Day 1 – Graeme in tense finish to Festival opening day
In a match full of physicality and marked by a tense finish, the host team made a winning start to the GBS Graeme College Rugby Festival with an 18-14 win over Framesby in Makhanda on Thursday.
Image: https://straton.org.za/picture.php?/19637
The opening day of the three-day tournament was completed by the supremely organised Grey College side showing their style as they overpowered Marlow Agricultural 52-12.
True to their nature, the Cradock side never stopped trying and were rewarded with two well-worked tries in the second half after trailing 28-0 at the break.
Thanks to tries from centre Mu-Eed Fritz, who raced in from 40 metres after dispossessing a Framesby opponent, and wing Olona Ngcobo on the stroke of halftime, Graeme were able to build a handy lead at the break.
They stretched that to 15-0 in the second half when scrumhalf Steven du Preez kicked his second penalty of the afternoon.
But it was inevitable that Framesby would not go down without a fight and they fought back with determination to cross for tries by Keegan Oliver and Gideon Barnard. As the tension rose, so did some unnecessary aggression which saw Framesby receive a red and a yellow card and Graeme a red card.
Framesby drew to within four points after their second try made it 18-14 and they remained on the attack, but, with just minutes remaining, they were finally thwarted by the Graeme defence.
St Andrew’s produced a gritty fightback to edge SACS by one point in a cracking start to the festival.
The Cape Town outfit enjoyed a handy 12-3 lead when they scored their second try through Ali-Amjad Osman-Bosch early in the second half, but St Andrew’s never gave up the fight and pushed hard to begin to dominate territorially.
This allowed hooker Joe Westonholm to cross for a try from a lineout drive and as time began to run out a superb cross-kick saw Karabo van Heerden run into space to dive over in the lefthand corner.
Although the conversion failed, St Andrew’s had crept ahead 13-12, only to suffer moments of extreme anxiety when SACS were awarded a penalty after the hooter had gone. But into a breeze about 45 metres out, it was not an easy kick and it fell short to the joy of the Makhanda team.
In the first half SACS wing Jack Benade scored a thrilling try when outpaced the St Andrew’s cover defence after a quick tap from a penalty near their own line.
Kingswood used two quick tries by Likhona Kepe and Shiloh Nyakuowa soon after the start of their clash against Queen’s to set up a 21-12 in a real arm-wrestle between two well-matched sides.
After the Makhanda side had jumped to that 14-0 lead there was little to choose between the two teams and Queen’s closed the gap to 14-12 following tries by Uyanda Mlungwana and Sisipho Mpaka.
As the teams battled for superiority, it was eventually Kingswood who pulled away with direct running after a quick tap penalty for centre Munangi Kamwendo to race over for what proved to be the decisive score.
A well-drilled Hilton outfit had too much class for Brandwag, running in eight tries in a 48-3 romp.
Three tries early in the game for the KwaZulu-Natal visitors set the tone for the match and there was no stopping them as centre RD Engelbrecht and scrumhalf Jason Dix each crossed for a brace of tries.
Day 2 – Dale pip Pearson in Graeme Rugby Festival
In arguably the match of the week so far, Dale College pulled off a nerve-wracking win over Pearson, coming from 20-10 down with 11 minutes left to edge home 22-20 on the second day of the GBS Graeme College Rugby Festival in Makhanda on Friday..
The closing stages of the match were marked by some tension-filled kicking opportunities, which ultimately enabled the Dalians to snatch a dramatic victory.
Firstly, having drawn level 20-20 when Lindokuhle Xozwa crossed for their third try, Dale kicker Oyama Kuse received a reprieve after his first conversion attempt fell just short.
Because the Pearson players had charged too early, the referee ruled that Kuse could have a second attempt. This time he nailed the conversion to put them in the lead with four minutes left.
But the drama was not over. Pearson charged back onto the attack and received two penalties in the closing stages for a chance to edge ahead once more. Unfortunately for them, in conditions not made easy by a swirling wind, both attempts went past the left upright, the second after the hooter had gone.
It was a tough finish for Pearson, who created great momentum in the second half to come from 10-8 down to lead 20-10 after crossing for two tries.
But the Dalians showed admirable fighting spirit to stay in the game for an exceptionally hard-fought win.
The game preceding that match was also full of gutsy effort as Muir held on to defeat Stirling 21-10.
