Two wins for Muir
Muir College of Uitenhage took part in the Union High Rugby Festival in Graaff-Reinet and celebrated two victories.
Muir vs Winterberg, 43-20
Muir’s festival at the annual Union High Sports Festival kicked-off with a resounding 43-20 win over Winterberg. The College 1st XV led 26-20 at the break.
Left wing Xolela Daniels opened the scoring for Muir after chasing down a loose ball. Fullback Ruben De Vos kicked the conversion. A mistake by Muir allowed Winterberg to capitalize and open their account. Flyhalf Lunathi Nxele worked hard-off to hit a gap and score Muir’s second, De Vos successfully converted to extend their lead.
Winterberg put a few phases together, wrong footed Muir’s defence and added five points to their score. A well worked backline move saw Daniels cross for his second of the game.
The last few minutes of the half saw both teams make good use of their opportunities. Muir’s Mmeli Nkebe forced his way over the line to extend the lead, De Vos kicked the conversion. Winterberg closed Muir’s lead by kicking a penalty and scoring a converted try.
Muir dominated the second-half by running in three tries to which Winterberg had no answer. Muir’s tries came from prop Nkebe, Daniels (making it a hat-trick) and centre Darren Wates. De Vos only converted one of the three tries.
Muir’s defence was solid throughout the half and was the result of Winterberg not allow to cross the line.
Scorers:
For Muir:
Tries: Xolela Daniels 3, Lunathi Nxele, Mmeli Nkebe 2, Darren Wates
Cons: Ruben De Vos 4
For Winterberg:
Tries: Right wing, Left wing, Inside centre
Con: Inside centre
Pen: Inside centre
Muir vs Stirling, 14-7
The final day of the festival saw Muir take on Sterling in wet and muddy conditions which favoured the Sterling pack. However, Muir made good use of their opportunities and ran out 14-7 victors over Sterling. Muir narrowly led 11-7 at the break.
Muir opened their account with a penalty kick by fullback Ruben De Vos. Fly-half Lunathi Nxele found himself on the wing and had to show a clean pair of heals to beat the defence and score in the corner. Conditions made it difficult for both teams to run with the ball, so the forwards were used a lot during the half. Muir extended their lead when De Vos kicked another penalty. Just before the half-time whistle Sterling used their forward and drove over for a converted try.
The second-half saw many missed opportunities by both sides through poor decision making and handling errors. However, both sides defended their line well as no tries were scored during the half. The only points came from the boot of De Vos to extend Muir’s lead and claim victory.
Players that stood out for the Muir side were; lock pairing Lutho Njobe and Malusi Sitatu who worked both in the tight and loose phases. Flanker Sibabalwe Jikani also needs a mention as he had a standout game on attack and defence.
Scorers:
For Muir:
Try: Lunathi Nxele
Pens: Ruben De Vos 3
For Stirling:
Try: Flank
Con: Eighthman
By Lyntin Gouws
