Saints look to jump through Hoops, St John’s hosts St Benedict’s

St Stithians College hosts their annual Old Boys’ Day on Saturday, with a 1st XV showdown against St Alban’s College kicking off at 12:30 on the prestigious Baytop Field.

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The Hoops will be raring to go after overrunning St Benedict’s College 47-7 last weekend at home.

St Stithians boast an experienced front row, with both of their props, Keabetswe Mapukana and Braeden Lightfoot, veterans from last year’s meeting of the school’s first teams. As always, the battle up front will be a crucial component of the match.

Saints did not play last weekend due to a cancellation with Northcliff High School, and they head into the contest off the back of three hard-fought losses against St Charles College (20-28), St David’s Marist Inanda (27-28) and Parktown Boys’ High (15-23).

St Alban’s will be without lock Tim Garnett, who sustained a serious injury last weekend in their match against St Benedict’s College and will turn to Jandré Botha to make an impact in Garnett’s absence.

Last weekend, St John’s College was left feeling blue after a 24-36 defeat at Pretoria Boys High School. Despite losing, St John’s played some good rugby during the match, especially in the first half, and they led up until the break. They delivered some big hits before halftime but were less effective in the second stanza.

They have an opportunity to return to winning ways when they take on St Benedict’s College at 12:15 on Burger Field, and the home side will be heavy favourites to win.

Lock Dom Kamangu steps into the captain’s role with the side’s regular captain and 8th-man, Kyle Watson, missing due to an injury which he suffered against Boys High. It’s a big loss for the Blues, but Kamangu will relish the opportunity to skipper the side in his teammate’s absence.

St Benedict’s continues a long season, desperate to notch up a win. St Alban’s, last weekend, was able to punch holes in their defensive setup, but it has been Bennies’ dearth of points on the offensive end of matters which has held back the side.

In their last five matches, they have totalled only 32 points, barely above six per game. The last time they made it into double figures, it was in a losing cause against Graeme College at the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival, with the Eastern Cape side running away to a 50-12 victory. That is also, in fact, the only time they’ve reached double figures in 2024. It has been a very tough season.

Still, Bennies will be keen to finish off the second term on a high. That could mean a victory or scoring the most points they have this season. They’ll need to find some attacking continuity, and if anyone is likely to give them that it is their inside centre Braeden Le Roux.

Last year, when the schools met, St John’s won 34-22. Bryson Walker, who plays at right-wing on Saturday, enjoyed a fine outing on that occasion, kicking well to help the Blues to victory. He’ll handle the kicking duties once again.

St David’s Marist Inanda takes on Cornwall Hill College. It should be a close match.

In their most recent outing, St David’s fell to a resurgent Parktown Boys’ High, going down 19-24, while Cornwall Hill beat St Andrew’s School 8-3 in Bloemfontein. The Pretoria school could find their challenge undermined, however, by the absence of a number of their players, who are out of action due to injury and illness.

Saint David’s scrumhalf Diego Ferreira bears watching as a player likely to impact the outcome. He is quick on his feet and usually an accurate goal kicker.

FIXTURES AND TEAMS

St John’s vs St Benedict’s

u14A: 8:00 – St Johns College vs St Benedict’s (D Field)
u15A: 9:00 – St Johns College vs St Benedict’s (C Field)
u16A: 10:00 – St Johns College vs St Benedict’s (Burger Field)
u19B: 11:05 – St John’s College vs St Benedict’s (Burger Field)
u19A: 12:15 – St Johns College vs St Benedict’s (Burger Field)

Stithians vs St Alban’s 

u14A: 08:00 – Stithians vs St Alban’s (Jameson 1 Field)
u15A: 09:00 – Stithians vs St Alban’s (Dlamini Field)
u16A: 10:00 – Stithians vs St Alban’s (Baytop Field)
u16A: 11:15 -Stithians vs St Alban’s (Baytop Field)
u19A: 12:30 – Stithians vs St Alban’s (Baytop Field)

St David’s Marist Inanda vs Cornwall Hill 

u15A: 09:20 – St David’s vs Cornwall Hill (Gier C Field)
u14A: 10:20 – St David’s vs Cornwall Hill (Gier D Field)
u16A: 10:20 – St David’s vs Cornwall Hill (La Valla B Field)
u19B: 10:20 – St David’s vs Alberton (u19A) (La Valla A Field)
u19A: 12:30 – St David’s vs Cornwall Hill (La Valla A Field)

St Stithians College: 15 Cullen Bradford, 14 Hlelo Ngwenya, 13 Nthabeleng Mafole, 12 Gabriel Hore, 11 Tyler Maclennan, 10 Chris Anderson, 9 Aphelele Ngcuka, 8 Tashinga Chingonzo, 7 Thato Madziwanyika, 6 Ross Turner, 5 Francois Botes, 4 Luke Thorrold, 3 Keabetswe Mapukana, 2 Braedon Hollingworth, 1 Branden Lightfoot.

St Alban’s College: 15 Matthew Nelson, 14 Malesela Sema, 13 Tumelo Mohale, 12 Enzo Olivier, 11 Sihle Msiza, 10 JJ Steenkamp, 9 Joshua Verster, 8 Patrick Weir, 7 Thabiso Mbembele 6 Ben Stevenson, 5 Keegan Dick, 4 Jandre Botha, 3 Neo Gama, 2 Craig Milne 1 Andreas Philippou.

St John’s College: 15 Oliver Tait, 14 Bryson Walker, 13 Malan du Plessis, 12 Thomas Ivers, 11 Jacob Smith, 10 Gerald van Wyk, 9 Tom Kruger, 8 ⁠Rohan Sheldon, 7 Menzi Bongwe, 6 Matt Liss, 5 Zain Newman, 4 Dom Kamangu , 3 Matthew Kaplan, 2 Kakuhle Tunguta, 1 Joshua Shannon.

St Benedict’s College: 15 Matthew Hovelmeier, 14 Tshegofatso Mojapelo, 13 Freddie Durrant, 12 Braeden le Roux, 11 Wade Ramsay, 10 Declan le Roux, 9 Iviwe Mlilo, 8 Jason Cutler, 7 Matthew Joubert, 6 Tebogo Phukuile, 5 Luke Carr, 4 Nicholas Moravec, 3 Matthew Rourke, 2 Thato Ntshangase, 1 Victor Goncalves.

St David’s Marist Inanda: 15 Teegen Rossini, 14 Tristan Lambe, 13 Theo Fonternel, 12 Elliot Skei, 11 Kuzivakwashe Majuru, 10 Luca Cabion, 9 Diego Ferreira, 8Jack Brady, 7 James Askew, 6 Tahin Patel, 5 Mark Hudson, 4 William Allemann, 3 Marco Bitter, 2 Connor Mc Williams, 1 D’Andre Mushonga.

Cornwall Hill College: 15 Matthew Fox, 14 Arno Mosupye, 13 Nathan du Plooy, 12 Onkabetse Leketi, 11 Daniel van Ravensteyn, 10 Tshepo Molete, 9 Eric van Ravensteyn, 8 Dade Kunneke, 7 Tristan Austin, 6 Max Land, 5 Julian Hattingh, 4 Alex Botes, 3 Omar Sabah, 2 Evangelos Papadopolous, 1 Tana Nhando.