Great Game at Muir
A fantastic school boy rugby encounter took place at Muir College as they played hosts to Kingswood from Grahamstown. Unfortunately, hosts Muir went down 29-34 in the final few minutes after trailing 10-22 at the break.
Kingswood put the first points on the board through a penalty after Muir were panalised for hands-in at ruck time. Muir replied within a few minutes through a penalty kick by hooker Senkosi Ncapayi to level the scores.
Kingswood ran in two converted tries to extend their lead.
Centre and captain Lunathi Nxele forced a turnover, stepped the defence and then showed a clean pair of heals to run in Muir’s first try. Ncapayi kicked the conversion to narrow the gap. Kingswood crossed the line for the third time after a well-worked drive from a line-out.
The second half saw both sides go at it with hammer and tongs. The teams were not willing to give an inch on defence and ran with purpose when they had ball in hand. Flyhalf Yomelela Keswa wrongfooted the defence with some fancy footwork to score Muir’s second of the game. Kingswood soon replied with their fourth try of the day. Muir reset and focused on doing the small things at 110%, which saw left wing Sicle Tole break blind off a ruck, hand off defenders and dot down over the whitewash. Outside centre Luphelo Miggels kicked the conversion to narrow the gap. Nxele showed his brilliance and crossed for Muir’s forth to level the scores. Miggels kicked the conversion to put Muir into the lead. As the clock ticked down luck played into Kingswood’s hand and just before the final whistle scored to take the lead and the game.
Muir’s loose trio, Caleb Daniels, Bulelani Mangcaka and Sipelele Latola had stand-out games in both the tight and loose. Yomelela Keswa at flyhalf and centre Lunahti Nxele deserve a special mention at they played with grit and worked hard to keep Muir on the front foot.
By Lyntin Gouws
