NSW Combined Schools open St John’s Festival with a victory over St Alban’s College

The New South Wales Combined High Schools team, all the way from Australia, was all set to take on St Alban’s College for the opener of the 24th annual St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival. NSW Combined High Schools has delivered a couple of Wallabies in the past, such as Wycliff Palu and George Smith.

The discipline and intensity on defence from the gents from New South Wales helped them to get the better over St Alban’s College with a 22-7 victory.

The Australian outfit had three early opportunities in St Alban’s red zone but failed to score as St Alban’s defended with that all so familiar brotherhood honour. The gents from Pretoria could not cross over the 50m line in the first 10min of the fixture. Izaiah Ape-Esera (#14) dived over the line for NSW Combined High Schools after a perfectly timed cross kick.

NSW Combined High Schools got another try through Eden McQueen (#6) and their captain, Jack Vincent (#10), converted the try to give his side a 12-0 lead over St Alban’s college. The discipline and commitment of the NSW Combined High Schools on defence kept St Alban’s College pointless for the entire first half and entering the second half with a 12-0 advantage.

NSW Combined High Schools could not continue with the same discipline in the second half and St Alban’s captain, Rhys Fulford (#4), broke his side’s deadlock with a try from a driving maul. Tim Frederix (12) added two more points to the scoreboard for St Alban’s with a conversion to the try. NSW Combined High Schools answered with a try by Toby Denyer (#12) after a monstrous scrum by Dylan Saunders (#3).

Kick once again converted by Jack Vincent (#10). The error fuelled St Alban’s squandered another opportunity that resulted in Jack Vincent (#10) running from behind his own try line into St Alban’s half, and adding another three points for his side two phases later with a penalty. Fatigue and pressure got the better of both sides as they fumbled ball after ball, failing to make anything of their possession. New South Wales Combined High Schools managed to beat St Alban’s College 22-7.

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Hannes Nienaber

Hannes Nienaber covered schools' rugby in South Africa for Volksblad, Beeld, and Rapport for 11 years. He also created the biggest school rugby website in South Africa - School of Rugby - back in 2007. It eventually morphed into Supersport Schools Plus. He still occasionally milks cows.

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