Cape Schools Week, Day 1
Selborne and Paarl Gymnasium provided the highlight of the day when the Cape Schools Rugby and Crosscountry Week began at Grey High in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 27 June 2015.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Selborne led 15-12 with seven minutes remaining. But Paarl Gymnasium immediately went on the attack for Morné Buxman to cross in the corner, putting the Western Cape side back in front at 17-15.
Then, with three minutes remaining, a piece of individual brilliance by Selborne centre David Brits saw him outpace the Paarl Gym cover defence to deliver the win for the East London boys 20-17.
Hosts Grey High were made to work extremely hard for their 15-10 win over Rondebosch, who showed superb commitment on defence to cut down the home side attacks time and again.
Grey, though, were finally able to crack the Rondebosch defence with 12 minutes left for Aya Oliphant to race through for a try. Curwin Bosch's conversion made it 15-10 and although Rondebosch spent most of the rest of the match on the attack, Grey were equally resolute in defence.
In the first match of the day, Boland Landbou got off to a fast start to score three tries for a 19-0 lead over Dale after 18 minutes. The Dalians fought back well with two second-half tries, but the damage had been done and they were not able to make up that early deficit, losing 26-14.
SACS had a tough encounter against Muir, but were in control for most of the game in the 19-8 win, while Queen's ran in five good tries to defeat the Standard Bank XV 25-13.
By Neale Emslie
NB The Western Cape schools are not allowed to play their players who have been chosen for Craven Week and Academy Week whereas the Eastern Cape Schools are playing theirs. This means that Paarl Gim were without seven players and the others – Boland Landbou, Rondebosch and SACS – were also missing some of their better players.
Fixtures for Day 2
Monday, 29 June 2015
10.00: Standard Bank XV vs Muir
11.15: Selborne vs Rondebosch
12.30: Dale vs Paarl Gym
13.45: Queen’s vs SACS
15.00: Grey vs Boland Landbou
Results, Day 1
Boland Landbou vs Dale, 26-14
Grey High vs Rondebosch, 15-10
Queen’s vs Standard Bank XV, 25-13
SACS vs Muir, 19-8
Selborne vs Paarl Gym, 20-17
