Grey College starts the season in fifth gear against Welkom Gim
Grey College put in a solid performance, beating Welkom Gimnasium by 71-21 in their own backyard on Saturday.
Watch the game again on SuperSportSchools – https://bit.ly/GreyGim2023.
Gimmies showed grit to attempt to claw their way back in the second half, spurred on by the home supporters, but ultimately Grey simply outplayed the locals and earned an impressive win.
Five of the players in Grey’s starting forward pack had already earned caps for the first team last season, and their experience and chemistry showed as they completely dominated the Welkom pack from the first kickoff.
Within the first 12 minutes, Christiaan van der Westhuizen (scrumhalf), Jean-Henri Smit (flanker) and captain, JJ Theron (no. 8), all scored and it looked like it was going to be a long day for the home team.
Theron had to leave the field 17 minutes in after receiving a knock. This had a marked effect on the side from Bloemfontein who seemed to struggle to reset for a couple of minutes afterwards.
Soon though, the composure of their experienced players, like Marno Stopforth (flanker), allowed Grey to turn up the heat in Welkom again, scoring twice more before halftime through tries by Ranon Fouché (prop) and Vincent Wolhuter (fullback), and the two accompanying conversions by Martin Botha (winger) taking them into halftime leading by 31-0.
Ian van der Merwe, one of Grey’s most exciting prospects this year, replaced Pharrel van Wyk at flyhalf at half-time and was almost immediately called into action to convert Liam van Wyk’s (hooker) early try in the second half.
Van Wyk’s try came in a similar manner to the earlier tries, with Grey kicking a penalty to touch, being pin-point accurate in the lineout, using their forwards to carry the ball over the advantage line, allowing van der Westhuizen to choose the perfect moment to release the ball and send the hooker crashing over the try-line.
Smit then got his second try, at which point one might have forgiven Gimmies for feeling hopeless.
To their credit though, Welkom, playing in their white jerseys reserved for friendlies, rather than their traditional black and red, continued attempting to build an attack, with Naylen and Naven Goeda looking lively with ball in hand.
Indeed then, Welkom’s first score came from Naven Goeda (winger) brilliantly collecting a kick ahead at pace, darting infield and giving the ball out to Naylen Goeda (fullback) who scored the try.
Hayden Tolmay (winger), who had been playing brilliantly all day, then responded with a try for Grey.
Gim looked energized after finally managing to penetrate Grey’s defence and managed to drive their replacement hooker (no. 16) over for another try in which Kiewiet, Goeda and Ethan Jones (no. 8) all played important roles.
Ronaldo Kiewiet, Welkom’s playmaker flyhalf, then broke away, slicing through the field, managing to evade Grey’s covering defence, running a total of 60 meters to score Welkom’s third.
Again though, the team from Bloemfontein showed just what sets them apart as they simply absorbed the pressure, remained calm, stuck to their structures and reaped the rewards as Pieter van der Merwe scored his second before Martin Botha rounded off what was a comprehensive win for Grey College.
Jannie Geldenhuys, head coach at Grey, and his team will be very satisfied with the result, as they should be after a 50-point victory, however, Grey will surely be looking at the opportunities they let slip and any chinks in their armour exposed by the Gimmie attack as they prepare for the rest of the fixtures this season.
Welkom will take solace in the character shown by their senior players to rally the group as they were facing a humiliating loss, to fight back with pride in the second half.
Scorers:
Grey College 71 (31) – Tries: Pieter van der Merwe (2), Jean-Henri Smit (2), Vincent Wolhuter, Martin Botha, Hayden Tolmay, Christiaan van der Westhuizen, JJ Theron, Liam van Wyk, Ranon Fouché. Conversions: Ian van der Merwe (5), Martin Botha (3). Welkom Gimnasium 21 (0) – Tries: Naylen Goeda, Kamohelo Mokoena, Ronaldo Kiewiet. Conversions: Kiewiet (2), Naylen Goeda.
