Grey get home in the wet

It nearly happened. Paarl Boys' High nearly beat mighty Grey College. In fact they lost by just a metre even if the scoreboard says that the Bloemfontein side won 15-10 in a Premier Interschools match.

With time nearly done Grey kicked a penalty that made it 15-10 but when it was 12-10 Paarl kicked a penalty at goal into the strong wind from 30 or so metres out and 10 metres in from touch. The kick was true but dipped just under the crossbar. That's how close this match was.

The great credit to both teams was their attempt to play with the ball in hand in the damp and the wind and in the rain that fell. Of course, there were handling errors. Of course, there were turnovers  but the spirit of rugby football was there. Both sides were well-mannered and neither side kicked even with the wind. You could love such teams.

Grey won the toss and played into the wind in the first half, but they dominated possession. Playing with the wind Boys High ended the first half leading just 7-5.

Grey had scored the first try. Before that there had been good runs by Alex Jonker of Grey from a tackle/ruck and by Ryan Lafite of Boys' High in counterattack from a grubbered kick.

Then Grey went through many advancing phases and burly fullback Lourens Steenkamp broke strongly giving a perfect pass to Glen Erickson on his left and the wing surfed over in the corner. The conversion hit the upright. 5-0 after 27 minutes.

In this match Boys' High mauled strongly and effectively. A maul got them attacking on the left. They bashed and then went wide right where right wing Tristan Solomons cut inside a defender to score  a magnificent try. From far out Ryan Lafite converted. 7-5 after 32 minutes.

Grey were on the attack in the second half but slapped a line-out ball dangerously back. Charl Pretorius dashed onto the ball and scythed through the Boys' High defence. Grey bashed and then Henry Slabbert put his head down and charged through three defenders to score in the right corner. From there on a day of strong wind Lourens Steenkamp converted. 12-7.

Boys' High answered quickly with phases of their own   that bred a penalty for offside, which Ryan Lafite goaled. 12-10 with 22 minutes to play.

Then with three minutes to play Boys' High missed the long penalty into the wind and two minutes later Boys' High suffered that ugliest of penalties – offside at a knock-on – and Lourens Steenkamp made it 15-10 and the final whistle went.

Scorers:

For Paarl Boys' High:

Try: Tristan Solomons

Con: Ryan Lafite

Pen: Ryan Lafite

For Grey College:

Tries: Glen Erickson, Henry Slabbert;

Con: Lourens Steenkamp

Pen: Lourens Steenkamp  

Teams

Paarl Boys' High: 15. Ryan Lafite, 14. Tristan Solomons, 13. Curtley Grain, 12. Heinrich Moller, 11. Wian Gouws, 10. Rehaan Lombaard, 9. Bradley Thain, 8. Phillip Coetzee, 7. Andreas van Wyk, 6. Phillip Bester, 5. Ruben de Villiers,  4. Wian Botha (captain), 3. Derrick Marais, 2. Carel van Zyl, 1. Quintin Vorster

Replacements: 16. Thomas Corbett, 17. Wicus Groenewald, 18. Dean Swartz, 19. Darren September, 20. Christo Sadie, 21. Stefan Gouws, 22. Tyreeq Cassim, 23. Jan Louis le Grange, 24. Leo Kruger

Coaches: Sean Erasmus, Elmo Wolfaardt

Grey College: 15. Lourens Steenkamp, 14. Charl Pretorius, 13. Niel Stannard, 12. Mike Andrade, 11. Glen Erickson, 10. Wayne Wessels, 9. Dian Badenhorst, 8. Alex Jonker, 7. Henry Slabbert, 6. De Wet Bezuidenhoudt, 5. Kassel Rothman, 4. Jurie Burger, 3. Janu Botha, 2. JC Janse van Vuuren, 1. Ruben Terblanché

Replacements: 16. Callie Janse van Vuuren and others

Coaches: Wessel du Plessis, Tewis du Bruyn, Henry Theron

Referee: Stefan du Toit (Western Province Referees' Society)