SACS Festival - Final Day

Grand finale at Newlands

The SACS 175 Rugby Festival, three years in the planning and an excellent rugby and social time, ended with a match at Newlands on Monday afternoon between Bishops at SACS, doing what they first did at Newlands in 1890.

It brought to an end a great three days of friendly, cheerful, eagerly competed rugby.

We give here the results, a summary of each match with the scorers and all the results of the three days.

The first four matches were played on the soggy SACS fields. The last three were played at Newlands, which may have been a little slippery but was sound despite the recent rains.

Results of Day 3

Hastings Boys' High vs Selborne, 8-0
Grey High vs KES, 55-7
Graeme vs DHS, 17-5
St Andrew's vs Paarl Boys' High, 29-17
Western Province Invitation XV vs Wynberg,
Pretoria Boys' High vs Rondebosch, 15-10
Bishops vs SACS, 31-15

Hastings Boys’ High School vs Selborne College, 8-0

The Hastings Boys’ came out hard once more with the traditional Haka and were extremely motivated to get their first win of the Festival. The only try of the match came from Hastings when the New Zealander’s received a penalty on the Selborne five-meter line. Hastings live wire and number nine Albert Matheson set up the penalty move and off-loaded to the pack of forwards who mauled the ball over the line with loose-head prop Rewi Haapu scoring the visitors try. The second half was all Selborne, with some great loose-forward work from Keketso Dzingwa. Selborne got in sniffing distance of scoring a couple of tries, only to be held out by some resolute Hastings defence. A penalty by Hastings gave the side an eight-point lead, which was enough to win the match and record their first win on South African soil.

Graeme College vs Durban High School, 17-5

Graeme once again proved that they are capable of scoring great tries when keeping enough possession. The Eastern Cape side scored three unanswered tries in the first half and went into a 17-0 lead. The second-half however was all DHS who produced a gutsy performance. Tackling hard and running the ball at all costs, DHS were eventually rewarded with a try next to the posts only to miss the conversion.

Grey High vs King Edward VII School, 55-7

Although the score-line may not suggest it, the KES boys put on a proud performance and can hold their heads high in that they never gave up. They tackled their hearts out and continued to run the ball regardless of the scoreboard. Their tenacity eventually paid off with a converted try and was cause for much celebration after a difficult Festival.

Another victory for the Grey highlighted the strength of the Port Elizabeth side who ran the ball from everywhere, scoring tries from deft touch chips and producing some marvelous rugby. It was once again their captain and number eight Hanno Vermaak who caught the eye. Craven Week’s loss, Grey PE’s gain.

St Andrew’s College vs Paarl Boys' High, 29-17

The match of the day and perfect example of how to play the game. The way in which the Grahamstown team handled the ball was amazing, every pass going to hand, keeping the ball alive in contact and a perfect example of how to use the overlap. The St .Andrew’s side made the game look so simple, avoiding contact, running at arms and skill that our professional players would battle to emulate.

29-3 down with 10 minutes to go, the Paarl Side never gave up and were rewarded with two late tries.

For College it was Chase Minnaar who caught the eye once again, with his hard running and strong defence.

Western Province Invitation vs Wynberg Boys' High, 38-14

Wynberg put up a brave defence considering the fact that they were playing against a third string provincial side. The lock partnership of Shaun Robertson of Tygerberg RFC and Nel Coetzee of Paarl Gim were particularly impressive for the Invitation XV as well as teammate and hooker Morné Erasmus of Paul Roos who was all over the park. Wynberg number eight and captain Roberto Talotti had a strong performance, with Dominic Telo and Marcello Sampson being the pick of the Wynberg backs.

Pretoria Boys' High vs Rondebosch, 15-0

It was a great game to watch at Newlands, with both sides throwing caution to the wind and throwing the ball about in typical festival rugby style. Pretoria Boy’s scored the first try in the opening minutes of the game but was no indication of things to come. Rondebosch fought back hard and were rewarded with a splendid try from Matt Rosslee, converted by David Bonellie. Pretoria Boys' High then scored again via a dazzling 50-metre run by lock Michael Koen who looked more like a back with the ball in hand.

Bishops vs SACS, 31-15

The score flattered Bishops as in the second half SACS attacked more than their opponents and had better chances to score. Bishops scored from long range, thanks mainly to their loose forwards and, late in the game, their tall fullback, Marvin Christians,. Their loose forwards to got the ball, ran with the ball, made the opportunities, were flanks Nic Fenton-Wells and Etienne Smith and eighthman Justin Bijl.

Both sides made errors but both sides were eager to make the most of advantage and it was a lively throughout.

Bishops scored first when they ran from their own 22 and Etienne Smith gave inside to mobile prop JP Koster for Koster to race over under the posts. Flyhalf Oliver Braithwaite converted and from then on Bishops camped, but SACS got more and more into the game and a clever bit of passing on the short side set left-wing Michael Franck on a long run. He cut inside the defender to score at the posts. Lock Simon Minnaar converted, and the score was 7-7 at half-time.

SACS had the better of the second part everywhere but the scoreboard. They went ahead first when Michael Franck got his second try as he chased a chip into the Bishops in-goal.