The final margin was probably a bit harsh on Stirling who demonstrated their fighting qualities to draw back to 14-10 from 14-0 down with a few minutes remaining.
As they sought to launch a final attack, however, the ball was turned over and instead it was Muir who made advances upfield for Brent Koraan to finally cross over, adding to early tries by Isa Marola and Ntandazo Mboniswa. Lyle Meintjies did well with the boot to add three conversions.
Stirling’s brave effort was marked by tries from Jared Evans and Vuyo Kolobeni.
In the day’s opening match Woodridge held too many aces for Port Alfred High, winning 32-0 and Union High took control for a 26-7 victory over Mary Waters.
Daniel Pienaar conceded an early try against Cambridge but then called the shots for a solid 24-7 triumph.
Day 3 – SACS impress in final showdown at Graeme Rugby Festival
Cape Town side SACS produced some direct and decisive running to score three tries in a satisfactory conclusion to the GBS Graeme College Rugby Festival in Makhanda on Saturday, outplaying the hosts 19-5.
It was a happier moment for the Cape visitors after they lost their opening match to St Andrew’s on Thursday by one point, while Graeme were unable to replicate the type of game they played earlier in the week when they beat Framesby 18-14.
Instead it was SACS who dominated most of the match and tries by wings Jack Benade and Nick Reynolds enabled them to take a 14-0 lead into the second half.
The final 30 minutes of the festival were keenly contested, but Graeme’s lineout failed to function efficiently and they had to resort to scrums when they received penalties. Even then there was not complete control, which restricted their chances to take advantage of those situations.
Abongile Golela scored for them in the second half to keep them in the game, but a final try by big Connor King virtually settled the issue in the favour of SACS.
Grey College rounded off their visit to the Eastern Cape with another convincing result, running in eight tries against St Andrew’s to win 48-0.
There were still a number of unnecessary errors by the Bloemfontein side, which they will need to eradicate going forward. But such was their control and quick recycling when they had possession that St Andrew’s simply could not plug all the gaps.
Kingswood were impressive as they recorded their second win of the festival, crossing for four tries in outclassing Marlow Agricultural 34-5.
It was a significant margin given Marlow’s propensity to always provide tough opposition and the Kingswoodians have laid down a marker for the season.
Their tries came from Shingi Manyarara, Amazing Vheriwa, Visi Labase and Shiloh Nyakutwa, while flyhalf Praise Matsila contributed 14 points with the boot in kicking four conversions and two penalties.
During the morning, when Framesby came up against Hilton, a strong wind blew down the ground and it made life difficult for the side playing against the breeze.
Framesby, with the advantage, will be disappointed that they did not make more of their chances in this period against the tough KZN Midlands side and had only a penalty from Logan Muller to show for their efforts at the break.
The narrow lead was not enough as Hilton made better use of the conditions in the second half, scoring tries through Bunono Jabavu, Akhona Kunene and Dylan Niell to run out relatively comfortable winners 19-3.
It was a successful first trip to the Graeme festival for the Hiltonians, who were extremely impressive in their opening match on Thursday against Brandwag when they won 48-3.
Brandwag have much work ahead of them for this year, because they failed to score any points against Queen’s in the day’s opening game. The Queenians produced some excellent moves to score four tries in a decisive 24-0 victory.
GBS Graeme Rugby Festival – First teams Day One results:
- St Andrew’s bt SACS 13-12
- Hilton bt Brandwag 48-3
- Kingswood bt Queen’s 21-12
- Graeme bt Framesby 18-14
- Grey College bt Marlow 52-12
GBS Graeme College Rugby Festival: First teams Day Two results
- Woodridge bt Port Alfred High 32-0
- Union High bt Mary Waters 26-7
- Daniel Pienaar bt Cambridge 24-7
- Muir bt Stirling 21-10
- Dale bt Pearson 22-20
- Selborne bt Nico Malan 34-17
- Grey High bt Hudson Park 27-7
GBS Graeme College Rugby Festival: First teams Day Three results
- Queen’s bt Brandwag 22-0
- Hilton bt Framesby 19-3
- Kingswood bt Marlow 34-5
- Grey College bt St Andrew’s 48-0
- SACS bt Graeme College 19-5
Views Since 15 July 2022: 69
Post Your Rugby Press Releases, Game Reports and Scores for FREE on MyPR – Free Press Release Publication.
