SuperSport Schools Plus

Candies back to winning ways

By Alex Ralston , in Rugby | Featured Rugby | News , at 2024-04-28 Tags: ,

Photo Credit: Frans Lombard (Action Pix)

Pretoria Boys High School returned to winning ways on Saturday, beating Parktown Boys’ High School 36-5 in a scrappy affair in Johannesburg.

Rewatch all the action on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).

The visitors got off to a flyer when flyhalf Seth Venter scored the first points of the day for either side, slicing through the Parktown defence for a five-pointer. He missed out on converting his own try, but managed to convert on three other occasions, to finish with a 75 percent conversion rate for the match.

The try of the day came from Boys High lock and captain Tshepiso Shikhibana, who intercepted a pass well within his own half before galloping down the middle of the field to score, cutting through the Parktown defence like a hot knife through butter.

It has been a tough season for Parktown thus far. However, even in defeat, there were signs of a side coming together. A period of sustained attack in the Boys High 22 in the second half, during which they strung a number of plays together, brought the team in black a consolation try, dotted down by wing Kabelo Jwili.

Just as Parktown began to find their rhythm, two of Boys High’s players, Seth Venter and Motheo Dimpe, were injured and had to be removed from the field, which disrupted the hosts’ momentum. PBHS assistant coach Wian Geldenhuys said both players appeared to be alright, but they will be monitored over the coming days.

Had the pause in play not happened, it would have been interesting to see how Parktown would have progressed. They played far better in the second half, with lock Kingsley Okonkwo and flank Keith Mncube challenging the Boys High defence and leading the way for the home team.

With the match winding down, the visitors added a further 10 points just before the final whistle Prop Jeffrey Singo put in a big effort to force his way over the tryline, and substitute Stephen Adams completed the scoring with a last five-pointer.

The return of Adams from injury was a massive boost for Pretoria Boys High, and they’ll relish having him available to bolster the pack for some of their big forthcoming fixtures.

Despite the match ending in a 31-point win for the Candies, they’ll want to sharpen up on their goal kicking, especially with Venter potentially sidelined. Tebogo Nchabaleng, who has also looked after the kicking duties, is currently out of action, too.

Both coaches will want to attend to some of the ball handling errors around the scrums and lineouts, and greater discipline will be necessary against stronger teams.

Pretoria Boys High next faces Hilton College on 11 May. That’s going to be a tough challenge. After a 26-7 win over Glenwood on Saturday, Hilton has now won six matches in succession.

Point Scorers

Pretoria Boys High School 36 (19) – Tries: Seth Venter, Ntsako Ndhlovu, Tshepiso Shikhibana, Jack Tsanwani, Jeffrey Singo, Stephen Adams. Conversions: Seth Venter (3). Parktown Boys’ High School 5 (0) – Try: Kabelo Jwili.

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