DHS downs Michaelhouse, Maritzburg edges Hilton, Kearsney cruises at Clifton
Durban High School vs Michaelhouse
Van Heerden’s Field was rocking on Saturday, Durban High School‘s (DHS) Founders Day, for the visit of Michaelhouse.
While the Horseflies have laid claim to being the top team in KZN in 2024, ‘House has been there or thereabouts, and a good contest awaited the spectators and supporters.
There are many wonderful school venues around the country and Van Heerden’s, especially since the addition of The Pavilion, which boasts a wonderful view of the field, ranks among the best, especially when the venue is packed.
The DHS 1st XV boasts one of the toughest defences in South Africa, which has given up an average of only seven points a game, but they were stunned early on when Michaelhouse got over for a try in the third minute.
When School was pinged for an infringement at a scrum, ‘House no. 9 Jack Hughes took the tap quickly and the home side didn’t react quickly enough. Hughes went blind, passed to flyhalf Luke Davidson, and he sold a dummy, rode a big hit from Bradley le Grange, and was over in the right-hand corner.
The Craven Week no. 10 tacked on two from the sideline and the visitors led 7-0.
It didn’t take long for DHS to reply. Aka Boqwana, with searing acceleration from a standing start, sliced through the Michaelhouse midfield, taking off from inside his own 10-metre line and rounding the defence before finishing with a happy swallow dive.
Like Davidson, he converted his own try, and the teams were level at 7-7. Then, after 15 minutes, Boqwana edged his team ahead with a penalty kick.
DHS were enjoying the better of the possession and punched the ball up, mostly with their forwards, to keep Michaelhouse on the back foot. To their credit, the boys from Balgowan tackled manfully to keep their relentless hosts at bay.
DHS, though, extended their lead when Michaelhouse missed a throw-in, just outside their 22.
Scrumhalf Marcwin Nero accepted the gift of possession at the back of the lineout and immediately fed his backline. One more pass, from flyhalf Allston Cedras to inside centre Zingce Simka and the Horseflies were in again as Zimke, a very physical midfielder, brushed aside the last defender and emulated Boqwana with a theatrical dive to celebrate his try.
Down by eight, Michaelhouse fought their way deep into DHS territory. From a five-metre scrum, Robert Combrinck, captaining the visitors from 8th-man in place of their injured skipper, Carlyle Hawkins, made a strong drive at the try line. Three more phases and big Aphiwe Shelembe was over the try line, but he had been held up.
Michaelhouse, however, were awarded a penalty for DHS straying offsides and Davidson made it 15-10 at the break.
Early in the second half, DHS increased their lead. They made ground off a lineout inside the Michaelhouse 22, then kept it tight through eight phases before finally letting the ball out wide to the right, where Cedras skipped two men and found Adriano Jackson, who dotted down in the corner.
Boqwana added three more points in the 52nd minute from the kicking tee to make it DHS 23-10 Michaelhouse.
Three minutes later, a fantastic breakout from DHS, from deep inside their 22, opened up Michaelhouse on their right touchline. Just past halfway, Zenkosi Mthiyane kicked ahead.
Aka Boqwana was in a foot race for the ball with ‘House flank Riley Gehren. Boqwana had the edge in speed, but Gehren never gave up, forcing the DHS fullback to toe ahead. His touch was too heavy, and the ball went out the back of the goal area. Gehren’s never-say-die effort was hugely impressive and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, prevented a try being scored.
No more points were added, and DHS claimed a closely contested win.
Maritzburg College vs Hilton College
Both Maritzburg College and Hilton College entered their clash on Goldstone’s having tasted defeat last time out, with College going down to Northwood and Hilton losing to Westville.
College, who had expected to be without their Craven Week lock, Jake Jansen, made him a late inclusion in their lineup. Unfortunately for Hilton, their Craven Week no.8 and captain, Hanu Pieterse, was missing.
Hilton, however, simply knuckled down and took the game to College. Their forward-based, bruising approach works well to counter the traditionally robust College game, and it was the visitors who were first onto the scoreboard through flyhalf Xola Bakana, who slotted a penalty in the ninth minute.
College lock Jansen was to the fore with a marauding run off a lineout in the 12th minute, which set up the Red, Black and White to take the ball through five phases before winning a penalty. Spurning a five-metre lineout, they went for a tap.
