Queen's beat Dale again

Match Report

The Queen’s 1st XV ended their 2006 season with a convincing 24-3 victory over Dale College on the Rec on Saturday afternoon, bringing to a close a season which will be remembered as one of the finest in many years.

Although Queen’s enjoyed an abundance of possession in the first half, they were unable to convert this into points and held on to a narrow 7-3 lead at half-time.  Intense, fast and furious exchanges were to be observed, with both teams firing on all cylinders. 

Queen’s were first to score when hooker Lisle Clark secured another heel against the head, to enable this backs to run at the opposition at pace.  Left wing Sbura Sithole sliced through the opposition backline before passing inside for Kathrada Ntabeni to score.  The Dale No.8 Shane Spring looked dangerous on a number of occasions.

Despite the sudden change of wind direction in Dale’s favour during the second half, Queen’s rallied well and did much of the playing.  Dale found themselves under tremendous pressure from the tight Queen’s defence and were forced to play behind the advantage line, with little penetration.  Conditions deteriorated and scrappy rugby followed.

A massive drop kick into the wind by Cronjé in the 15th minute, followed by a scintillating try scored by Mubyisa Mnci in the 20th minutes put the result beyond doubt.  With time running out, scrumhalf Soso Socikwa, broke from a scrum and ran 40 metres to score the final points of the season.  Although neither side were able to maintain their rhythm, Queen’s looked more dangerous and ran out worthy winners by 24-3.

The season analysis, reveals that Queen’s played a total of 20 matches, winning 18, drawing one, and losing only to Grey College earlier in the season.  These remarkable statistics speak volumes of the talent and commitment of the 2006 team, who have enthralled schoolboy rugby fans throughout the region.  They have certainly been in a class of their own and have comprehensively outplayed all opposition on the Border this year.

A feature of the side has been the fact that they have gelled into an extremely cohesive unit with no weak links.  They were able to vary their game with plenty of enterprising interplay between backs and forwards.  Many of their victories were won “up front”, by the powerful front row, who were most ably supported by two outstanding line-out specialists, and three nuggety loose forwards.  Few packs, if any, were able to match the power and skill of the Queen’s forwards.

Not to be outdone, the Queen’s backline have also been widely acknowledged as one of the more polished combinations.  They have been a class act throughout the season playing with sheer brilliance at times, and have demonstrated the effectiveness of doing things at pace.

Flyhalf Lionel Cronjé, emerged as the top points scorer with a total of 212 points.  He and right wing Mayibuye Ndwandwa, were the top try scorers of the season, each scoring twelve tries.

Scorers:

For Queen`s:
Tries:  Kathrada Ntabeni, Mubyisa Mnci, Soso Socikwa
Cons: Lionel Cronjé 3
Drop: Lionel Cronjé

For Dale:
Pen: 1

By Mike Boy