Brisbane Boys’ College shines, Clifton prop steals the spotlight
A festive atmosphere filled St Charles College as the school, celebrating its 150th anniversary, hosted not only 16 Independent Schools Rugby Festival (ISRF) teams on Saturday, the opening day of the event, but 52 teams in total, with u11 and u13 Sevens festivals running alongside.
The event is for u18 players only. Some teams went with only Stayers teams, while others included grade 12 boys who met the age restriction.
One of the big questions to be answered on the opening day was how would Brisbane Boys’ College measure up to their South African opposition? The answer to that was very well, thank you.
Coached by Samoan international Dan Leo, assisted by former All Black hardman Brad Thorn, the Queenslanders impressed, demonstrating a physical edge that caught Hilton College cold in the early going of their clash on Old Orchards.
From there, it became a fascinating back-and-forth battle, but Brisbane Boys were able to keep their noses in front to claim a 29-24 win.
Their 2nd XV was also in action against St Alban’s College, and they gave the Pretoria school, a tough going-over. Brisbane’s organisation and physicality again stood out, but they went down to a narrow 17-21 defeat.
The undoubted highlight, from an individual standpoint, on day one, was a 100-metre try scored by Clifton College loosehead prop Jonathan Mazibuko, which included him breaking tackles, side-stepping, and running away from defenders. Who doesn’t love seeing a prop turn on the jets?
Clifton’s Director of Rugby, Jose Dos Santos, grinned when asked about his fleet-footed front-ranker. “He’s in grade 11. Fantastic! He had aspirations this year to play wing. It was good seeing him score one,” he said.
The Durban school, despite having only five practices together with their ISRF lineup, turned in a strong showing and impressed with their good finishing, which included a double from right-wing James Joughin. Up against a good Cornwall Hill College side, Clifton scored a 33-14 win.
“It was nice to see them enjoy their rugby. And it was a good feeling to win,” Dos Santos commented.
Brisbane Boys’ College weren’t the sole tourists from overseas in action. St Andrew’s School, from Bloemfontein, included six Italian players in their squad – two flanks, an eighthman, two wings, and a fullback.
Lieben Pietersen, the St Andrew’s Director of Rugby, said an exchange had started last year between the school and an Italian club: “We brought over 15 guys over the course of two months. First six, then nine. We went over with four of our guys in March/April to a club, just to start building it up, so that we start getting more guys involved.
“This is the second year that we are doing this. We learn from them, and they learn from us. The way the Italians play is the way that Saints wants to play. They offload. They play a quick game.
Playing Bloemfontein schools and being an English school in among many Afrikaans schools, St Andrew’s is almost always the smaller side, Pietersen said, so swift ball movement is what is needed.
St Andrew’s took on St Benedict’s on Saturday and restricted the Bedfordview school to a single try in a hard-fought 19-14 win, with Bennies’ flyhalf Jarred Cheketri showing off a good boot, which brought him two penalties and a conversion.
Pietersen said communication for St Andrew’s, with their Italian players, was not a problem. “Rugby is a language that everybody speaks,” he explained. “Once they understand what we call certain calls, they know what to do. They know how to play situations and positions, and they have been with us for almost three weeks now.
“They have an English tutor. That’s also why they come over, to learn English with us, and we take them around Bloemfontein and South Africa. We’re going to take them to the Italian test before they fly back.”
St Stithians and St Andrew’s College produced an entertaining contest. Saints struck twice early to open up a double-digit lead before the Makhanda boys replied, showing off their trademark offloading and exciting running rugby.
The Johannesburg boys also showed enterprise, led by their flyhalf Tinodashe Mambure. Not only did he exhibit a very good boot, but he also split the defence for a sharp try in the first half.
St Andrew’s fought back strongly in the second half but couldn’t quite make up the deficit and St Stithians scraped a 25-22 victory.
St Charles College put out two teams, St Charles Blue and St Charles Gold, after the late withdrawal of one of the participating schools. They won one and lost one, with the score in both games being the same, 36-5.
St John’s College fed off the Blue team’s errors to run in some superb long range tries, while Somerset College found the going tougher against the Gold side.
St David’s Marist Inanda enjoyed a big 59-0 win over CBC Boksburg, which did no justice to the efforts of CBC, who spent plenty of time in the St David’s 22m area but were unable to unlock the Sandton school’s defence.
St David’s, then, punished them on the counterattack.
SCORES
St John’s College 36-5 St Charles Blue
St David’s Marist Inanda 59-0 CBC Boksburg
Clifton College 33-14 Cornwall Hill College
St Stithians 25-22 St Andrew’s College
St Andrew’s School 19-14 St Benedict’s College
Brisbane Boys’ College 1st XV 29-24 Hilton College
Brisbane Boys’ College 2nd XV 17-21 St Alban’s
St Charles Gold 36-5 Somerset College
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