Thriller on Goldstones

If Goldstones wrote its autobiography one day, this match would feature prominently for it was an excellent rugby match. Goldstones would have loved it even if his beloved Maritzburg College had lost, just 36-34 to Gray College down from Bloemfontein. College, as Maritzburg College is known all over KwaZulu-Natal, reports.

Maritzburg College hosted Grey College on a hot winter's day on Goldstones. Both teams had come off good wins the previous weekend and the conditions were perfect for running rugby.

The match started off at a frantic pace with Grey attacking from the kick-off.  However, some brilliant work from captain Kelton Thunder at the first ruck gave College an early chance to get on the scoreboard. Unfortunately the long-range attempt was just wide and the game remained scoreless. For the next few minutes College exerted all the pressure and forced Grey into making mistakes.

A penalty chance at goal was turned down in favour of kicking to the corner. The initial drive from the line-out was just held up and the ball was swung wide, a straight forward training ground move was used and Charl Frackers was put into space. The centre needed no second invitation and showed good pace to score close to the upright. The conversion from Ruben Van Blerk was good and College were 7-0 up.

This seemed to spark Grey into motion and they scored almost straight from the kick off. Whilst the College team had planned their defence to counter Grey and their direction changes, the outside backs were caught offguard and flank Dian Schoonees scored the try in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful but Grey soon took the lead with an easy penalty by Mario Vieira and College were down for the first time in the game 8-7.

The game then swung from side to side with neither team being able to break down defences but it was College who were next on the board via a Van Blerk penalty and the lead was briefly restored at 10-8.

The Grey backline with their impressive speed were starting to make life difficult for the College team and a great offload in the midfield exposed some space and Grey were over for their second try, scored by hooker Daniel Rust and the lead had changed once again. The conversion was unsuccessful and Grey was 15-10 to the good.

College used the boot to slowly force Grey into their own half and a defensive scrum by Grey was put under pressure. The College backs had read the exit move by Grey and the rush defence forced a wayward pass which Stenbobuhle Mpanza snapped up and beat the scrambling defence to score under the posts. Van Blerk added the extra two points and College were up 17-15.

The seesaw game continued in the same vein right up until the half-time whistle. Grey used some territorial advantage to force a succession of penalties which eventually resulted in a try of their own, scored by lock George Rossouw. The conversion was good and the 22-17 lead they took into half time was deserved but College were right in it.

The second half started with College exerting pressure and enjoying a territorial advantage. Unfortunately this advantage was not used correctly and some poor touch kicking gave the visitors the opportunity to counter attack. A ten minute period of poor defence and a lack of concentration with the basics let Grey in for two tries, first by substitute loose forward David Theron, the second by wing Johan van der Walt. A simple midfield break and a charge down from a clearance kick propelled Grey into a 36 -17 lead.

The tries and successful conversions seemed to give Grey a real sense of purpose and they looked to bury College with some excellent phase play.

It was then that College seemed to regather themselves and some excellent work at the breakdowns broke the visitors' momentum. The pre-match tactic to exploit the defensive weakness of Grey behind the rucks was put into use with some good box kicks from Kyle Bowman. The pressure was starting to tell and a quick recycle gave the backs room to move and the quick hands beat the rushing Grey outside backs and the space opened up beautifully for Mpanza to ghost through for his second try. The relatively easy conversion was unfortunately just wide but College were back in the game at 36-22.

The momentum had now swung towards the home team and they put their heads down in a final onslaught on the Grey line. A penalty was kicked into the corner and the ensuing drive seemed to have floundered when Craig Glover found a few centimetres of space to crash over for a very welcome try. The difficult but crucial conversion to bring College within seven was missed but College could smell a victory at 36-27 and six minutes of play left.

A defensive scrum on the Grey 22m line was used to give the Grey backs the opportunity to kick them out of trouble. Mpanza had other ideas and came off his line very quickly and managed to charge down the kick. The loose ball rolled towards the Grey try-line and Mpanza was once again too quick for the cover defence and dived on the ball to score his third and Maritburg College’s fifth of the day. The conversion was good and there were two points in it with Grey leading 36-34.

The next five minutes were nail biting with College doing everything they could to force a penalty or break through the Grey defence. A late break by Xolisa Guma almost resulted in a dream finish but he was brought down by the desperate Grey defence.

Unfortunately it was not to be and the game ended with Grey winners by 36-34. Both teams had played their hearts out and whilst Grey had made some mistakes of their own it was a game that College could have/should have won if they had been more clinical in the basics of the game. The courage they showed to come back after a disappointing period in the second half however was something truly special. The College belief was there for all to see and is something that this team have shown all year.

Well done to both schools on a great exhibition of true schoolboy rugby.

Scorers   

For Maritzburg College:

Tries: Stenbobuhle Mpanza 3, Charl Frackers, Craig Glover

Cons: Ruben van Blerk 3

Pen: Ruben van Blerk  

For Grey College:

Tries: Dian Schoonees, Daniel Rust, George Rossouw, David Theron, Johan van der Walt

Cons: Mario Vieira 4

Pen: Mario Vieira

Teams

Grey College: 15 Jandré de Beer, 14 Johan van der Walt, 13 Francois Agenbach, 12 Dawid Snyman, 11 Marnus Boshoff, 10 Mario Vieira, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Hardus Nel, 7 Dian Schoonees, 6 Marius Stander, 5 Janco van Tonder, 4 George Rossouw, 3 Gideo Beukes, 2 Daniel Rust, 1 Stef Brits

Maritzburg College: 15 Matthew Kriel, 14 Xolisa Guma, 13 Simphiwe Mpanza, 12 Charl Frackers, 11 Kudzaishe Munangi, 10 Ruben van Blerk, 9 Kyle Bowman, 8 Craig Glover, 7 Bradley Muil, 6 Kelton Thunder (captain), 5 Daniel Immelman, 4 Bjorn Olivier, 3 Andrew Reintges, 2 Samuel Swanepoel, 1 Tanaka Chikwezvero

By Kevin Smith