Northwood avenges Westville loss, Hilton outplays Glenwood
Northwood vs Westville Boys’ High
It’s difficult to pick out standout players on the Northwood side after their 19-14 victory over Westville Boys’ High on Saturday at the Sharks Schools Rugby Day at Hilton College. That’s not a slight. It’s a compliment, acknowledging an outstandingly industrious and committed team performance.
Westville is blessed with speed and some seriously shifty backline customers, but, despite the Griffins working the boundaries, the Knights allowed them little forward momentum until late in the contest.
Northwood’s defensive work was wonderful. They hustled, gang-tackled, and stymied a team that is extremely dangerous when given good quality ball.
Still, coach Jacques Deen, a satisfied man after his charges’ win, felt they had a bit more in them: “I think the boys took it a little bit too easy today. We should have applied a little bit more pressure.”
Nonetheless, they kept a dangerous counterattacking outfit quiet for most of the contest. Everything starts with playing good defence, Deen told SuperSport Schools News: “Naseeb [Abrahams] runs our defensive systems, and we try to get into the boys’ heads what they’re playing for.
“Defence comes first, and from that comes attack. It’s a straight transition.”
Assessing the game, Deen said: “We played well. We had more moments [than they did]. I think we had nine entries into the 22, and we scored only twice. We had more opportunities.
“The scoreboard could have been different, but we are happy with the 19-14 win, to be honest.
“It’s nice coming back from losing the first one to them, and then showing we’re capable of pulling it off.”
In a tight contest, it took until the 20th minute for Northwood to open the scoring, with Janco Visagie powering over to finish off a flowing attack from the Knights. Sondelani Sheleni knocked over the conversion.
After conceding, Westville dominated possession, with Northwood stubbornly resisting the Griffins’ probing. Eventually, though, that pressure told and left-wing Lisa Sijadu was put clear to score in the left corner. Jade-Will Koopman coolly slotted the touchline conversion to level the scores.
The teams turned at 7-7.
About 10 minutes into the second stanza, a purple patch broke open a tight contest. A good, hard, and direct line from Tristan Parkinson pierced the Westville defensive line, and Sheleni turned it into a seven-point play with an assured conversion kick.
From the kickoff, the Knights launched a searing attack, sending the ball from left to right, out to wing Anesu Kuzonyei, where the big speedster brushed off two tackles before bursting clear to round off an attack that had begun almost 70 metres down the field.
Westville kept fighting, and they at last began to make some inroads, especially through right wing Avumile Lisa, who challenged Northwood on the right with his fast feet. He was the catalyst for the try of the day.
After receiving the ball just outside Westville’s 22, he cut inside and left six players clutching at air before linking up with and feeding left-wing Lisa Sijadu, who crossed for his second five-pointer. Koopman added the extras with just over 10 minutes to play.
With time winding down, Westville put Northwood under severe pressure, spending significant time in the Knights’ 22. Their defence, so uncompromising throughout the match, bent but did not break, and they came away with a 19-14 victory.
“From beating DHS, and then going to Wildeklawer and doing well, losing by five points to Garsfontein and two points to Paarl Boys’ High, our confidence is there,” coach Deen said.
“We have the belief, and now, in the last three or four games, we’ve shown where we’re supposed to be. We have the belief. It’s just about execution now.”
Next Saturday, on their Old Boys’ Day, the Knights will face a stern examination from a team that also won after a tough battle, Maritzburg College. It should be fantastic fare for rugby lovers.
Hilton College vs Glenwood High
Hilton College, meanwhile, cruised to a comfortable 42-7 win over Glenwood High in the following game.
The Green Machine shot out of the gates with intent, but Hilton calmly withstood the early pressure before taking charge and pulling away to win their eighth game on the trot without defeat.
“It was difficult to get the guys up after the highs of last week [a derby victory over Michaelhouse],” Hilton’s coach Brad Macleod-Henderson commented. “But we rolled up our sleeves and did enough to get over the line. There’s more performance left in us that we need to try and find before next week.
“They started well,” he admitted. “Their 12 and 13 punched some holes in our defence. They ran hard. They got over the gain-line.
“Maybe we were a little bit passive, but luckily we rectified that in the second half and we were able to get away to a fairly easy win.”
Macleod-Henderson said executing the basic well was the key to victory: “I thought our lineouts, scrums, and kickoffs were very good today. That laid the platform for us to play in the right areas.
“Nico Davel kicked very well after kicking that last-second penalty last week. Those factors got us over the line.”
Davel again took charge at flyhalf in place of John Grubb, who exited Hilton’s win over Michaelhouse with an injury. He should be back in action next week, Macleod-Henderson said.
Scorers
Northwood 19 (7) – Tries: Janco Visagie, Tristan Parkinson, Anesu Kuzonyei. Conversions: Sondelani Sheleni (2).
Westville Boys’ High 14 (7): Tries: Lisa Sijadu (2). Conversions: Jade-Will Koopman (2).
Hilton College 42 (17) – Tries: Callan Kenmuir, Ruan Mulder, Zander Muller, Mholi Khuzwayo, Guy Fender. Conversions: Nico Davel (4). Penalty: Nico Davel (3)
Glenwood High 7 (7) – Try: Joshua Kopp. Conversion: Elgenio Oerson.
