Westville chasing first win on Glenwood’s Dixon’s since 2015
Westville Boys’ High visits Dixon’s Field on Saturday for a showdown with Glenwood High. The Griffins will be favoured to bag a win, but they’ll know a proud, hard Green Machine awaits them.
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Last year, Westville’s unbeaten 1st XV faced Glenwood in the friendly confines of Bowden’s Field, and it was a difficult outing. Although Westville won 42-25, they were only 25-21 ahead early in the second half. An intercept try from Moustapher Gcina broke open a tight contest, helping the home side to pull away to a 17-point victory.
In 2024, it was 35-32 in favour of Westville on Bowden’s. When Westville last visited Dixon’s Field in 2023, the Green Machine triumphed 25-24. All of which goes to say that recent matches between the schools have been tightly contested.
While the visitors will run onto Dixon’s as the favourite, they will take to Glenwood’s field knowing, too, that a tough, unforgiving physical examination awaits them. The Green Machine’s approach is blue-collar. Glenwood boys get stuck in and seem to relish the dirty work, the foundation that enables them to express themselves.
Last weekend, in an entertaining 26-26 draw with St Charles College, though, their backs conjured up some fantastic counterattacking tries. Rosco Williams dissected the Saints‘ defence when they hesitated for only a moment, and Jakub Bednar, on the left wing, produced a wonderful try-scoring run, combining power and pace, to get the better of four defenders.
Elgenio Oerson, who was selected for the Sharks Academy Week side, along with Rosco Williams, pulls the strings in the backline. He reads the game well and provides good direction from inside centre.
On Saturday, at Old Orchards, not to be outdone by the Glenwood backline players, hooker Tyler Leon, better known for running through tacklers, sold a lovely dummy to score from range.
Descriptions of sharp counterattacking are often associated with Westville Boys’ High. They’ve had their challenges this season with injuries, but their starting XV for Saturday’s showdown looks awfully familiar, with some of the senior players who were out of action returning. They’re playing good rugby now.
When they’re fit and firing, Westville is a runaway, abnormal load. Glenwood will need to close down space and force the visitors into a tighter, more forward-based contest than they would like to play. It’s not that Westville doesn’t have the firepower up front. They do. It’s that Glenwood will not want the Westville backs to have space to play in.
The visitors are blessed with pace and playmakers behind their pack, and it all starts with flyhalf, Jade-Will Koopman, who possesses the boot to dominate the game, both from a tactical and a goal-kicking perspective. One cannot simply sell out to stop that, however, as Koopman is a dangerous runner, too, and adept at getting his backline moving.
Outside centre, Jadrian Afrikaner, feeds off the more direct approach of his midfield partner, Curtis Fenton, and there are few finishers able to match Afrikaner. If he spots a gap, he has the speed, the power, and the feet to fly through it in a split second.
Outside of last year’s SA Schools’ left-wing, Westville has flyers in Avumile Lisa and Bukho Sotaka, and a superb counterattacking fullback in Lux Sonkonoknono.
Up front, and now fit, they look formidable.
Westville’s season hasn’t panned out as successfully as might have been expected. But a closer look at their tough schedule reveals five losses and four of those – against Hilton College, Jeppe, Waterkloof, and Northwood – were by five points or less. With slim margins, there were one or two moments in those contests that, had Westville won them, they would have also won those matches. They remain a top team.
Glenwood’s season hasn’t gone smoothly. They’re a young outfit, and that comes with growing pains. But they play with pride and a never-back-down attitude, so, as the legendary New York Yankees‘ catcher, Yogi Berra, was quoted as saying: “It ain’t over till it’s over”.
Glenwood High vs Westville Boys’ High, Dixon’s Field, in Durban, at 15:30
Glenwood High (Likely): 15 Rosco Williams, 14 Lebohang Skosana, 13 Cade Isaacs, 12 Elgenio Oerson, 11 Jakub Bednar, 10 Jonah Chaita, 9 Vincenzo Loutz, 8 Inginathi Pepu, 7 Cody Sell, 6 Andile Mbokazi, 5 James Swift, 4 Nathan Lupke, 3 Zazi Msimango, 2 Tyler Leon, 1 Bonga Cibane.
Westville Boys’ High: 15 Lux Sonkononkono, 14 Bukho Sotaka, 13 Jadrian Afrikaner, 12 Curtis Fenton, 11 Avumile Lisa, 10 Jade-Will Koopman, 9 Sandiswa Mbokazi, 8 Lwandle Makhanya, 7 Omphiwe Dladla, 6 Ezra Karosilin, 5 Lwandile Mlaba, 4 Warren Murray, 3 Bandile Mncwango, 2 Lwandle Bulose, 1 Sibusiso Hlongwa.
