Pretoria Boys High scores gritty win on Goldstone’s
Beaten by 17 points earlier in the season on Brooks Field, Pretoria Boys High turned the tables on Maritzburg College and scored a morale-boosting 31-27 victory over the Red, Black, and White on Goldstone’s, in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday.
The shock loss made for a somewhat sombre last walk off of their famous home ground for the College 1st XV’s grade 12 learners.
At halftime, the home team led 17-12 and a fantastic long-range try – which Dom du Toit dotted down beneath the uprights after a scintillating run down the right touchline by Caleb Scheepers – put the home side 27-12 clear just five minutes into the second stanza.
It appeared as it would be another clear-cut win for College over Boys High, but they were unable to add a single point after that and, for the first time since 2017, the Candies got one over the Pietermaritzburg school.
The contest started well for College, who scored an early try through Amahle Hadebe, converted by the accurate Du Toit, to take a 7-0 lead within the opening 10 minutes.
Captain Wasi Vyambwera then showed why he was selected for the SA Schools side, blasting his way through a would-be tackler from close range to lift his team into a 14-0 lead after only 12 minutes. It looked so easy, but, of course, it wasn’t.
Boys High opened their account in the 18th minute when, after they had charged down an attempted clearance, prop Jeffrey Singo caught out the home side’s defence by picking up and powering his directly over a ruck for a try. Rheece Holman added the easy conversion from just right of the uprights to half the deficit.
Boys High needed to have their wits about them straight from the kick-off as College surged onto the attack, stacking phase after phase together, but the Candies scrambled well to eventually force a turnover and clear their lines.
A penalty from Du Toit extended College’s lead to 10 points. The response from the visitors was excellent. They forced their way deep into College’s 22 and came ever so close to scoring a second try. Tristan Heinz was halted less than a metre from the try line. Unfortunately for Boys High, his pop pass went forward, and the home team breathed a sigh of relief.
The Candies’ pressure was unrelenting, however, and they made it across the try line in the 29th minute, only to be held up by desperate College defence.
Vyambwera and his team were unable to escape their half, and they were made to pay just before the break when Ofentse Matlebjane rounded off wide on the right after a period of sustained pressure from the visitors.
The momentum swung back College’s way early in the second half and the reliable boot of Du Toit made it 20-12, taking the home team clear by more than a converted try. From the restart, the contest opened up as both teams probed with the boot to play the game in the opposition’s half, and both chose to counterattack with the ball rather than the boot.
Then came the superb score orchestrated by Scheepers and Du Toit. College was in control, but Boys High were not having any of it. They had suffered more than their fair share of tough losses during the season, going down to Queen’s College by three points, Kearsney College by two, and Jeppe and KES by one each. This time, they were the team to pull off a hard-fought, tight win.
Again, Singo was the catalyst. The SA Schools A front ranker took an inside pass as the Candies mounted an attack just inside the College half. From there, his power took him through two tacklers, but a third tackler swept Singo’s feet from under him. As he went down, though, he flung a spectacular pass out the back of his hand to outside centre Callum Nel, who was ranging up on Singo’s right shoulder.
A sharp sidestep and Nel was through to score beneath the uprights. Holman’s conversion kick made it 27-19 to College.
Just after the hour-mark, Boys High was back behind the hosts’ try line. This time it was their lanky lock Pieter Lindeboom who stretched over to score next to the uprights. Another easy conversion kick for Holman meant there was only one point in it.
Then, an adventurous counterattack down the right gave wing Ofentse Matlebjane some space. When he was closed down, he kicked infield just before being brought down. College looked to have it covered, but a nasty bounce led to Amahle Hadebe missing the ball and going to ground. Boys High regathered, but with the try line just 10 metres away, they knocked on. Five minutes remained.
The Candies had the bit between their teeth, and they were soon back in the College 22 when flank Banele Mashaba ran onto a short ball and charged his way towards the whitewash. Recycling possession, they went blind, then brought the ball back inside. Mashaba, who had started the attack, finished it, picking up and spinning his way across the try line.
It wasn’t a difficult conversion, but Holman struck the right upright. That meant Maritzburg College could snatch victory with a late try.
From the kick-off, they won a penalty and an accurate kick to touch put the Red, Black, and White on Boys High’s try line in the last minute of the contest. College won the throw-in and turned to the maul, but the Candies stopped them and won a five-metre scrum.
A knock-on by Pretoria Boys High gave Maritzburg College one last chance to win it from another five-metre scrum. They charged towards the visitors’ try line, but also knocked on, and Boys High cleared the ball over the dead ball line.
The final whistle blew, and the Candies were flooded by their jubilant schoolmates, who charged onto the field to celebrate a long-awaited win with them.
Scorers:
Maritzburg College 17 (27) – Tries: Amahle Hadebe, Wasi Vyambwera, Dom du Toit. Conversions: Dom du Toit (3). Penalties: Dom du Toit (2); Pretoria Boys High 31 (12) – Tries: Jeffrey Singo, Ofentse Matlbjane, Callum Nel, Pieter Lindeboom, Banele Mhlaba. Conversions: Rheece Holman (3).
Results:
u19 – Maritzburg College I 27 Pretoria Boys’ High I 31; Maritzburg College II 24 Pretoria Boys High II 5; Maritzburg College III 10 Pretoria Boys High III 7; Maritzburg College IV 26 Pretoria Boys High IV 10; Maritzburg College V 10 Pretoria Boys High V 7; Maritzburg College VI 17 Howick I 5; Maritzburg College VII 32 Pretoria Boys High VI 7; Maritzburg College VIII 50 Pretoria Boys High VII 0; Maritzburg College IX 29 Pretoria Boys High VIII 19.
u16 – Maritzburg College A 14 Pretoria Boys High A 7; Maritzburg College B 5 Pretoria Boys High B 0; Maritzburg College C 27 Pretoria Boys High C 5; Maritzburg College D 12 Pretoria Boys High D 19; Maritzburg College E 5 Pretoria Boys High E 40; Maritzburg College F 10 Pretoria Boys High F 32.
u15 – Maritzburg College A 10 Pretoria Boys High A 22; Maritzburg College B 8 Pretoria Boys High B 11; Maritzburg College C 3 Pretoria Boys High C 7; Maritzburg College D 12 Pretoria Boys High D 0; Maritzburg College E 32 Pretoria Boys High E 0; Maritzburg College F 24 Pretoria Boys High F 21.
u14 – Maritzburg College A 18 Pretoria Boys High A 25; Maritzburg College B 29 Pretoria Boys High B 17; Maritzburg College C 21 Pretoria Boys High C 12; Maritzburg College D 19 Pretoria Boys High D 12; Maritzburg College E 42 Pretoria Boys High E 28; Maritzburg College F 26 Pretoria Boys High F 12.
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