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Bishops fight back in thrilling 175th Fest finale

By Willem Louw , in Rugby | Featured Rugby | News , at 2024-03-24 Tags: , , , , , , ,

Before kick-off Saturday afternoon, Eugene Mpatheni (a presenter on Smile FM) introduced two players to the spectators around the Piley Rees, as Bishops’ co-captain James le Feuvre presented a signed 1st XV jersey to St Andrew’s forward Matthew Harvey, who was injured during a match on Thursday | PHOTO: Warwick Richter (Courtesy of Diocesan College)

Bishops Diocesan College closed out their 175 Rugby Festival with a hard-fought victory over St Andrew’s College on Saturday evening.

The two proud teams produced a thrilling battle, with both squads throwing everything they had into the festival finale.

The Makhanda boys were set on spoiling the hosts’ festivities, and they showed their intent early on via their outside centre, Nic Hall, who crossed for the first of his two tries to open the St Andrew’s account after 10 minutes of dominance.

Bishops responded through their big 8th-man, Aza Gabada, who powered over after a pick-and-go, which brought the scores level.

The visitors, though, were relentless in their attack. St Andrew’s goal-kicking scrummy, Will Stern, restored his side’s lead with a long-range penalty, before their fullback, Karabo van Heerden, turned on the afterburners and left Bishops chasing shadows as he ran in a try from the halfway line.

His opposite number, Lucca Mynhardt, added a much-needed three-pointer for the hosts just before halftime, but the Eastern Cape outfit was in the ascendency.

Their loose trio were tireless at the breakdown and on defence, and Murray Wilson was rewarded for his efforts with a try shortly after the restart.

Down by 14 points, at 8-22, Bishops were staring down the barrel of another defeat. They were down, but they weren’t out and showed immense character to regroup and fight back.

Daniel van den Heever gave the local supporters something to cheer, scoring a try to close the gap after peeling around a ruck, and Mynhardt added the extras.

Not long after, the Bishops’ fullback landed another penalty to bring them to within six points of St Andrew’s.

His earlier penalty goal and linkup play with his backline had helped the hosts stay in the contest, but Mynhardt was not done. He went over for a five-pointer, then converted it, to give Bishops the lead with just more than 15 minutes left to play.

The game was far from over, though, and Hall dived over for his second try, with Stern slotting the conversion to put the visitors in the driving seat once again.

In the final 10 minutes, both sides threw absolutely everything they had at each other. Tired bodies littered the field, but every attack was met with stubborn, last-ditch defence from both sides.

With their old boys cheering on the home team from the sideline, Bishops’ big lock and co-captain, Alex Smith, dotted down what proved to be the winning try, with five minutes to go. Mynhardt’s crucial conversion then edged the hosts in front by a single point.

The final moments were filled with more frantic back-and-forth, but Bishops held on to deny St Andrew’s another score to the delight of the home crowd.

In the penultimate game, Wynberg Boys’ High continued their great early season form, powering their way to a convincing victory over Kingswood College in an historic first encounter between the two schools.

Kingswood had pulled off a stunning comeback to upset Hilton College on the first day, but the locals proved too well-drilled, recording their third win on the trot by a comfortable 35-7 margin.

Flyhalf, Yaqeen Ahmed, was on fire for ‘Berg, scoring one try and converting all five of his sides’ five-pointers to see his team to another impressive win.

SACS‘s kicking difficulties continued, but they managed to outmuscle the stars of day one, Michaelhouse, 27-24.

They made hard work of the victory, though, scoring five tries, while the visitors needed only a double from their lightning-quick winger Aya Mkhokeli and a third by centre, Tom Baguley, to get to within three points, thanks to Luke Davidson‘s accuracy off the tee.

Photo courtesy of Bishops Diocesan College

Hilton College bounced back from their defeat on the first day to double-up Grey High 34-17.

Both sides were punished for ill-discipline. Hilton saw a couple of yellow cards early on, but it was a red to Grey that caused the dam wall to break.

At half-time, Grey led 10-8, with fullback, Kyle Callaghan, having scored a brilliant try, and they kept asking questions on Hilton’s try line.

