Collard Field belongs to Garsfontein pack, Helpmekaar wins season opener
Hoërskool Garsfontein‘s massive forward pack picked up where they left off in 2024 by taking Jeppe High School for Boys‘ Collard Field by storm on Saturday, in Johannesburg.
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The Bere‘s forwards laid the foundation for a solid start to their season, seeing the side from Pretoria to a 26-18 victory.
Three of the four tries Garsfontein scored came from their big men. They dominated the scrums, thanks to a strong outing from their tighthead prop, Luan van den Bergh, which led to the visitors imposing themselves on the home side.
They employed a strong driving maul to get themselves onto the front foot, especially from lineouts. That’s how hooker, Justin Blom, got himself onto the score sheet, diving over from a rumbling maul.
His locks, JJ Fourie and Wihan Bezuidenhout, were exceptional. Both stood out with their versatility in broken play, with Bezuidenhout, especially, stealing the spotlight with a thundering run through the midfield from 50 metres out to score beneath the posts.
Garsies will also exhibit a sharper cutting edge when their dangerous backline gets over their season-opening jitters.
Grady Ngui, Jeppe’s blindside flanker showed his class and experience. His energetic defence and powerful runs on attack kept the visitors busy for the entire 70 minutes and his performance was rewarded with one of Jeppe’s two tries. The other was scored by the flying left wing, Joel Akilo, who benefitted from enthusiastically chasing a well-executed kick-off from fly-half, Nehema Hollenbach.
The Jeppe number 10 enjoyed a good day from the kicking tee, slotting a conversion and two penalties, including one from just inside the Garsfontein half.
Michaelhouse made Helpmekaar Kollege work hard for their 17-10 victory in Balgowan, but they were ultimately done in by Helpies‘ classy handling skills in broken play.
Flyhalf Stefan Moolman opened the home side’s account with a penalty after Francois Tonkin went over in the right-hand corner 20 minutes into the contest to break open the deadlock.
Fullback Alex Jankowitz responded with a try for ‘House in Helpmekaar’s left-hand corner after a sweeping move from the right flank to the left. Moolman slotted the challenging conversion from out wide to hand the home side a 10-5 lead at the break. To add to his good performance with the boot, Moolman was also exceptional in directing traffic with his keen vision on attack.
An abundance of possession enjoyed by the visitors and the class and experience of centres, Clinton Cloete and Ty Ax, halted Michaelhouse’s momentum.
Cloete was a standout on defence, making an astonishing 16 tackles, while Ax kept the home side guessing with his prowess on attack. He was, eventually, rewarded with a try, which sealed a victory for the visitors and a winning start to the 2025 season.
Points Scorers
Garsfontein 26 (12) – Tries: Drewyn Baron, Wihan Bezuidenhout, JJ Fourie, Justin Blom. Conversions: Joshua Gouws (3). Jeppe High School for Boys 18 (12) – Tries: Joel Akilo, Grady Ngui. Coversion: Nehemia Hollenbach. Penalties: Hollenbach (2).
Helpmekaar Kollege 17 (5) – Tries: Francois Tonkin, Liam Devenier, Ty Ax. Conversion: Wian Storm. Michaelhouse 10 (10) – Try: Alex Jankowitz. Conversion: Stefan Moolman. Penalty: Moolman.
Other teams
u.16: Jeppe 33, Garsontein 33; Michaelhouse 29, Helpmekaar 22.
u.15: Garsfontein 17, Jeppe 0; Helpmekaar 27, Michaelhouse 19.
u.14: Garsfontein 24, Jeppe 0; Helpmekaar 31, Michaelhouse 12.
