Muir in Great Draw
An 18-all result was a fair reflection of a fantastic school boy encounter between Muir and Nico Malan in Uitenhage. Muir trailed by 13 points to 0 at the break.
Nico opened the scoring with a penalty after Muir infringed at a ruck. Nico Malan made good use of the weather conditions and kept the College side in their half through well placed kicks. Some well placed kicks resulted in a few mistakes by the Muir side. Nico capitalised and ran in a try and kicked a penalty.
This did not dampen the Muir spirit. The College side made good use of their opportunities but unfortunately could not finish.
The second half saw Muir increase the intensity of the game and catching Nico on the back foot. Outside centre Luphelo Miggels put Muir on the board with a penalty, narrowing Nico’s lead. Left wing Sicelo Tole worked well off the ball and followed play to cross the white wash. Nico used their forwards well to suck in Muir defence. A missmatch was created on the blind side and their wing made easy work going around a prop to score their second of the game.
This did not faze the College and they started putting phase after phase together to get the upper hand. Tole scored his second of the game; Miggels converted to narrow Nico’s lead. Muir kept the pressure on Nico, forcing a penalty and Miggels levelled the scores.
Eighth man Sipelele Latola had a standout game and did a lot of work in the loose to get Muir on the front foot. Backs, Sicelo Tole, Mihlali Mosi and Luphelo Miggels did well to keep Nico’s defense on their toes and play some good old school running rugby.
Special mention must go to captain and centre Lunathi Nxele who reached a milestone running onto the field for his 50th cap. Nxele, as always, led by example, forced numerous turnovers, kept defence wanting and crossed the advantage line numerous times with ball in hand.
Scorers:
For Muir
Tries: Sicelo Tole 2
Con: Luphelo Miggels
Pans: Luphelo Miggels 2
For Nico Malan
Tries flank, prop
Con: flyhalf
Pens: flyhalf 2
By Lyntin Gouws
