KES extends winning streak despite Boys High’s resilience

King Edward VII School (KES) extended their winning streak over Pretoria Boys High School by winning 18-5 at home on Saturday in a gruelling contest to sweep the season’s home and away fixtures against the Candies.

Rewatch all of the action on SuperSport Schools.

The Red Army’s Vusi Moyo opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a successful penalty kick after Boys High were penalised for going off their feet at a ruck. Despite slipping at the top of his mark, the South African Schools flyhalf slotted with ease.

Then, deep inside the PBHS 22, KES outside centre Olunje Mehlomakulu set up right wing Ntsako Shivuri for a try with an excellent pass. Shivuri was over for five, but Moyo was unable to add two.

At half-time, it was just 8-0 to KES. Boys High would have felt that they deserved a little bit more reward for their effective rolling mauls and slight dominance in the set scrums.

Five minutes into the second half, however, KES extended their lead to 15-0, after flank Kebotile Maake, who usually plays at 8th-man, burst over for try from a scrum. He hit a gap with speed and power and was in for the five-pointer.

Pretoria Boys High more than stood their ground at scrum time, but they were unable to take advantage of any edge they gained at the set piece.

The Candies’ never-say-die efforts were, however, finally rewarded when hooker Thapelo Mphela crashed over after a strong rolling maul, which was begun from a well-crafted lineout. With 22 minutes to go, there was still plenty of time for either side to make a decisive run at victory.

KES extended their points’ haul to 18 when Boys High was pinged for hanging onto the ball while on the ground, with Moyo knocking the kick cleanly through the upright from 30 metres out.

Towards the end of the contest, the hosts were reduced to 14 men after having one of their players shown a yellow card for an illegal tackle, but the Candies were unable to make their one-man advantage count.

The Red Army’s scrumhalf, Regan McGurk, was a standout performer for home side, with his non-stop harrassment of PBHS getting under the visitors’ skin.

Boys High assistant coach Wian Geldenhuys summed up the game afterwards, saying: “It was a proper test match. Not the most exciting rugby game.”

Throughout the contest, both sets of players found themselves penalised in the rucks and for straying offsides. They’ll need to adjust to the manner in which a referee blows those aspects of the game.

For Pretoria Boys High, despite a second brave effort against KES – the Red Army won 24-14 in Pretoria earlier in the season – they’ll have to go back to the drawing board to find a way to topple the Johannesburg school.

Point Scorers

King Edward VI 18 (8) – Tries: Ntsako Shivuri, Michael Bownes. Conversions: Vusi Moyo. Penalities: Vusi Moyo (2). Pretoria Boys High School: 5 (0) – Try: Thapelo Mphela.