St Charles overpowers St David’s in King Price Derby Series showdown
St Charles College, celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2025, welcomed St David’s Marist Inanda, 84 years of age, to Old Orchards, in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday for a King Price Derby Series showdown.
Although they’re a young unit, St Charles has played some fine rugby this season and has put together some especially impressive performances at home. They produced another one against the visitors from upcountry.
Craig Dwyer‘s charges performed strongly, both on attack and defence, to power their way to a convincing 34-6 victory, with three players crossing for two tries each.
St David’s, though, had an opportunity to take an early lead, but a penalty attempt by left-footed Luca Cabion was wide to the right from about 46 metres out.
Instead, it was St Charles who struck first from a lineout on the visitors’ 22. A clean take from the big eighthman Raphael Ajibade set up good ball and Saints attacked the flyhalf channel.
Running onto the ball at pace, the home team dented the St David’s defence. Then, Ajibade, who has signed a contract with The Bulls, took a pass on the fifth phase of play. He broke two tackles and then powered over the top of a third tackler to dot down for a fifth minute try.
Fullback André Bosman turned it into a seven-point advantage by slotting the conversion kick.
Another lineout laid the foundation for a second St Charles try in the 14th minute. From just five metres out, the home team perfectly pulled off a training ground move. Ajibade first drew the attention of the opposing lineout by moving to the front. Then, his fellow second-rower, Josh Harris, pulled the defenders with him as he headed deep.
The throw-in, instead, went low and short from hooker Dresden Coetzee to Ajibade, at the front of the lineout. He popped it inside to scrumhalf Agape Nyawo and he was over for a try, which was a carbon copy of Cyril Cherayi‘s score for Maritzburg College in their 23-20 win at Hilton, at the top of Town Hill.
A lot of rugby was played between the 22-metre areas for the remainder of the half, but the scoreboard remained the same.
Early in the second half, though, St David’s, at last, made it onto the board with a penalty from Cabion. It didn’t take long for St Charles to respond, and their reply was worth seven points.
From a ruck inside the St David’s 22, Ajibade crumpled the visitors’ defence without quite making it through, but scrumhalf Nyawo was up on his outside to take a pop pass and crash over for five points.
Bosman’s conversion attempt hooked to the left, leaving St Charles with a 17-3 lead.
Cabion reduced the deficit to 11 points with a second penalty in the 45th minute. Unfortunately for St David’s, they conceded straight from the restart.
A high kick-off was knocked on and Saints claimed possession. Nyawo fed the burly tighthead Braydon Joese and he made ground, almost wriggling through the defensive line. Nyawo and Mathew Ludick, then, flummoxed the visitors’ defence, with Ludick running a tight line onto a pop pass, which put him beyond the ruck. A quick step off his right foot and the wing was over beneath the uprights for a try.
Bosman kicked the easy conversion, and St Charles was 24-6 clear.
St David’s was able to exert pressure on the home side, spending some time deep in the St Charles’ 22, but credit to the boys in white, they stood tall and repelled their black-clad visitors’ attacking efforts.
Nearing the hour-mark, when the Sandton school tried to run a ball out of their 22, they turned over possession after a strong hit from St Charles jarred the ball loose, and they were made to pay. The impressive Nyawo was covering the defensive line and snatched up the ball before quickly releasing it to Ludick, on his outside.
The wing had plenty to do, but he produced some magic to cross for his second try. He froze the defence by first going inside, then outside. Then, with a show of the ball, he caused further hesitation in the St David’s ranks. Taking advantage of that, he hit the gas and rounded the defence wide on the left for a superb solo effort.
Try as they might, St David’s could get no change out of the stubborn St Charles defence, and it was the home side that had the final say in the contest with a highlight reel score from the powerful and speedy Raphael Ajibade.
He picked up off the back of a scrum on the St David’s 10-metre line and charged away to the blindside. A tackler, trying to catch him from behind, slipped off of his pumping legs, while a second man was fended off. Then, with impressive athleticism, the big number eight hurdled the last man and, appropriately for such a splendid run, ended it with a swan dive.
Bosman was unable to add the extras, but St Charles ran out deserved 34-6 winners after a fine performance.
Scores
St Charles 34 (12) – Tries: Raphael Ajibade (2), Mathew Ludick (2), Agape Nyawo (2). Conversions: Andre Bosman (2); St David’s Marist Inanda 6 (0) – Penalties: Luca Cabion (2).
Results
u19 – St Charles I 34 St David’s 6; St Charles II 36 St David’s II 27; St Charles III 29 St David’s III 7; St Charles IV 42 St David’s IV 29; St Charles V 29 Development II 48.
u16 – St Charles A 30 St David’s A 25; St Charles B 7 St David’s B 13; St Charles C 31 St David’s C 34.
u15 – St Charles A 31 St David’s A 22; St Charles B 0 St David’s B 56.
u14 – St Charles A 53 St David’s A 0; St Charles B 36 St David’s B 35; St Charles C 12 St David’s C 27.
