Madinga brace sinks Boland Landbou
Rukudzo Madinga was Hilton’s hero in a somewhat unexpected win for Brad McLeod-Henderson’s troops on Saturday.
Relive all the action on SuperSport Schools. Link to the games.
Madinga’s brace of tries helped Hilton College to a famous 17-14 victory over Boland Landbou in the main game on the second day of the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival.
The right winger broke through shortly after half-time, with his side trailing 3-7, to score their first five-pointer. Moments later, he capitalised on a Boland Landbou lapse of concentration to score another.
That second try stretched the KwaZulu-Natal side’s lead and they managed to stay in front for the remaining 10 minutes of the game as both packs delivered heavy blows on defence.
Liyema Nela, the Hilton flyhalf, found his rhythm from the tee after a wobbly start and converted both of Madinga’s tries, while also slotting an important penalty.
Landbou’s Retagan van Rooi showed his class, this time at fullback. He contributed nine of his side’s 14 points, which included scoring the try which gave his side a sniff at a comeback. He converted that try and the five-pointer scored by scrumhalf, Jayden Brits.
Hilton’s gutsy fight in the second half was the difference between the sides, as they wrestled the momentum away from Boland Landbou.
Maritzburg College, the other school from KwaZulu-Natal in action at the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival, also came out to play and staged a stubborn fightback from 7-19 down at the break to get by a spirited SACS 26-24 in the penultimate game of day two.
Lee-Rynne Sinkfontein, College’s left wing, went over for the match-winning score with three minutes left on the clock.
Replacement flyhalf Jordan Thackwray kept his cool, slotting the all-important conversion, which sunk the men from Cape Town.
Hooker, Lwanda Khumalo, was a standout for College and lit a fire under the big men up front.
As was the case in the main match, the defence from both sides was extremely tight, with both packs taking it to the other. In the end, Maritzburg College managed to get on top of the Cape Town boys, which caused the SACS defence to miss a few tackles.
Scorers
Hilton College 17 (3) – Tries: Rukudzo Madinga (2). Conversions: Liyema Nela (2). Penalty: Nela. Boland Landbou 14 (7) – Tries: Jayden Brits, Retagan van Rooi. Conversions: Van Rooi (2).
Maritzburg College 26 (7) – Tries: Lwanda Khumalo, Struan Oosthuizen, James Slevin, Lee-Rynne Sinkfontein. Conversions: James Slevin (2), Jordan Thackwray. SACS 24 (19) – Tries: Daniel Grant, Seth Bradford, Endie Sidinele, Jack Benade. Conversions: Rayaan Solomons (2).
