Grey High Rugby Festival: Grey, HTS Drostdy and Rondebosch unbeaten
The hosts, Grey High, staged a great comeback against Michaelhouse on their Kolisi Field on Saturday, and followed up with a 34-12 triumph over Glenwood High on Monday, Freedom Day.
Grey had been scheduled to play Pretoria Boys High (PBHS), but a measles outbreak forced PBHS to withdraw and the organisers to revise the fixtures.
Blindside flank Cole Bennett was on fire for The Grey, using his strength to twice drive over the try line from pick-and-goes.
Unlike many of the games played on Monday, the wind didn’t appear to have a heavy impact. Grey led 17-5 at halftime, and they outscored Glenwood 17-7 in the second stanza.
Much like their match against Rondebosch Boys’ High on Saturday, the Green Machine had their moments, highlighted by fullback Rosco Williams, who scored a brilliant try via a grubber and chase down the left-hand touchline, which saw him running 40 metres through a five-metre wide corridor of space to get his side into double digits.
Nonetheless, an entertaining fixture brought the hosts’ festival campaign to a successful close.
HTS Drostdy, after a big win over St Stithians on Saturday, racked up a second one-sided victory, this time on the Kolisi Field against Selborne College.
The Donkies were in a flow state, cruising to a big 67-12 win in dominating style. Left wing Darren Makeza scored a hat-trick, while replacement back Willvino Paultin earned a brace.
The Worcester locals’ passing was second to none, with many of their tries coming from brilliant offloads from their bigger players, who sucked in defenders before unleashing the speedsters into gaps. Perhaps the best example of that came with their second try in the tenth minute.
Loosehead prop Juan Janse van Vuuren found himself running down the left flank. Then, when confronted, he delivered a lovely one-handed pass out the back of his hand as three defenders closed in on him. Inside centre Jano van Deventer received the ball and flew clear, crossing unscathed for a try.
Meanwhile, Selborne earned their two tries with a straightforward, physical approach, which included hooker Joshua McKay being driven over from a rolling maul that started on the Drostdy five-metre line.
The Donkies will head back to Worcester feeling justifiably proud of their performances at the festival.
Rondebosch Boys’ High wasn’t far behind Drostdy when assessing teams’ dominance. They defeated King Edward VII (KES) 29-12 in the closing match of the festival.
It was a complete performance from Rondebosch, with lock Bjorn Morkel standing out for his two tries. Both came from line breaks near the base of the ruck on the opposition 22-metre line, with the first delivered through a crash-ball feed from scrumhalf Daniel Arendse, while Morkel picked up and sniped for the second.
KES had one of their own locks score a try after a well-placed restart kick found its way into no man’s land, which allowed the Johannesburg outfit to regather the ball. After a few phases, Kristian Sheahan ploughed over the line from the base of a ruck to tack five points onto the Red Army‘s total.
Scorers
Grey High 34 (17) – Tries: Cole Bennett (2), Noah Mbizi, Daniel Naude, Christopher Vosloo, Ryan Swarbrick. Conversions: Tristan Kemp (2). Glenwood High 12 (5) – Tries: Cody Soll, Rosco Williams. Conversion: Elgenio Oersen.
HTS Drostdy 67 (45) – Tries: Darren Makeza (3), Willvino Paultin (2), Jano van Deventer, Eugene Walker, Werno Ramsauer, Tristin Syster, Brent-Leigh Exstraal, Anwill Jacobs. Conversions: Jano van Deventer (4), Ruan Nortje (2). Selborne College 12 (7) – Tries: Lwandle Bacela, Joshua McKay. Conversion: Khazimla Qavile.
Rondebosch Boys’ High 29 (12) – Tries: Bjorn Morkel (2), Joshua Kirby, Andrea Mynhardt, Matthew Pelser. Conversions: Eathon Williams (2). KES 12 (0) – Tries: Kristian Sheahan, Tswaledi Pasha. Conversion: Connor Fourie.
