Jeppe bag historic victory over Grey College

Jeppe Boys’ High School caused the upset of the annual NMI Toyota Noord/Suid tournament when they defeated the mighty Grey College by 22-19 in their clash on the third day in Pretoria.

It was a historic victory for the side from Johannesburg as it was their first win over Grey College. The two teams’ only other encounter back in 1987 was won by Grey (17-6).

Watch the match again on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).

Jeppe enjoyed a 16-14 lead at the break after an inspiring first half. Grey made some unnecessary errors during the match, but it should not take away from Jeppe’s victory.

Jeppe’s effort on defence was something to behold. It would almost be a sin to exclude any of their players’ names from playing a vital role in the famous victory.

Eighthman Risima Khosa, lock Luke Cannon, and loosehead prop André Poulton, were impressive. Khosa and Cannon led the defensive effort while Poulton was like a fourth loose forward contesting at the breakdowns.

Flyhalf, Matthew Coetzee, kept the scoreboard ticking over by converting Khosa’s try, as well as slotting five penalties. Coetzee missed maybe his easiest attempt at goal with the score at 22-19 but, in the end, it didn’t matter.

Fullback, Sanele Simelane, also deserves a mention for his superb performance. He is the younger brother of the Stormers’ Wandisile Simelane.

Jeppe managed to keep Grey’s inside centre, Pieter van der Merwe, at bay. In the pack of forwards, Liam van Wyk (hooker) and AJ Meyer (lock) did more than what would’ve been expected of them.

This was Grey College’s first-ever defeat at the Noord/Suid tournament. What makes Jeppe’s victory even more extraordinary is the fact that they were outplayed by Paarl Boys’ High (19-45) on the opening day of the festival.

EG Jansen is still unbeaten after securing a solid 44-15 victory over HTS Drostdy of Worcester. The team from Boksburg enjoyed a more than comfortable lead of 32-5 at the break.

Their hooker, Danré Pike, as well as the lock Gerhard van Aswegen, scored a brace of tries. Both also produced outstanding performances. The Craven Week flanker Zaide-Leigh Rippenaar regularly got his side across the advantage line throughout the game.

The fullback, R-Jay Petersen, also deserves a mention for his brilliant performance.

Scorers: 

Jeppe High School for Boys 22 (16) – Try: Risima Khosa. Conversion: Matthew Coetzee. Penalties: Coetzee (5). Grey College 19 (14) – Tries: Donelle Hendricks, Ruben Cilliers, Ethan Adams. Conversions: Alzeadon Felix (2).

EG Jansen 44 (32) – Tries: Danré Pike (2), Gerhard van Aswegen (2), Riekus van der Merwe, Keanu van Loggerenberg, Zian Marais, Divan Francis. Conversions: Matt Bergman, Christopher Combrinck. HTS Drostdy 15 (5) – Tries: Marcus Lee, Hareld Mbuqa, Aljay Skippers.

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Hannes Nienaber

Hannes Nienaber covered schools' rugby in South Africa for Volksblad, Beeld, and Rapport for 11 years. He also created the biggest school rugby website in South Africa - School of Rugby - back in 2007. It eventually morphed into Supersport Schools Plus. He still occasionally milks cows.

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