Captain Rambo Kubheka, whose ball carrying was ferocious throughout the contest, charged it up. His fellow prop Aiden Botha made further ground. Then, when the ball was moved down the backline to the left, Lee-Rynne Sinkfontein pulled off an outrageously good dummy to wrong foot the Hilton defence and rip through for a try.
Flyhalf James Slevin added the extras to put Maritzburg College ahead for the first time on the day.
College hooker Siya Nkosi crashed over in the 22nd minute, but he was held up. From the resulting five-metre scrum, the home side’s skipper, Rambo Kubheka, forced his way through two tacklers to ground the ball and extend his team’s lead. Slevin’s sure boot created an 11-point gap.
When Hilton was awarded a penalty inside the College 22, they opted for a lineout instead of the three points that the accurate Bakana almost certainly would have scored. It was a brave decision, but it paid off.
From the driving maul, Josh Grant broke around the side, supported by Emmanuel Dankwah. They were stopped centimetres from the Maritzburg try line, but their stocky scrumhalf Xander Vorster snatched up the ball and launched himself low over the line for five. The conversion, surprisingly, was missed.
A quarter-of-an-hour into the second half, hooker Josh Grant, with a beautiful inside pop pass, found flyhalf Xola Bakana, who was steaming onto the ball. He took it and hit a gap at the same time, surgically bisecting the College defensive line.
Just shy of the try line, he was brought down by Luyanda Kunene, but the predatory Vorster was up in support to snag the ball and dive over the line for his second try. Bakana’s accurate conversion kick put Hilton 15-14 ahead.
Six minutes later, they were six points clear after a wonderful flat ball from Bakana played Khazimla Makali into a gap. He raced clear of the turning defenders, drew the man, and released Ivan Jjuuko, on his outside, to run in a thrilling try.
Maritzburg College dialled up a good response by grinding their way down into the Hilton 22. They won a penalty but, like their opponents early in the game, chose to set up a lineout instead of taking a kick at goal.
A sharp change of direction from the resulting maul put the ball in the hands of Kubheka on the blindside and he shifted it quickly to Siya Nyathi, with the hooker diving over in the left-hand corner. Then, from in front of Basher Ridge, Slevin nailed his kick from the touchline to edge College in front once more, 21-20.
In the final minute, the extraordinary skills of College skipper Rambo Kubheka were again to the fore. Following a sustained assault by the hosts, scrumhalf Rayke Maartens went right to the big prop. With a beautiful hard and flat pass, worthy of any flyhalf, he gave right-wing Ntsika Mkhize a clear run at the try line and Mkhize scampered over in the corner.
Slevin missed a conversion for the first time on the day, but Maritzburg College celebrated a battling 26-20 victory over Hilton.
Clifton College vs Kearsney College
After boosting their confidence with a win at Glenwood a week earlier, Kearsney College had an easier time of it on Saturday at the Riverside Sports Club against Clifton College, running out 48-0 victors.
Almost exactly two years ago – the game was played on 28 May – at the same venue, Clifton won 24-17. This time around, it was one-way traffic as the One-Stripe crossed for eight tries.
They opened their account when Clifton missed a penalty kick at touch. Kearsney moved the ball quickly from the right flank to the left flank, and Sharks’ Craven Week back, Cameron Veenstra, playing at outside centre, ran a good support line to take a short pass from Bukho Hlwatika and go over.
Veenstra converted the try – he would go four for eight on conversion attempts – but it was the start of a fantastic day for the flyer. He added another two tries to finish with a hattrick and a personal haul of 23 points.
Kearsney won the tactical battle, playing most of their rugby camped inside the Clifton half and that, allied with their enthusiastic and hard-hitting defence, paid rich dividends. That’s how they landed their second try, with smothering defence in the Clifton 22 leading to a loose pass. Then, Valentino Lenge, with some fast feet, evaded the scrambling defence to make the dive for five. He dotted down twice on the day.
The visitors were able to build up a rhythm to their attacks, which began to flow nicely, and Blake Kruger, after Kearsney had moved the ball nicely through a number of phases, forcing their way up the field, broke away from a ruck, and scored from 32 metres out with a determined run.
