St John’s clinches dramatic win in Pink Day clash

Fullback Gerald Van Wyk stole the show, with only two minutes left on the clock, by launching a devastating counterattack that produced the winning try for St John’s College against St Stithians College on Burger Field on Saturday.

After trailing for most of the game, the Blues sneaked over the line to claim the Pink Day honours by four points, 24-20.

Rewatch the all the action on SuperSport Schools.

St Stithians scored first from a well-executed lineout, storming up to the hosts’ try line before flank Ross Turner went over to silence the home crowd.

Then, a smart tap-and-go from Chris Anderson saw the flyhalf sell a classic dummy pass before bursting through a gap to dive over for another five points, which took the visitors 12-0 clear.

Blues’ substitute and utility-back Kago Masote scored just before the break, after the hosts had pressed hard to deep inside the St Stithians’ 22. A pass out wide opened up space for Masote to charge over unchallenged.

Saints then suffered a big blow when their talented no. 10, Anderson, was stretchered from the field with an injury.

At half-time, only five points separated the sides. Trailing at home, St John’s came out all guns blazing in the second stanza.

Saints tacked on another eight points, but some handling errors and a blunder, which resulted in a yellow card, left St John’s with a favourable opportunity to pull back some points. They made it count, with Jacob Smith and Joshua Shannon each scoring tries.

The match was a fine showcase for independent schools’ rugby, with the Pink Drive emerging as the biggest winner on the day, thanks to the awareness that was raised for the cause, with the teams both wearing pinks socks, the field’s lines being painted pink, and spectators wearing pink to show their support.

In Pretoria, St Alban’s marched to a 29-14 victory over St David’s Marist Inanda. It was a hard-earned and morale-boosting victory for the Hoops after they delivered a disappointing performance last weekend against St John’s.

Eighthman Daniel Bouwer, returning from injury, was among the points’ scorers. He also showcased good ball-handling skills and was impactful at scrum time.

St David’s converted three penalties from the boot of Diego Ferreira, as a result of sloppy play by the hosts, and only one point separated the schools at the beginning of the second half, with St Alban’s leading 10-9.

However, as was the case last week, St Alban’s found a new lease on life after the break, and this time they ran in four tries, with Tumelo Mohale dotting down twice.

Prop D’Andre Mushonga scored for the visitors, but it was not enough to bring his side back into contention, as the Hoops were well ahead by the time he went over.

Meanwhile, St Benedict’s registered only their second win of the season and their first since early in March by beating Cornwall Hill College 14-3.

Cornwall Hill’s only points came from a penalty kick by flyhalf Matthew Fox. In reply, Bennies scored two tries, one from Declan le Roux and the other from Tebogo Phukuile. Inside centre Braeden le Roux easily converted both.

St Benedict’s will be relieved to have tasted victory after a long dry spell during which both points and victories were hard to come by.

Point Scorers

St John’s College 24 (7) – Tries: Jacob Smith, Joshua Shannon, Kago Masote, Gerald van Wyk. Conversions: Gerald van Wyk (2). St Stithians 20 (14) – Tries: Ross Turner, Chris Anderson.  Conversions: Chris Anderson (2). Penalty: Josh Meyer (2).

St Alban’s 29 (10) – Tries: Tumelo Mohale (2), Daniel Bouwer, Everett Gosling, Andreas Phillipou. Conversions: Joshua Verster (2). St David’s 14 (9) – Try – D’Andre Mushonga. Penalties: Diego Ferreira (3).

St Benedict’s 14 (7) – Tries: Declan le Roux, Tebogo Phukuile. Conversions: Braeden le Roux (2). Cornwall Hill 3 (3) – Penalty: Matthew Fox.