Academy romps to victory

The South African Academy team beat Zimbabwe 44-17 on the second day of Craven Week in East London. Zimbabwe emerged from the match with much credit and admiration.

It was a  wonderful match as from start to finish both sides ran themselves to exhaustion. After the final siren Zimbabwe missed a penalty kick at goal and the Academy side tries to run from their own dead-ball line.  That was the spirit of the game.

Last year the Academy smashed the SA Schools side; so Zimbabwe have nothing to feel embarrassed about – certainly not after playing with such enthusiasm.

The Academy played with the wind at their backs in the first half and led 34-7 at the break.

The Academy’s first try came from a counterattack. Zimbabwe kicked down in to the Academy half where fullback Kieran Goss, a surprise omission from the Western Province side, ran strongly, drew perfectly and sent to Ayanda Foley. The left wing wobbled in and out and beat Andrew Lindsay all ends up to score the opening try.

Foley was back on the scoreboard again when slick handling created space for William Small-Smith to race ahead, draw and send Foley over. Goss converted.

Lively scrumhalf Thabisho Zwane had a great run and Ushimen Pateni was close but the Academy had to settle for a Goss penalty to enhance their score to 15-0.

The next try started inside the Academy 22 when Errol Jagger sent Small-Smith on another strong run. He sent Foley flying and as the defenders close the wing passes a perfect pass inside to the supporting Jagger who scored. Again Goss converted. 22-0.

Zimbabwe could have folded but they did not and were rewarded for their enthusiasm when Daniel Turner broke and Tererai Nyabonda went round for a try which Charles Jiji converted. 22-7.

Academy hit back immediately with a try by Small Smith after great work by Heimar Williams, Goss converting. They then ended the half with a try by captain Cobus Porter who drove over.

Zimbabwe scored twice early in the second half when they had the wind. Jiji kicked a penalty and then they attacked down the right through Claude Bare and then came back left where Justin Coles surged over. Jiji converted. 34-17.

That was the end of Zimbabwe’s scoring though not the end of their endeavour.

The Academy’s try in the half came when they ran inside their own 22 and again the instigator was Goss who drew and passed to Pateni. The right wing used a dummy kick to beat the fullback and score. Goss converted and ended the scoring with a penalty.

Scorers:

For SA Academy:
Tries: Foley 2, Small-Smith 2, Pateni
Cons: Goss 3
Pens: Goss 2

For Zimbabwe:
Tries: Nyabonda, Coles
Cons: Jiji 2
Pens: Jiji

Teams

SA Academy: 15 Shandré Claasen (Vredendal, Boland), 14 Ushimen Pateni (Pearson, Eastern Province), 13 William Small-Smith (Grey College, Free State), 12 Heimar Williams (Affies, Blue Bulls), 11 Ayanda Foley (Victoria Park, Eastern Province), 10 Errol Jagger (Paul Roos, Western Province), 9 François de Klerk (Waterkloof, Blue Bulls), 8 Quinton Kruger (Waterkloof, Blue Bulls), 7 Cornell du Preez (Framesby, Eastern Province), 6 Kobus Porter (Noordheuwel, Golden Lions – captain), 5 Schalk van Heerden (Waterkloof, Blue Bulls), 4 James Meechum (Monument, Golden Lions, 3 Piet Stemmet (Paul Roos, Western Province), 2 Wikus Louwrens (Oakdale, South Western Districts), 1 Kelvin du Bruyn (Paul Roos, Western Province), 16 Katlego Kgama (St Stithians, Golden Lions), 17 Zolani Faku (Grey High, Eastern Province), 18 Lidokuhle Neyembe (Grey College, Free State), 19 Khaya Majola (Westville, KwaZulu Natal), 20 Thabiso Zwane (Piet Retief, Pumas), 21 Heinrich Arendse (Scottsdene, Western Province), 22 Kieran Goss (Wynberg, Western Province).

Zimbabwe: 15 Andrew Lindsay (St John’s), 14 Claude Bare (Prince Edward), 13 Daniel Turner (Peterhouse), 12 Allen Mpofu (Prince Edward), 11 Tererai Nyabonda (Peterhouse), 10 Corry van Rensburg (Falcon), 9 Charles Jiji (Prince Edward), 8 Justin Coles (St John’s), 7 Farai Jijita (Prince Edward), 6 Richard Todd (St John’s), 5 Takudzwa Jaravaza (St George’s), 4 Ryan Zeederberg (Peterhouse), 3 Richard Sainsbury (St John’s), 2 Takudzwa Mandiwanza (captain, Peterhouse), 1 Zerubabel Makomva (St George’s), 16 Craig Dollar (St John’s), 17 Ian Muza (Prince Edward), 18 Luke Rutter (Lomagundi), 19 Killian Denes (Peterhouse), 20 Duncan Dollar (Peterhouse), 21 Joseph Nicholls (St George’s), 22 Tom Nelson (Peterhouse),

Referee: Mlungiseli Mdashe