Glenwood at the World Schools Festival
Glenwood High of Durban went down to the Cape and played two matches in the World Schools Festival – against John McGlashan College of New Zealand on 25 March 2019 and the Africa Pacific Dragons on 29 March 2019.
After much anticipation it was finally time for the World Schools Festival to kick off on the 25 March 2019 in the Markötter Stadium in Stellenbosch. Some of South Africa’s top schools lined up against the Rest of the World for what turned out to be a real treat for schoolboy rugby fans.
Glenwood kicked off the tournament opener against John McGlashan College from Dunedin. This college is famous for the All Black players they groomed, of whom Andrew Hore, who represented the All blacks in 2013, is the latest. With their big forwards they were looking to be the first upset of the festival.
Both teams produced some exciting passages of play in the first half. It was Glenwood to draw first blood as scrumhalf Nico Steyn pounced on a loose ball to dot it down. The conversion from Joe Jonas was good and Glenwood had an early 7-0 lead.
Minutes later, Nico kicked the ball downfield, deep into the New Zealanders’ 22m where Glenwood wing Katleho Thamaga gave chase to score Glenwood’s second try of the match. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed, but Glenwood now had a lead of 12-0.
John McGlashan College restored some pride just before half-time when Harrison Morton dived over from a ruck. The conversion was good. Glenwood still led 12-5.
John McGlashan College was penalised on the stroke of half-time, and Joe Jonas added the extra three points for a 15-7 lead at the break.
John McGlashan College started the second half way better with eighthman, Leeroy Ferguson, dragging a couple of defenders with him over the try-line to score. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the lead reduced to 15-12.
The rest of the half belonged to the Glenwood backline – fierce, relentless and exciting – they showed what they are capable of as they scored three more tries. Substitute wing Marthino van Wyk ran in for two tries, dancing his way through the defence, and Nico Steyn provided great supportive play to score the next try. Two of the three tries were converted. Glenwood’s backline proved to be the clear difference between the two sides. The final score was 32-17 for Glenwood.
In Glenwood’s second game, they faced the Africa Pacific Dragons. For the first 40 minutes it was quite a close encounter with the score at 14-10 with Nico Steyn and Freddie Slabbert scoring for Glenwood. The Africa Pacific Dragon’s centre, David Kalekale, scored twice to keep them in the game. Glenwood seemed to have too much fire power for the Dragons as they scored another 3 tries in 20 minutes to seal the game, a 33-10 victory for the Green Machine from Durban.
Glenwood will now shift their focus to Maritzburg College on the 6 April 2019.
By Alex van der Merwe
