Jeppe forwards dominate to deny KES second derby win

With the momentum in the match swinging like a pendulum in motion, Jeppe High School for Boys claimed a 23-13 victory over their great rivals, King Edward VII (KES), after an epic battle between two quality sides on the Reds Field on Saturday.

With the win, Jeppe evened the season’s series at 1-1, following KES’s 38-28 victory on Collard Field on 27 April. Since then, Jeppe hasn’t lost.

Front-rankers André Poulton, Joseph Zulu and Luca Trevisan dominated for the black and white in the scrums throughout the match and played a huge role in preventing the Red Army from mounting a full-blown attack.

Rewatch all of the action on SuperSport Schools. 

King Edward, though, was the first onto the scoreboard after Vusi Moyo slotted a penalty for the home side following a slightly late dump tackle from Jeppe’s skipper Rasivhaga Khuthadzo.

Jeppe’s eager forwards were guilty of over-committing at the breakdowns, which led to a number of penalties being awarded to KES. Flyhalf Moyo, who has signed a contract with The Sharks, made them pay by sending a sweetly struck kick between the uprights from 47 metres out.

Matthew Coetzee, Jeppe’s no. 10, replied for the visitors, who opted for a kick at goal rather than kicking for the corner when they won a penalty.

KES thought they had snatched a try after lock Thomas Beling charged down a kick, but the referee Christo Erasmus had blown his whistle for a scrum moments before the disallowed try was scored.

Moyo then displayed his passing acumen and created a huge overlap for KES’s flying wing Haniel Monkoti, who raced between the defenders to dot down in the corner. It was a move the Red Army had utilised during the season, but this time their execution was a perfect 10.

After yet another strong scrum by the powerful Jeppe forward pack, which was excellently led by SA Schools A prop Poulton, Coetzee received quality possession from scrumhalf Talent Sithole and decided to take matters into his own hands. He grubbered through and chased the kick, which sat up invitingly. After gathering the ball, he was in under the poles, which left him with an easy conversion, and Jeppe enhanced their tally by seven points.

After the hooter had sounded for halftime, Coetzee added another penalty to pull his team level at the break, at 13-13.

The battle didn’t slacken in second half. KES worked their way deep into the opposition’s half and created several attacking opportunities, but Jeppe defended brilliantly to keep the hosts at bay. A big tackle by scrumhalf Sithole was a highlight, which led to a turnover of possession.

Sithole was soon to the fore again. He collected the ball after an excellent bust from Jeppe hooker Joseph Zulu, who drove up to within sniffing distance of the KES try line. The scrummie then dived over to edge his team into the lead and silence the home supporters.

KES were kept quiet through the second half, but they, too, defended well, and a scything tackle from Moyo slowed down a massive Jeppe charge.

Lock Lagan Leisher sealed the deal for the visitors in the 59th minute, when he went over for a five-pointer to score the final points of the contest.

The last 10 minutes was a slow burn with neither side creating a real chance to improve their total.

While Moyo’s career with the Red Army is almost done, it will be interesting to follow Coetzee’s progress as he has demonstrated BMT this season, which was best illustrated in Jeppe’s famous victory over Grey College, and it was again on full display on Saturday.

Point Scorers

King Edward VI 13 (13) – Tries: Haniel Monkoti. Conversions: Moyo Penalties: Vusi Moyo (2); Jeppe High School for Boys 23 (13) – Tries: Matthew Coetzee, Talent Sithole, Lagan Leisher. Conversions: Matthew Coetzee (2). Penalties: Matthew Coetzee.

Results

u19A: KES 13, Jeppe 23
u19B: KES 39 Jeppe 16
u16A: KES 22, Jeppe 20
u15A: KES 23, Jeppe 10
u14A: KES 43, Jeppe 3