Nelspruit does the double with a gritty win over Maritzburg College
Hoërskool Nelspruit vs Marizburg College
Hoërskool Nelspruit scored a second consecutive victory at the 28th Standard Bank St John’s College Easter Festival with a thrilling 22–13 triumph over Maritzburg College in the final fixture on Burger Field, on Saturday, in Johannesburg.
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The Rhinos, who edged out Welkom Gimnasium 34–31 in a dramatic opener on Thursday, return to Mbombela undefeated after an outstanding, hard-fought win.
In a physical battle, both sides committed fully, with neither holding back in the trenches.
Driven by the relentless carries of eighthman, Vaughn van Zyl, and lock, André Smit, Nelspruit seized control. Their rampaging runs left plenty of bruises in the College camp and laid the foundation for another standout performance from scrumhalf Liam Pringle, who was named the Man of the Match.
Pringle’s crisp distribution and pinpoint tactical kicking from the base of the ruck kept the College boys pinned deep in their half.
For College, right-wing Adam Cahill impressed with one of the day’s best performances from the tee. He calmly slotted two long-range penalties and converted his team’s only try, scored by inside centre, Olwethu Kosani.
Hilton College vs Kingswood College
The curtain-raiser, a much-anticipated clash between KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton College and the Eastern Cape’s Kingswood College, lived up to its billing. The sides were evenly matched in an intense first half and went into half-time deadlocked at 13–13.
After the break, Hilton took charge. Flyhalf, Liyema Nela, slotted a coolly taken drop goal to edge his team ahead, which ignited a dominant second-half display from coach Brad Mcleod-Henderson‘s charges. Nela led the charge, adding three more conversions and three penalties to contribute 18 points to his team’s victory.
Hilton owed a lot to their loose trio, too, who dictated terms, both on both attack and defence. Eighthman, Zander Muller, bulldozed his way over the gain-line repeatedly, while blindside flank, André Boshoff, reaped the rewards of his tireless work when he went over for a well-earned try.
Kingswood’s towering right-wing James Mackenzie gave the Hilton defence plenty to think about with a blistering attacking display, which included one of the best tries of the day. However, that wasn’t enough to derail the momentum of the high-flying side from KwaZulu-Natal.
SCORERS
Hoërskool Nelspruit 22 (12) – Tries: André Smit, Liam Pringle, D’Angelo Roberts. Conversions: Liam Pringle, John Duncan. Penalty: Pringle. Maritzburg College 13 (7) – Try: Olwethu Kosani. Conversion: Adam Cahill. Penalties: Cahill (2).
Hilton College 33 (13) – Tries: Zander Vorster, André Boshoff, Zander Muller. Conversions: Liyema Nela (3). Penalties: Nela (3). Drop goal: Nela. Kingswood College 16 (13) – Try: James Mackenzie. Conversion: Praise Matsila. Penalties: Matsila (3).