But Bishops were back with a try from well in their first half when Marvin Christians broke, Nic Fenton Wells carried it on and William Esau scored far out to make the score 12-12.

SACS got the lead back. Bishops tried to run from their own line but knocked on. SACS attacked, Bishops went off-side and Simon Minnaar put his side 15-12 ahead.

Then Bishops attacked in sharp waves as Etienne Smith broke and scrumhalf Matthew Peters cut inside to score at the posts. Oliver Braithwaite converted and Bishops led 19-15. SACS attacked with spirit but again Bishops came away with two long-range tries, a second by William Esau and then a long break by Marvin Christians and a long gallop to the posts by hooker and captain Gary van Breda.

This brought the happy Festival to an end.

Scorers

Tries again were far more common than penalties or conversions. In all the teams scored 40 tries and only four penalty goals.

Hastings Boys' High vs Selborne, 8-0

For Hastings
Try: Rewi Haapu
Pen: Ioane Ioane

Grey High vs KES, 55-7

For Grey
Tries: Stephen de Villiers 2, Hanno Vermaak, Dale Farnham, Juan Coetzer 2, Peter Furstenburg, Ricki Rijs, DJ Fourie
Cons: DJ Fourie 5

For KES:
Try: Andrew Maziwana
Con: Richard Cameron

Graeme vs DHS, 17-5

For Graeme:
Tries: Charl Crous, Juade van Seca, Lorenzo Southey
Con: Lorenzo Southey

For DHS:
Try: Umraan Jadwat

St Andrew's vs Paarl Boys' High, 29-17

For St Andrew's
Tries: Jeremy Dobrowsky, Matthew Muirhead, Chase Minnaar, Jacques le Roux, Jonathan Vorster
Cons: Kevin Bennett 2

For Paarl Boys' High:
Tries: Conrad Hoffman, François du Toit
Cons: Conrad Hoffman 2
Pen: Conrad Hoffman

Western Province Invitation XV vs Wynberg, 38-14

For WP Invitation:
Tries: Daniel :Pikke, Mathys Niewoudt, Marnus Hugo, Hayden Groepes, Armien Bailey, Berwan Haupt
Cons: Bernan Haupt 4

For Wynberg:
Tries: Dominic Telo 2
Cons: Tonateni Tshivute 2

Pretoria Boys' High vs Rondebosch, 15-10

For Pretoria:
Tries: Thando Raseroka, Michael Koen, Dale Clarke

For Rondebosch:
Try: Matthew Rossley
Con: David Bonellie
Pen: David Bonellie

Bishops vs SACS, 31-15

For Bishops:
Tries: JP Koster, William Esau 2, Matthew Peter, Gary van Breda
Cons: Oliver Braithwaite 3

For SACS:
Tries: Michael Franck 2
Con: Simon Minnaar
Pen: Simon Minnaar

Results for each day:

Day One

SACS vs KES, 48-3
Western Province Invitation XV vs Selborne, 24-0
St Andrew's vs Bishops, 10-8
Wynberg vs Graeme, 48-34
Paarl Boys' High vs Hastings Boys' High, 10-10
Grey High vs Pretoria Boys' High, 48-12
Rondebosch vs DHS, 22-5

Day Two

Bishops vs Pretoria Boys' High, 22-3
Grey High vs DHS, 51-0
Rondebosch vs St Andrew's, 13-5
SACS vs Graeme College, 32-7
Selborne vs Paarl Boys' High, 19-18
Western Province Invitation XV vs Hastings Boys' High, 19-17
Wynberg vs KES, 19-6

Day Three

Hastings Boys' High vs Selborne, 8-0
Grey High vs KES, 55-7
Graeme vs DHS, 17-5
St Andrew's vs Paarl Boys' High, 29-17
Western Province Invitation XV vs Wynberg,
Pretoria Boys' High vs Rondebosch, 15-10
Bishops vs SACS, 31-15

Consolidated results:

The powerful Western Province Invitation XV, almost a Western Province C team, and Grey High Schools won all three of their matches. Grey were the stars, scoring 154 points and conceding only 19.

Bishops vs Pretoria Boys' High, 22-3
Bishops vs SACS, 31-15
Graeme vs DHS, 17-5
Grey High vs DHS, 51-0
Grey High vs KES, 55-7
Grey High vs Pretoria Boys' High, 48-12
Hastings Boys' High vs Selborne, 8-0
Paarl Boys' High vs Hastings Boys' High, 10-10
Pretoria Boys' High vs Rondebosch, 15-10
Rondebosch vs DHS, 22-5
Rondebosch vs St Andrew's, 13-5
SACS vs Graeme College, 32-7
SACS vs KES, 48-3
Selborne vs Paarl Boys' High, 19-18
St Andrew's vs Bishops, 10-8
St Andrew's vs Paarl Boys' High, 29-17
Western Province Invitation XV vs Wynberg, 38-14
Western Province Invitation XV vs Hastings Boys' High, 19-17
Western Province Invitation XV vs Selborne, 24-0
Wynberg vs Graeme, 48-34
Wynberg vs KES, 19-6