Wins for SA Schools, England

It was Round 2 of the Under-18 International Series on Paarl Gim’s muddy field on Tuesday, 13 August 2019. SA Schools and England Under-18 won while SA Schools A drew with Wales Under-18 – a lavish 31-all.

SA Schools A and England had both suffered heavy defeats in Round 1 and were much better in Round 2. France, on the pother hand, seemed to lose the panache and fluidity that they had shown against SA Schools A.

The most impressive performance was that of SA Schools who overran the Pumitas, scoring seven tries to two. That means that SA Schools are the only unbeaten team in the tournament which moves to Hoërskool Hugenote in Wellington on Saturday, 17 August 2019.

SA Schools beat Argentina 48-14

Argentina who had been so good in beating England in Stellenbosch were put sternly in their place by the efficiency of the SA Schools forwards and the running of their backs.

The Schools backs scored five of the team’s seven tries as they exploited overlaps out wide.

At half-time SA Schools already led 29-7

Scorers

For SA Schools:
Tries: Bobby Alexander 2, Henco van Wyk 2, Jacques Goosen, Gideon van Wyk, Zeilinga Strydom
Cons: Kian Meadon 5
Pen: Kian Meadon

For Argentina:
Tries: Facundo Villarba, Ignacio Ruiz
Cons: Ramiro Weisberg, Thomas Oria

Teams

SA Schools: 15 Zeilinga Strydom, 14 Mntungwa Mapantsela, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Tyler Bocks, 11 Tharquinn Manuel, 10 Kian Meadon, 9 Dylan Alexander, 8 George Cronjé, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Siyemukela Ndlovu, 5 Dylan de Leeuw, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Sibusiso Shongwe, 2 Jacques Goosen (captain), 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Okuhle Siyeni, 18 Blaine Golden, 19 Wandile Hlope, 20 Keketso Morabe, 21 Keane Galant, 22 Boldwin Hansen, 23 Jurich Claasens, 24 Quan Horn, 25 Gideon van Wyk, 26 Simon Miller

Argentina: 15 Lautaro Sánchez Rubio, 14 Valentín D’Angelo, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Mariano García Ascárate, 11 Iñaki Delguy, 10 Ramiro Waisberg, 9 Facundo Villarba, 8 Juan Bautista Arranz, 7 Ignacio Ruiz, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 5 Bautista Grenon, 4 Marcelo Toledo, 3 Nicolás Ciancio, 2 Martín Vaca, 1 Álvaro Llaver
Replacements used: 16 Nicolás Toth, 17 Bautista Bernasconi, 18 Franciso Moreno, 19 Thomas Gallo, 23 Abraham Elías, 24 Joaquín Oviedo, 25 Julián Conti, 26 Tomás Oria, 27 Julián Hernández, 28 Mateo Camerlinckx

Referee: Manuel Bottino (Italy)

SA Schools A and Wales drew 31-31

The draw was neat – four tries each, for conversions each and a penalty each.

After a much better start than against France and with more determined tackling, the SA Schools side came from being 24-17 down to dominate the second half and deserve this draw.

Scorers

For SA Schools A:
Tries: Teague Loelly 2, Sonwabo Sokoyi, Sibusiso Javu
Cons:: Jacques Rossouw 4
Pen: Jacques Rossouw

For Wales:
Tries: Jake Morgan, Thomas King, Luke Davies, Mason Grady
Cons:: Thomas Mathews 4
Pen: Thomas Mathews

Teams

SA Schools A: 15 Jacques Rossouw, 14 Sonwabo Sokoyi, 13 Tiaan Pretorius, 12 AJ Johnson, 11 Sibusiso Javu, 10 Sihlalo Benge, 9 Kabelo Mokheti, 8 Jarod Cairns (captain), 7 Izan Esterhuizen, 6 Pierich Siebert, 5 Corné Rahl, 4 Raynard Roets, 3 Philip Masango, 2 Teague Loelly, 1 Dima Lebelo
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Rynhardt Rijnsburger, 18 Gerhard van der Merwe, 19 Marco van Rhyn, 20 Sisonke Vumazonke, 21 Daimon O’Connell, 22 Joseph Iye, 23 Indiphile Tyeda, 24 Renzo du Plessis, 25 Josh van Vreden, 26 Nsuku Baloyi

