Maritzburg College edges out Pretoria Boys High in a one-point thriller

Maritzburg College enjoyed a second win of the season over Pretoria Boys High School, claiming a very close 19-18 victory on Brooks Field on Saturday after trailing for most of the match.

With four minutes left of the contest, fullback Luyanda Kunene scored for the visitors to leave the Candies scratching their heads as College sneaked past the hosts to clinch a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Flyhalf James Slevin continued his run of good form by stepping up and calmly slotting the crucial conversion to put his team ahead as time wound down.

Maritzburg College Director of Rugby, Hendré Marnitz, commented afterwards: “Boys High came out all guns blazing. Their line-out mauls put us under pressure. We had to work very hard to get the win.”

Rewatch all of the action on SuperSport Schools. 

The Red, Black and White were first on the board, with Kunene, who was selected for SA Schools in 2024 (he wasn’t eligible this year), scoring an excellent try after breaking through the Boys High backline.

The home team quickly countered from the restart and rustled up a try of their own after a strong driving maul, which ended with prop Jeffery Singo diving over the line.

After a high tackle resulted in the visitors conceding a penalty, shouts from the side of the field called for the Candies to kick for poles. A well-judged kick from Kwanda Mabuza put them into the lead.

Then, South African Schools A wing Ntsako Ndhlovu scored after a magnificent run down the middle of the of pitch. He covered half the length of the field before cruising across the try line. Mabuza added the extras to extend Boys High’s lead.

At half-time, the Candies led 15-5. On 13 April, they had been soundly beaten 42-15 in Pietermaritzburg, but with a 10-point lead heading into the second half, and playing at home, they would have felt confident they could go on to victory.

Playing with patience, College attacked, but Boys High kept them at bay. Eventually, however, the pressure told, and hooker Siya Nyathi came around the corner to crash over for a try. Slevin made it a seven-point haul with a successful conversion.

The hosts found a reply almost immediately, with Mabuza on target once more from a penalty.

Kunene, though, made it a double with his late try, and Slevin sealed the deal with his cool as a cucumber conversion.

Referee Rodney Böck was kept on his toes as Rambo Kubheka and company worked to further extended their winning margin, but the Candies remained stubborn on defence, although Singo was shown a yellow card for going about it the wrong way.

Even without a few of their star players, College was able to guts it out and claim a hard-fought victory.

The match was played in good spirit and both schools showed respect for their opponents after the final whistle was blown.

Despite the loss, Boys High put in a much stronger performance compared to their first outing earlier in the year when they visited Pietermaritzburg. On Goldstone’s, they ran out of steam in the second half. On this occasion, they fought hard right to the end and manfully fended off wave after wave of College attacks.

The Candies face Affies next weekend in a Pretoria derby. It would a major upset if they were to beat their in-form city rivals. Maritzburg College, meanwhile, tackles King Edward VII. That should deliver another cracking game of rugby.

Point Scorers

Pretoria Boys High School 18 (15) – Tries: Jeffrey Singo, Ntsako Ndhlovu. Conversions: Kwanda Mabuza. Penalities: Kwanda Mabuza (2).

Maritzburg College 19 (5) – Tries: Kunene (2), Nyathi. Conversions: James Slevin (2).

Results

u19A: Pretoria Boys 18-19 Maritzburg College
u19B: Pretoria Boys 14-21 Maritzburg College
u16A: Pretoria Boys 14-29 Maritzburg College
u15A: Pretoria Boys 7-15 Maritzburg College
u14A: Pretoria Boys 14-7 Maritzburg College