Cosmo stars as Grey outshines Selborne
Although Grey College has dominated the fixture in recent years, a trip to East London to take on Selborne College is always a daunting challenge.
When they last visited in 2022, Grey won 38-20, but the two meetings on Selborne’s home turf preceding that produced fireworks. The Bloemfontein boys went down in 2017, losing 19-20, and two years later had to graft hard for a 17-8 victory.
On Saturday, though, Grey stood tall and outplayed Selborne to record a comprehensive 36-7 win.
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The hosts started with a bang and heaped pressure on the visitors in the early going. They were quickly rewarded when a charge-down led to Selborne’s Craven Week centre, Siyamthanda Sakhela, diving over in the corner after only four minutes to open the scoring.
His scrumhalf, Page Fennel, converted from the touchline to put Selborne 7-0 ahead.
Grey’s superiority at the set-pieces soon ensured they enjoyed the upper hand, however, and they wrestled control of the game away from the home side, with their workhorse flank, Julian Cosmo, crossing for two tries in quick succession.
AJ Meyer, who produced a man-of-the-match performance in Grey’s epic 29-27 victory over Paarl Gimnasium last weekend, was prominent once again. He played a part in Cosmo’s second try, effecting the charge-down that led to the score, and he was later rewarded with a try of his own, which helped to drive Grey to a 19-7 lead at the break.
Siyabonga Kenny and Heinrich Theron made further inroads with second half tries before Pretorius Ekeji marked his return, with an electric exhibition of footwork putting him over the try line to put an exclamation mark on his side’s win.
On Thursday, Grey kicks off their campaign at the Absa Wildeklawer Tournament in Kimberley against Maritzburg College. On Saturday, they do battle with Garsfontein.
Selborne will seek a reversal of fortune when they tackle Ooskus Gimnasium (formerly Hoërskool Grens) on Saturday.
Scorers
Grey College 36 (19) – Tries: Juliun Cosmo (2), AJ Meyer, Siyabonga Kenny, Heinrich Theron, Pretorius Ekeji. Conversions: Heinz Stockenström (3). Selborne College 7 (7) – Try: Siyamthanda Sakhela. Conversion: Page Fennel.
Results
u19 – Grey College II 55, Selborne College II 10; Grey College III 24, Selborne College III 5; Grey College IV 80, Selborne College IV 0; Grey College V 51, Selborne College V 15; Grey College VI 52, Selborne College VI 0; Grey College VII 67, Selborne College VII 0.
u16 – Grey College A 26, Selborne College A 6; Grey College B 68, Selborne College B 0; Grey College C 79, Selborne College C 0; Grey College D 42, Selborne College D 0.
u15 – Grey College A 45, Selborne College A 0; Grey College B 50, Selborne College B 0; Grey College C 67, Selborne College C 0; Grey College D 53,Selborne College D 0.
u14 – Grey College A 43, Selborne College A 0; Grey College B 77, Selborne College B 0; Grey College C 53, Selborne College C 0; Grey College D 45, Selborne College D 7.