Hilton hit back after a strong carry by their 8th-man, Hanu Pieterse, to take the lead, but Jon Hobson‘s try, and a conversion from the sideline by Zephyr Smith, put Grey back in front.

The red card came shortly after that, and Hilton made full use of the one-man advantage to punish the squad from Gqeberha in the final quarter-of-an-hour, with Ricky Adonis and Xola Makongolo scoring two tries apiece for the side from KZN.

Results and Scorers, 23 March

Bishops Diocesan College 30 (8) – Tries: Aza Gabada, Daniel van den Heever, Lucca Mynhardt, Alex Smith. Conversions: Lucca Mynhardt (2). Penalties: Mynhardt (2). Saint Andrew’s College 29 (15) – Tries: Nic Hall (2), Karabo van Heerden, Murray Wilson. Conversions: Will Stern (3). Penalty: Stern.

Wynberg Boys’ High 35 (14) – Tries: Yaqeen Ahmed, Torren February, Benjamin Matthews, Albert Lourens, Luqobo Makwedini. Conversions: Ahmed (5). Kingswood College 7 (7) – Try: Munangi Kawendo. Conversion: Praise Matsila.

SACS 27 (17) – Tries: Ikhona Maxegwana, Matt Carrick, Jack Benade, Quewinn Lackay, Ethan Combrink. Conversion: Rayaan Solomons. Michaelhouse 24 (17) – Tries: Aya Mkhokeli (2), Tom Baguley. Conversions: Luke Davidson (2). Penalties: Davidson (2).

Hilton College 34 (8) – Tries: Ricky Adonis (2), Xola Makongolo (2), Zander Vorster. Conversions: Liyema Nela (3). Penalty: Nela. Grey High School 17 (10) – Tries: Kyle Callaghan, Jon Hobson Conversion: Zephyr Smith (2). Penalty: Smith.

All the results

u19 A – Bishops 30, St Andrew’s College 29; Wynberg Boys’ High 35, Kingswood College 7; SACS 27, Michaelhouse 24; Hilton College 34, Grey High 17; Grey High 7, SACS 3; Kingswood College 26, Hilton College 25; Wynberg Boys’ High 43, St Andrew’s College 21; Michaelhouse 37, Bishops 17.

u19 B – Grey High 14, SACS 5; Wynberg Boys’ High 19, St Andrew’s College 19; Bishops 12, Michaelhouse 10; Bishops 24, St Andrew’s College 0.

u16 A – Michaelhouse 38, Bishops 7; Wynberg Boys’ High 21, St Andrew’s College 0; Grey High 18, SACS 3; Bishops 29, St Andrew’s College 12.

u16 B – SACS 7, Bishops 0; Langa 27, Bishops 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 14, SACS 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 12, Bishops 0; Bishops 3, Rondebosch Boys’ High 0; SACS 7, Rondebosch Boys’ High 0.

u16 C – Bishops 21, SACS 7; Wynberg Boys’ High 25, SACS 5; Wynberg Boys’ High 21, Bishops 0; Langa 19, SACS 0.

u15 A – SACS 17, Grey High 12; Wynberg Boys’ High 17, Ubombo 0; Bishops 26, Ubombo 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 21, Bishops 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 38, Hamiltons 0.

u15 B – Wynberg Boys’ High 17, Diocesan College 0; Rondebosch Boys’ High 10, Bishops 0; SACS 19, Bishops 0; SACS 5, Rondebosch Boys’ High 0.

u15 C – SACS 29, Rondebosch Boys’ High 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 14, Rondebosch Boys’ High 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 28, Bishops 7.

u14 A – Grey High 12, SACS 9; Bishops 72, Ubombo 0.

u14 B – SACS 33, Bishops 5; Wynberg Boys’ High 28, SACS 0; Wynberg Boys’ High 47, Bishops 0; Rondebosch Boys’ High 12, SACS 8; Bishops 24, Rondebosch Boys’ High 7.

u14 C – Bishops 19, Langa 12; SACS 24, Bishops 0; Rondebosch Boys’ High 19, Bishops 12.

Willem Louw
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.