Boland Landbou edge Napier Boys’ High at World Schools Festival
Boland Landbou came out on top by 30-25 in a tough arm-wrestle against Napier Boys’ High of New Zealand on the second day of the World Schools Festival in Stellenbosch.
It was a closely contested match with both teams’ goal kickers, CJ Snyman (Boland Landbou) and Henry Williams (Napier Boys’ High), struggling in the swirling wind. Williams couldn’t convert any of his side’s five tries.
Snyman managed to convert one of his side’s five tries and also slotted a penalty with just more than a minute left on the clock to make sure that Napier needed a converted try to bag the victory.
It was clear from early on in the match that Napier had a pack of forwards that would be able to match the boys from Boland Landbou in the physical battle points.
Napier dominated a scrum early on, but a loose ball was pounced on by the South African winger Keagan Wentzel. The latter put his captain and inside centre, Eugene Snyders, away for the opening try of the game.
Boland Landbou’s fullback, Boeta Moolman, danced through Napier Boys’ High’s defence on two occasions to complete his team’s first-half scoring. The teams were deadlocked at 15-all at the break.
Moolman’s second was created by lock Marco de Witt who exploited space like a centre and put his fullback away. Moolman still had to beat the final defender with some nifty footwork.
Napier Boys’ High tries in the first half came through their ability to create space on the outside with winger Bethel Malasia, Austin Soanai and Caleb Turner.
Interesting stats on the game is that Napier Boys’ High enjoyed 65% of the possession and also 60% of the territory. Boland Landbou needed to make a total of 112 tackles in the 60 minutes, while Napier only needed to make 45 tackles.
Napier however missed 16 tackles during the game. Boland Landbou won last year’s encounter against Napier Boys’ High by 59-26 during the inaugural World Schools Festival.
Scorers:
Boland Landbou 30 (15) – Tries: Boeta Moolman (2), Eugene Snyder, Keanan Wentzel, Tarique Pietersen. Conversion: CJ Snyman. Penalty: Snyman. Napier Boys’ High 25 (15) – Tries: Bethel Malasia, Austin Soanai, Caleb Turner, Rob Slabbekoorn, Angus Kilmister.
[powr-comments id=”ac98e406_1553689866977″]
