Item's Margate success

This is quite an achievement as we are only one school taking on regional teams.

This tournament was well organised by Quentin Reynolds, assisted by his sister, Carol. They really have a development programme that each province in South Africa should introduce to develop the talent of the many underprivileged players in South Africa! They have one hundred and sixty coaches working around the province, coaching and identifying talent!. Also In attendance was Sanele Gaqa and Akhona Ndungane, from SA Breweries, who launched their, “You decide” programme at the festival and will be more involved with it, and other rugby development programmes in the near future!

Southern KwaZulu-Natal (36-0)

Itembelihle's first game was against Southern KwaZulu-Natal (SKZN) and Itembelihle thrashed them 36-0.

Itembelihle played brilliant attacking rugby from the word go. They ran the ball from everywhere against a competitive side and led only 12-0 at half-time, courtesy of two tries by fly half Thabo Matiso (one converted by himself) when he broke straight through from a scrum. The second one was from a brilliant grubber by centre Ntsigo Fumba, which he followed up for a try in the corner. Itembelihle stepped up in the second half, taking control of the game. No.8  Gabrie Mbambisa, who had a storming game, was next to score in the corner when he broke through some half-hearted tackles from a scrum. Scrumhalf Mawande Charlie also had a good game and impressed with the speed in which he cleaned the rucks. Full back, Siya Sogoni, was next to score, when he went blindside from a scrum to score in the corner. Matiso then scored his third try, when he bamboozled the defence and cut through to score under the poles, converted by himself! Powerful flank, Vusumzi Nginingini, scored the last try when he simply powered through the defence from a ruck to score. Charlie was named man of the match.

Midlands (26-10)

Itembelihle’s second match was an hour after their first, while the opponents had more than three hours of rest. This was a tough game, as they had a very physical backline. It took Itembelihle almost 20 minutes before they scored their first try. No.8 Gabrie Mbambisa had another great game as he proved near unstoppable at times as he cut through the defence. Lock Odwa Singcongcobela broke through from a ruck to score in the corner. Centre Siya Ntsigo Fumba was having a huge game on attack and defence, as he put in some huge tackles. This was followed by a try from Matiso, when he simply side stepped his way through the opposition to score a converted try under the poles. (12-0 half-time)  Matiso scored soon after half-time to stretch the lead to 19-0, and this was followed by Ntsigo who slipped through a gap from a ruck to score next to the poles for Matiso to convert. Ntsigo and fellow centre Roger Nciza, had to be replaced ten minutes into the second half, injured. This allowed Midlands to come back and score two tries near the end of the game. Gabrie Mbambisa was named man of the match.

Zululand 13-0

Itembelihle qualified to play in the final on the last day. This was a tough game against the unbeaten Zulus. They had a huge pack of forwards, with the prop and No.8 about 1,9m tall. Itembelihle  fought hard and led only 3-0 at half-time, courtesy of a Matiso penalty. The line-outs were very even but Itembelihle struggled in the scrums as Zululand used their power to scrum Itembelihle off their ball or simply wheeled their scrum. Matiso put Itembelihle further ahead with another penalty. Itembelihle started playing some good rugby, with centre Fumba, No.8 Mbambisa, flank Nginingini and prop Tiny Maxhontwana very prominent. Itembelihle eventually scored the only try 5 minutes from the end, after camping in the Zululand 22 for almost 20 minutes, when Mbambisa dived over for a try, from a line-out. Matiso slotted the difficult conversion as Itembelihle won 13-0.

Many new players now stepped up for 2016. Flyhalf Matiso was brilliant as was No.8 Mbambisa and flank Nginingini (another Siya Kolisi in the making!) Prop Maxhontwana and centre Fumba also impressed.

In photo Matiso is congratulated by Ndungane.