Wales Under-19: 15 Jake Morgan, 14 Mason Grady, 13 Bradley Roderick, 12 Tom Mathews, 11 Dan John, 10 Ben Burnell, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Rhys Thomas, 7 Ollie Howard, 6 Travis Huntley, 5 Ben Carter (captain), 4 Christ Tshiunza, 3 Lewys Jones, 2 Rhodri King, 1 Theo Bevacqua
Replacements: 16 Oliver Burrows, 17 Kieran Stevens, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 James Fender, 20 Peter Vickers, 21 Alex Mann, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Ethan Lloyd, 24 Carrick McDonough, 25 Jake Thomas, 26 Morgan Richards

Referee: Paul Mente (South Africa)

England beat France 29-25

There were two intercepts in the match leading to long-range tries, one in the first half by Killian Tixeront of France who ran 56 unhampered metres to score, the other in the second half by Will Joseph who ran 60 unhampered metres to score.

France started off well enough with a try by fullback Mathéo Garcia who just squeezed into the left corner, and then Tixeront intercept try, and they led 10-3 at the end of the first quarter of the game.

The next twp quarters belonged to England. France led 13-10 at half-time but at the end of the third quarter England led 29-13 and looked in command.

But then France fought back and got to 28-25 with a minute to play.

One England try was especially significant. France had a scrum five metres from their line. England won a tighthead and substitute Louis Hillman-Cooper, resplendent in pristinely white togs, flashed over under the posts. It seems that the problems with Argentinian scrumming is endemic.

England kicked off, France ran with the ball, England tackled, France knocked on, England kept possession and then, the siren sounded, they kicked out for their victory.

Four tries each but three conversions to one.

Scorers

For England:
Tries: Will Trenholm 2, Louis Hillman-Cooper, Will Joseph
Cons:: Charlie Atkinson, Orlando Bailey 2
Pen: Charlie Atkinson.

For France:
Tries: Mathéo Garcia, Killian Tixeront, Wes Lindor, Logan Tabet
Con: Mathéo Garcia
Pen: Mathéo Garcia.

Teams

England Under-18: 15 Oliver Melville, 14 Oscar Beard, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Ethan Grayson, 11 Michael Dykes, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Sam Bryan, 8 Will Trenholm, 7 Harry Taylor, 6 Emeka Ilione, 5 Ethan Staddon, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Joe Keohane, 2 John Stewart, 1 Tarek Haffar
Replacements: 16 Archie Vanes, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Fin Baxter, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Kit Smith, 21 Daniel Eckersley, 22 Sam Edwards, 23 Orlando Bailey, 24 Louis Hillman-Cooper, 25 Alex Harmes, 26 Matthew Ward

France: 15 Mathéo Garcia, 14 Éric Boussard, 13 Logan Tabet, 12 Léo Barré, 11 Benjamin Descamps, 10 Louis Foursans Bourdette, 9 Nolann Le Garrec (captain), 8 Théo Ntamack, 7 Maxime Baudonne, 6 Baptiste Prcanovic, 5 Louis Descoux, 4 Mathéo Desjeux, 3 Thomas Cretu, 2 Victor Montgaillard, 1 Pierre-Emmanuel Pacheco
Replacements: 16 Thomas Moukoro, 17 Sacha Idoumi, 18 Benjamin Boudou, 19 Noah Kanika, 20 Wesley Lindor, 21 Kilian Tixeront, 22 Mahamadou Coulibaly, 23 Paul Jambon, 24 Ethan Randle, 25 Philippe Savelli, 26 Enzo Lanzutti, 27 Jessy Maizier, 28 Thomas Kolokilagi

Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Local
Television match official: Joey Klaaste-Salmans (South Africa)

Results, Round 2
SA Schools A vs Wales, 31-31
SA Schools vs Argentina Under-18, 48-14
England Under-18 vs France, 29-25

Results, Round 1
France Under-18 vs South African Schools A, 43-19
Argentina Under-18 vs England Under-18, 29-19
South African Schools vs Wales Under-18, 23-13

Fixtures, Round 3 – Saturday at Hugenote High School in Wellington are:
11.15: SA Schools A vs Argentina
12.50: France vs Wales
14.25: SA Schools vs England