaked a 4-3 win over Hilton College and won 5-1 against St David’s Marist Inanda.
Rondebosch also made it four wins out of four matches with a last-minute victory over Clifton College in the final match of the day.
The second day’s action at the SACS Aquatics Centre starts early on Sunday morning, with Grey High tackling Jeppe High School for Boys at 07:10.
GROUPS
Pool A: Northwood School, Parktown Boys’ High, Paul Roos Gimnasium, SACS, Selborne College, St Alban’s College, St Andrew’s College, St Benedict’s College, St John’s College, Wynberg Boys’ High.
Pool B: Bishops Diocesan College, Clifton College, Grey High School, Grey College, Hilton College, Jeppe High School for Boys, Pretoria Boys High, Rondebosch Boys’ High, St David’s Marist Inanda, St Stithians College.
DAY 1 | RESULTS
| September 21, 2024 | ST ANDREW’S vs NORTHWOOD | 2 – 2 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | SACS vs WYNBERG | 4 – 3 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | RONDEBOSCH vs PRETORIA BOYS | 9 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | HILTON vs ST DAVID’S | 5 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | SELBORNE vs PARKTOWN | 8 – 0 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | ST JOHN’S vs ST BENEDICT’S | 7 – 1 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | BISHOPS vs GREY COLLEGE | 8 – 2 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST STITHIANS vs GREY PE | 3 – 1 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | PAUL ROOS vs ST ALBAN’S | 4 – 1 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | WYNBERG vs NORTHWOOD | 3 – 2 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | CLIFTON vs JEPPE | 4 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | RONDEBOSCH vs ST DAVID’S | 4 – 1 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | SACS vs PARKTOWN | 16 – 0 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | PAUL ROOS vs ST BENEDICT’S | 4 – 1 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | ST STITHIANS vs PRETORIA BOYS | 7 – 0 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | BISHOPS vs GREY PE | 7 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST JOHN’S vs ST ALBAN’S | 5 – 0 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | SELBORNE vs ST ANDREW’S | 6 – 4 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | GREY COLLEGE vs JEPPE | 2 – 5 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | HILTON vs CLIFTON | 5 – 2 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | WYNBERG vs PARKTOWN | 12 – 0 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | ST JOHN’S vs SACS | 5 – 4 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | PRETORIA BOYS vs GREY PE | 4 – 4 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | RONDEBOSCH vs JEPPE | 6 – 2 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST ANDREW’S vs ST ALBAN’S | 1 – 0 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | SELBORNE vs PAUL ROOS | 4 – 1 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | BISHOPS vs CLIFTON | 4 – 1 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST STITHIANS vs HILTON | 4 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | NORTHWOOD vs ST BENEDICT’S | 3 – 4 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | ST JOHN’S vs WYNBERG | 6 – 2 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | ST DAVID’S vs GREY COLLEGE | 5 – 2 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST ANDREW’S vs PAUL ROOS | 1 – 2 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | HILTON vs JEPPE | 8 – 3 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | SELBORNE vs NORTHWOOD | 2 – 3 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | BISHOPS vs PRETORIA BOYS | 8 – 2 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST STITHIANS vs ST DAVID’S | 5 – 1 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | GREY PE vs GREY COLLEGE | 4 – 4 | POOL B |
| September 21, 2024 | ST BENEDICT’S vs PARKTOWN | 6 – 2 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | SACS vs ST ALBAN’S | 6 – 1 | POOL A |
| September 21, 2024 | RONDEBOSCH vs CLIFTON | 5 – 4 | POOL B |
Click HERE for day two’s fixtures.
