Wednesday night lights as Bennies looks to end on high

Nothing quite beats a midweek fixture, just before the long weekend. What better way to get the Youth Day celebrations rolling with some schoolboy rugby?

A fired-up St Benedict’s College who are going through a purple patch of form, winning three out of their last four fixtures, will be hosting St Stithians College.

The side have beaten Parktown Boys’ High, St Alban’s College, and St David’s Marist, their most recent loss to St John’s College where they went down (34-22), in what was a slight upset.

Kick-off takes place at 18:05. These two sides have already met earlier in the season where St Benedict’s came out on top, winning the fixture away (26-17).

The team have already come out on top twice against St Alban’s College and will be looking to do the same against Saints.

St Stithians however might be the underdogs in this fixture but don’t be surprised to see the team coming out all guns blazing as they look to wrap up, what has been a long and tedious season. The staff might take an opportunity to scout a few new recruits for next year’s season.

Saints will be looking at prop Keabetswe Mapukana to put in some big hits in defense as the side looks to slow down any sort of offensive play from the home team. The backline will need to fire if they want to put points on the board and push for a win, watch out for winger Tinashe Gweshe as looks to kick it up a gear.

Bennies Coach Andrew Barnes will be going into the match feeling confident in his side’s ability to perform during crucial times. His side has won nine matches this season and are on the search for a tenth.

St Bendict’s College have managed to find ways to win from unlikely positions as was the case against St Alban’s College where they won the match from behind. The team is well led by skipper Sabelo Shangase, who has shown his tenacity in the scrumhalf position.

Against St David’s Marist, Bennies defended well making 68 tackles in the second half to slow down the hosts who were persistent in attack as they searched for victory, locks Luke Carr and Declan Murphy put in some hard graft.

The teams will be looking forward to squaring off against each other before entering their midterms.

Expect an exciting match to be played under lights in very cold conditions with evening temperatures set to drop down to 11 degrees.

Can Bennies secure a second win over Saints and hold their cool or will there be an upset with St Stithians breaking the ice?

Teams:

St Benedict’s College: 15 Onkgopotse Monaheng, 14 Ntelezi Mchunu, 13 Raymond Hassim, 12 Uche Ejike, 11 Nathi Beda, 10 Jason Pengelley, 9 Sabelo Shangase, 8 Jason Cutler, 7 Thando Jadezweni, 6 Byron Smit, 5 Declan Murphy, 4 Luke Carr, 3 Victor Goncalves, 2 Michael Mundove, 1 Daniel Walsh.

St Stithians College: 15 Lebo Mofolo, 14 Ben Parkinson, 13 Sean Strydom, 12 Gabriel Hore, 11 Tinashe Gweshe, 10 Nthabeleng Mafole, 9 Aidan Appalsamy, 8 Tashinga Chingonzo, 7 Ryan Zvinevashe, 6 Mathula Sikhakhane, 5 Thato Madziwanyika, 4 Francois Botes, 3 Keabetswe Mapukana, 2 Braedon Hollingworth, 1 Branden Lightfoot.

Fixtures:

u14A: 15:00 pm (C Field)

u15A: 15:00 pm (B Field)

u16A: 15:00 pm (A Field)

u19B: 16:15 pm (A Field)

u19A: 18:05 pm (A Field)