Grey Festival - Day 1
The host school completed an entertaining opening day of the Grey High Rugby Festival in Port Elizabeth when they outclassed Northwood 43-12 in the final match of the programme on Thursday, 21 March 2019.
Playing into a stiff breeze, Grey established their dominance with some thrilling tries in the first half to take a 21-5 lead into the break. With the conditions in their favour, they kept a sizeable gap between themselves and their Durban opponents to run out comfortable winners.
Northwood gave a committed effort throughout the match, but could not hold the slick handling of the Grey backs, who often created enough of a gap to slip through for seven tries in total. These came from Liyema Matyolweni, Kai van Kampen, Nathan Doster, Litha Adam, Larkquin Goliath, Siviwe Zondani and Jared Kirsten.
Their opponents seized on any errors to score a try in each half through Keane Fourie and Ntokozo Makaya, but they could not stem the flow of attacks from the Grey outfit.
In a thrilling main curtain-raiser, Jeppe snatched victory from Selborne with the final move of the game in a 19-15 result.
The match was a humdinger between two strong sides and Selborne were well-placed at 15-5 before Jeppe, with the wind at their backs, mounted a rearguard action.
They narrowed the gap with a converted try and then camped in the Selborne 22-metre area in the closing stages. They showed great patience on attack and eventually forced their way over next to the posts for the winning score.
Selborne’s tries came from Sibusiso Javu (2) and Warrick Day, while Jeppe replied through Lifa Jambani (2) and Ashley Cloete, with the two conversions making the difference.
Queen’s and St Stithians became involved in a titanic battle, with the score fluctuating from one side to the other.
After conceding an early try and a penalty, St Stithians accelerated past their opponents with four quick tries to move 24-10 ahead.
Queen’s reduced the gap with a second try before halftime and then used the wind to great effect in the second half. As their opponents failed to deal with the high ball, Queen’s unleashed their running game for a further five tries to end up convincing 46-24 winners.
Framesby also took the first half to find their feet in their clash with Durban High School, trailing 10-0 at the break after a try (by Shakur la Douce) and a penalty.
However, once Ruan du Preez crossed for their first try early in the second half, the Port Elizabeth team went on the rampage to surge to a 54-10 win. They ran DHS ragged and further tries came from Jemaine George, Sebastian Brandt, William Moffet, Divan van Wyk, Ruan Claassen and Ruben du Preez.
The other close result came in the second match of the day when St Alban’s held on for a 10-7 win against Graeme.
A highlight of the opening game was a superb solo effort by Hudson Park wing Bulelani Ngaki, who took the ball from the kick-off and ran through the St Benedict’s side to help his team win 24-14.
Day 1 Results
Dale College vs Muir, 33-3
Framesby vs DHS, 54-10
Grey High Unicorns vs Ithembelihle, 24-22
Grey High vs Northwood, 43-12
Hudson Park vs St Benedict’s, 24-14
Jeppe Boys vs Selborne, 19-15
Kingswood vs Parktown, 50-12
Marlow vs Stirling, 24-5
Queen’s vs St Stithians, 46-24
St Alban’s vs Graeme College, 10-7
St Andrew’s College vs St John’s, 31-0
St David’s Marist Inanda vs Woodridge, 24-7
Saturday’s first team fixtures are:
Philip field
08:00 Queen’s vs St David’s Marist Inanda
09:10 Stirling vs St Stithians
10:20 Parktown vs Dale
11:40 Kingswood vs St John’s
12:50 Jeppe vs St Andrew’s
14:00 Selborne vs Northwood
15:20 Grey High vs DHS
Pollock Oval
08:00 St Alban’s vs Muir
09:10 Brandwag vs St Benedict’s
10:20 Graeme vs Marlow
12:50 Grey High Unicorns vs Andrew Rabie
14:00 Hudson Park vs Framesby
15:20 Woodridge vs Ithembelihle
Age-Group Results
A teams unless otherwise stated.
Under-16
St John’s vs St Andrew’s, 34-22
Parktown vs Hudson Park, 22-19
Queen’s vs St Stithians, 31-14
Graeme vs St Alban’s, 22-0
St David’s vs Kingswood, 27-19
Muir vs Stirling, 24-0
Grey vs Northwood, 27-19
Grey High B vs Eezi Fana, 45-15
Under-15
Graeme vs St Alban’s, 10-7
Hudson Park vs Parktown, 34-10
St Andrew’s vs St John’s, 31-27
St David’s vs Kingswood, 36-5
Jeppe vs Selborne, 27-12
Grey High vs Northwood, 36-32
Queen’s vs Muir, 30-15
Grey High B vs Stirling, 21-12
Under-14
Graeme vs St Alban’s, 24-7
St Andrew’s vs St John’s, 13-13
Grey High vs Northwood, 40-0
Selborne vs Jeppe, 44-5
Queen’s vs Kingswood, 17-0
Hudson Park vs Parktown, 34-0
Muir vs St David’s, 36-7
Grey High B vs Stirling, 26-5
From Neale Emslie
