Union High results

Days 1 & 2

Union High of Graaff-Reinet hosted a rugby festival in the school holidays, which was attended by twelve teams. The majority of teams were from the region but Port Alfred, Stirling, Muir and Cambridge came inland from the coast, Stellenbosch High School made the trip up from the Cape and Willowridge High came all the way down from Pretoria to sample some Karroo hospitality. 

Day 1 – 1 April

Andrew Rabie beat Port Alfred 20-3 in the first game of the festival. The score was 13-13 at half time). The winning team scored three tries, by lock Giovanni Kohl, centre Devron Pietersen and eighth-man Corrie van der Merwe. Fullback Ockie Maclin was successful with a penalty goal and one conversion. Port Alfred converted one penalty goal.

Gill College were way to strong for Willowridge High and ran out comfortable 67-5 winners (half-time 32-0). Gill College scored eleven tries through wing Garth van Rayner (4), flyhalf L Loots (2), fullback H. Matinka and forwards, Christiaan Louw, De Wet Greyling, Frederik Vosloo and Victor Mbuge. Hlanga Nodongwe (2) and Michael Bosch (4) converted six of the tries. No.8 Chris Malan scored a try for Willowridge.

Stirling High from East London surprised Volkskool, winning 18-15 (half-time 11-8). Scorers for Stirling were wing Simthe Cakwe (2 tries), and fullback Jarred Hettema (2 penalties and 1 conversion). For Volkskool Morne’ Degenaar scored a try and a conversion, Jared Briscoe scored a try and Etienne Degenaar kicked one conversion.

Aliwal North defeated Cambridge High of East London 26-11 (half-time 8-6). Aliwal North tries came from wingers Morne van Staden and Pierre Coetzer and centre Masi Hlwatika. Flyhalf Tiaan Boucher succeeded with two conversions, a drop goal and one penalty. Cambridge centre Damien Fick crossed the Aliwal line for a five-pointer, while Leon Mauer put over two penalty kicks.

Muir College proved to strong for Cradock High School, winning 26-10. All the points were scored in an exciting first half. Muir flyhalf Siviwe Konki scored the first try for the Uitenhage school, which was converted by lock Brendan Meyer. Meyer went on to score and convert two tries of his own. Meyer’s lock partner Fahmi Al Sharaa also scored a try. For Cradock Franco Heinse scored a try, while fullback Andries Schutte succeeded with the conversion and a penalty goal.

Hosts Union High in their match against Stellenbosch High School produced the best running rugby of the day. Union won 38-0 (half-time 12-0) and scored six tries via centres Langa Kuboni and Oviweyo Masamanzi, flyhalf Dylan Schafer, fullback Ricardo Maqabangqa, hooker and captain Gareth Light and lock Andre’ Bezuidenhout.  Schafer converted four of the tries.

Day 1 Results:

Andrew Rabie vs Port Alfred, 26-3
Gill College vs Willowridge High, 67-5
Stirling High vs Volkskool, 18- 15
Aliwal North vs Cambridge High, 26-11
Muir College vs Cradock High School, 26-10
Union High vs Stellenbosch High, 38-0 

Day 2 – 3 April

Cambridge High overwhelmed Stellenbosch High by 29-3. In the first half tries were scored for the East London team by Bulalani Bakaco and Dominico Bushby. Leon Mauer converted one, while Stellenbosch High succeeded with a penalty kick. Cambridge ran in three second-half tries through Bakaco, Daylin Berndt and Sizwe Twaku, of which Mauer converted two.

Sterling started slowly in their fixture against Cradock and were down 7-10 at half-time. Striling’s first half try was scored by No.8 Sihle Mtwa and was converted by fullback Jarred Hettema. Cradock flank’s Damion Cupido’s try was converted by fullback Andries Schutte, who also succeeded with a penalty goal. In the second half Stirling opened the throttle and ran in three unanswered tries to win 24-10. The tries were scored by scrumhalf Wesley Flanagan and forwards Juan Swart and Sifundo Moyake. Hettema was only successful with one conversion.

After a closely contested first half (15-17), Willowridge came from behind to overwhelm Port Alfred 34-22. Points-scorers for Willowridge were Keegan Lester, Jonathan Barnard and Kevin Bredenkamp (one try each) and Jason Schlupp (2 tries, 3 conversions and a penalty).

The match between Gill College and Muir College was a nail-biting affair. Gill were leading 10-8 at the break, thanks to a try by Gareth van Rayner and a conversion and penalty by M Bosch. A try by centre Phiwe Lalendle and a penalty by Brendan Meyer kept Muir in the game. Muir took the lead soon after the break thanks to a try by Brendan Brown and a penalty converted by Meyer. A late try by van Rayner gave Gill a chance to steal a win but the conversion was missed, giving Muir a slender 16-15 win.

Volkskool showed their class in their clash with Andrew Rabie. The sides were even 7-all at half-time (a try by Lance Le John converted by Ockie Macklin for Andrew Rabie and a try by Morne’ Degenaar converted by Etienne Degenaar for Volkskool). Andrew Rabie did not score again, however Volkskool ran in another three tries by Eben van Staden, Marnus van der walt and Johannes Esterhuizen. Etienne Degenaar converted all three tries for a 28-7 win.

In the final game of the festival, Union High defeated Aliwal North, 13-5. Union scored all their points in the first half. Hooker and captain Gareth Light scored a try, converted by Dylan Schafer, who also succeeded with two penalties in a strong wind. Scrumhalf Fanie van Tonder scored a consolation try for Aliwal North in the dying minutes of the game.

Day 2 Results:

Cambridge High vs Stellenbosch High, 29-3
Stirling High vs Cradock High, 24-10
Willowridge vs Port Alfred, 34-22
Muir vs Gill, 16-15
Volkskool vs Andrew Rabie, 28-7
Union High vs Aliwal North, 13-5