Affies beat spirited Boys High

Affies secured bragging rights in the 108th interschools match against their close neighbours Pretoria Boys High on Saturday after securing a 34-11 win on their home ground. The hosts were 27-6 up at half-time in this FNB Classic Clash.

This was a match of two halves. Affies were totally dominant in the first half and ran Boys High ragged to score four tries in the first 30 minutes.

The first came after only two minutes when fine linking between forwards and backs saw right wing Marcus Kleinbooi go over in the corner. When left wing Andries van der Merwe scored in the opposite corner after nine minutes, it looked as if the Candy Stripes might be walloped. They came back in spirited fashion though and reduced the Affies lead to four points through two penalties by flyhalf Kevin Twiname.

Affies No.10 Henko Posthumus then stretched the lead after a successful penalty.

The home side hammered home the advantage and were soon rewarded after a line out five metres out when captain and SA Schools prop Pierre Schoeman burst over from close range. Posthumus converted to stretch the lead to 20-6 after 27 minutes.

Boys High tried valiantly, but an excellent counter-attack saw Affies score their fourth try through inside centre Marchant van den Heever. Posthumus was once again successful to bring up the half-time score of 27-6.

The second half started as if the pattern of play was to be continued. Number eight Steven Meiring went over after a well-executed driving maul and Posthumus added the extras to take the lead to 34-6 after 44 minutes.

This, however, was the end of the home team’s scoring for the afternoon. Boys High were resolute and applied pressure on the Affies’ tryline in what was their best period of play in the match. They were held out only by some solid defence from the Wit Bulle. Eventually, however, they were rewarded when right wing Sandile Hlatswayo went over in the right-hand corner.

For the home team nobody played better than hooker François Steyn. He is surely Craven Week material and put in a solid performance on attack and defence. Centre Jurie Linde tested the Boys High defence whenever he had possession.

For Boys High the names of centre Felix McGregor, number six Ngoako Ralepelle and lock Ricco van Straaten need to mentioned.

Affies, however, will be cock-a-hoop after winning 28 of the 29 matches on the day.

The scorers:

For Affies:
Tries: Marcus Kleinbooi, Andries van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Marchant van den Heever, Steven Meiring
Cons: Henko Posthumus 3
Pens: Posthumus

For Pretoria Boys High:
Try: Sandile Hlatswayo
Pens: Kevin Twiname 2

The teams:

Pretoria Boys High: 15 Luke Stevenson, 14 Sandile Hlatshwayo, 13 Cameron Anthony (captain), 12 Felix Mcgregor, 11 Warrick Dunkley, 10 Kevin Twiname, 9 Michael Kurz, 8 Matthew Schiff, 7 Michael De Waal, 6 Ngoako Ralepelle, 5 Ricco van Straaten, 4 William Scott, 3 Steven Barber, 2 Cameron van Heerden,1 Cedric Kabeya .
Replacements: 16 Jonathan Howard, 17 Jason Schmidt, 18 Willie Lloyd, 19 Paul Makgaba, 20 Kelvin Pieterse, 21 Dale Harris.

Coaches: Greg Hassenkamp, Mike Housdon

Affies: 15 Thys van Wyk, 14 Marcus Kleinbooi, 13 Jurie Linde, 12 Marchant van der Heever, 11 Andries van der Merwe, 10 Ryno Eksteen, 9 Louis Venter, 8 Steven Meiring, 7 Heinrich Viljoen, 6 Albert van Heerden, 5 Janse van Rensburg, 4 Jean Droste, 3 Pierre Schoeman (captain), 2 François Steyn, 1 WP Elof.

Coaches: P Joynt, H van Jaarsveldt, S van der Walt

By Billy Brown