Just before half-time, the One-Stripe’s captain, tighthead Anele Cele, was rewarded for his work off the ball, charging up in support of Murray Weyer, after the scrumhalf had made a searing break from a lineout, to take the final pass and crash over for a try.
With Cameron Veenstra making all four of his conversion kicks in the opening stanza, Kearsney led 28-0 at the break. He was less successful in the second half, failing to land any, but Cele and company crossed for another four tries to record their biggest win of the season.
There were two more for Veenstra, Lenge’s second and the last five-pointer from Rogan Strydom.
Successive wins for Kearsney gives their forthcoming outing against Michaelhouse on Stott Field on Saturday, 8 June, an exciting boost.
SCORES
Durban High School 23 (15) – Tries: Aka Boqwana, Zingce Simka, Adriano Jackson; Conversions: Aka Boqwana; Penalties: Aka Boqwana (2); Michaelhouse 10 (10) – Try: Luke Davidson; Conversion: Luke Davidson; Penalty: Luke Davidson
Maritzburg College 26 (14) – Tries: Lee-Rynne Sinkfontein, Rambo Kubheka, Siya Nyathi, Ntsika Mkhize; Conversions: James Slevin (3); Hilton College 20 (8) – Tries: Xander Vorster (2), Ivan Jjuuko; Conversion: Xola Bakana; Penalty: Xola Bakana.
Clifton College 0 (0); Kearsney College 48 (28) – Tries: Cameron Veenstra (3), Valentino Lenge (2), Blake Kruger, Anele Cele, Rogan Strydom; Conversions: Cameron Veenstra (4).
OTHER RESULTS
DHS vs Michaelhouse
u19 – DHS II 31 Michaelhouse II 14; DHS III 29 Michaelhouse III 7; DHS IV 10 Michaelhouse IV 28; DHS V 0 Michaelhouse V 52; DHS VI
u16 – DHS A 32 Michaelhouse A 12; DHS B 12 Michaelhouse B 26; DHS C 14 Michaelhouse C 31; DHS D 0 Michaelhouse D 66
u15 – DHS A 13 Michaelhouse A 0; DHS B 10 Michaelhouse B 0; DHS C 7 Michaelhouse C 13; DHS D 25 Michaelhouse D 14
u14 – DHS A 50 Michaelhouse A 12; DHS B 62 Michaelhouse B 0; DHS C 51 Michaelhouse C 7; DHS D 40 Michaelhouse D 19
Maritzburg College vs Hilton and others
u19 – Maritzburg College II 24 Hilton College II 17: Maritzburg College III 24 Hilton College III 14: Maritzburg College IV 24 Hilton College IV 12; Maritzburg College V 17 Hilton College V 0; Maritzburg College VI 7 Curro Hillcrest I 35; Maritzburg College VII 34 Hilton College VI 5; Maritzburg College VIII 54 Hilton College VII 0; Maritzburg College IX 40 Curro Hillcrest II 19; Maritzburg College X 54 Hilton College VIII 0
u16 – Maritzburg College A 30 Hilton College A 15; Maritzburg College B 52 Hilton College B 0; Maritzburg College C 41 Hilton College C 0; Maritzburg College E 54 Michaelhouse E 12
u15 – Maritzburg College A 31 Hilton College A 6; Maritzburg College B 40 Hilton College B 0; Maritzburg College C 52 Hilton College C 0; Maritzburg College D 36 Curro Hillcrest A 21; Maritzburg College E 54 Hilton College D 0; Maritzburg College F 45 Michaelhouse F 0
u14 – Maritzburg College A 19 Hilton College A 15; Maritzburg College B 53 Hilton College A 12; Maritzburg College C 50 Hilton College C 0; Maritzburg College D 7 Curro Hillcrest A 10; Maritzburg College E 56 Michaelhouse E 0
Clifton College vs Kearsney College
u19 – Clifton College II 0 Kearsney College II 36; Clifton College III 0 Kearsney College VI 31
u16 – Clifton College A 24 Kearsney College A 38; Clifton College B 3 Kearsney College B 50
u15 – Clifton College A 3 Kearsney College A 40; Clifton College B 12 Kearsney College C 52
u14 – Clifton College A 12 Kearsney College A 5; Clifton College B 0 Kearsney College B 32
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