FNB in Grahamstown - two reports

On Saturday Graeme College hosted St Andrew's in an FNB Classic Clash, won narrowly by the visitors. We have two reports of the match, one from Graeme and one from St Andrew's. To be fair we give both.

One of the great Eastern Cape schools rivalries took place this past Saturday, which saw the much favoured St Andrews College make the short trip to take on local rivals Graeme College. A vastly improved Graeme 1st XV went into the match quietly confident an upset was on the cards.

The match began to a roar from the school boys in attendance, to cheer on their team. Initially, each team could not make the early breaks and set about looking to gain territorial advantage through the boot. The deadlock was broken after 11 minutes when St Andrews where awarded a penalty which was expertly converted by inside centre Ryan Horne. The score was soon doubled to 6-0 as R Horne expertly converted another penalty after an infringement by the Graeme forwards.

The emotion of the rivalry was evident as both teams fiercely contested each breakdown in what was becoming an increasingly physical encounter. After some enterprising attacking play from the home team the deficit was slashed via the boot of outside centre Abongile Hashe to make the score 6-3. Soon after, a slick set piece sent Horne through to score the first try of the match on 20 minutes, which he duly converted to put St Andrews in control; the scoreboard reading 13-3. The Graeme boys were not disheartened and were full of the usual running which has become the hallmark of Graeme rugby. It was however a sloppy pass from the St Andrews side that allowed Graeme back into that allowed the back into the match. An overthrown pass was opportunistically seized on by flank Ethan September to score a try which sent the partisan home crowd into raptures. Abongile Hashe this time converted after previously missing two penalties to make the score 13-10 in favour of the visitors going into the break.

The second half began with the home side grabbing the momentum and piling on the pressure. Numerous line breaks were not converted as a combination of brilliant last ditch defending by St Andrews and perhaps a few wrong decisions meant that St Andrews held off Graeme in the opening minutes of the half. It was however Graeme who scored next, as another St Andrews error was pounced upon by the Graeme backs, who flooded through to move ahead on the score board when right wing X Mbane scored just left of the uprights. The try was again converted by Hashe to leave St Andrews trailing 17-13. Sensing the growing chance of an upset the St Andrews men attacked with vigour as they lay siege upon the Graeme try line. St Andrews went for the jugular as they kept the ball in hand instead of taking a few three- point opportunities. The gamble paid off as the intense pressure left eighthman Matthew Stopforth to bash his way over the line amid scenes of jubilation from the travelling support. Horne was having a great day with the boot and looked untroubled in making the score 20-17 after another successful conversion. As the clock ran down, St Andrews looked to seal the match as another Hone penalty increased the deficit to 6, 23-17. The climax of the match will live long in the memories of all lucky enough to be in attendance as the home team looked to find a last ditch five pointer. With the time up on the clock, the Graeme side found a way through the desperate defence to bundle over the line after what was constant and unrelenting pressure, Lungi Dube surged over the line just right of the uprights to bring the score back within 1 with the conversion to come.

What ensued was heart breaking for the Graeme boys as Hashe was unable to convert; pulling his attempt wide, in what was the last kick of the game. The game ending 23-22 in favour of St Andrews; an upset avoided by a few inches.

By Craig Dargie of Graeme College

Saturday saw the St Andrew’s College 1st XV take on Graeme College in the FNB Classic Clashes in the local Grahamstown Derby. The atmosphere was highly charged as Graeme College were sniffing an upset after some good early season form in the local leagues.

The 1st XV coming off a long three-week break started slowly and struggled to shake the cobwebs of the holidays. This didn't stop the team from taking an early 6-0 lead through two penalties by Ryan Horne.  Graeme then narrowed the lead with a penalty. This seemed to spark the first team to life and led to their best period of play, capped off with a magnificent individual try by centre Ryan Horne as he sliced through the opposition defence and rounded it off himself from 50m out. College dominance was not converted into more points and shortly before half time a wayward pass led to Graeme’s first try giving St Andrew’s a slender 13-10 lead going into half time.

The second half was a ding dong affair with both sides threatening but not converting their opportunities. In fact it was Graeme who scored first totally against the run of play as they followed up and booted through a kick to score under the poles and take the lead 17-13. Not for the first time this season the College team were asked to dig deep in order to come out with the right result and this they did. After a sustained series of pressure, Stuart Stopforth crashed over for a well-deserved try and Horne converted again. 20-17 to St Andrew’s College. The pressure was on again from the first team as they now seemed to have more urgency in their play. This forced another penalty which Ryan Horne duly converted taking College six points clear. The last couple of minutes were tense as Graeme through attack after attack at the St Andrew’s line. Finally they sneaked over for a deserved try and had the conversion to win it. The kick sailed wide and College sneaked home 23-22.

It was a classic derby and it certainly provided some classic rugby. The St Andrew’s  College team certainly got a good wake-up call and will be certain to produce a more accurate performance in the weeks to come.

Thank you to Graeme College for hosting us and to the boys for their great support.

From St Andrew's College

Scorers:

For Graeme:

Tries: Ethan September, Xhanti Mbane, Lungi Dube

Cons: Abongile Hashe 2

Pens: Abongile Hashe

For St Andrew's:

Tries: Ryan Horne, Stuart Stopforth

Cons: Ryan Horne 2

Pens: Ryan Horne 3

Teams

Graeme: 15 Angelo Fraser, 14 Xhanti Mbane, 13 Abongile Hashe, 12 Gordon-Wayne Plaatjes (captain), 11 Xanti Sandi, 10 Sethu Pinini, 9 Craig Williams, 8 Siya Nzuzo, 7 Ethan September, 6 Ryan Calitz, 5 Siphe Mhlom (vice-captain), 4 Lungi Dube, 3 Siyasanga Mthathi, 2 Odwa Xonxa, 1 Xandré Vos

St Andrew's: 15 Courtney Archer, 14 Mbulelo Mama, 13 Robert Ball, 12 Ryan Horne, 11 Roy Bowles, 10 Ethan Fortuin, 9 Jasson Baggott (vice-captain), 8 Stuart Stopforth, 7 Matt Andrews, 6 Tristan van Heteren, 5 Sintu Manjezi (captain), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Adrian Parsons, 2 Thomas Filmer, 1 David Murray

Referee. Sindile Ngese