Grey High produce late surge to shade SACS in rugby thriller.
Grey High gave defeat a proper look in the face before delivering a late surge to defeat SACS 27-17 on the opening day of the Standard Bank Grey Rugby Festival in Gqeberha on Thursday.
The matches were played with a strong south-westerly wind blowing down the field, but it made little difference to Johannesburg side Jeppe as they produced the outstanding performance of the day to run in eight tries in outclassing Queen’s 51-5.
In another titanic struggle on the Pollock Oval, Hudson Park breathed a sigh of relief when the final whistle went for their match against St Stithians as they held on for a 29-28 win.
Meanwhile Grey’s clash with the Cape Town side was one of twists and turns. After trailing 10-5 at halftime, Grey regained the lead, only for their supporters to watch on in horror when a wild pass gifted flank Ben van Coller a try for SACS to go ahead 17-15 with 12 minutes remaining.
But then Grey showed exemplary character as they fought back with two tries in the last period, the second one from Aidan Wilkinson coming after an incredible lineout maul drove SACS back almost 50 metres. They did not score from that but were able to recycle the ball to seal the deal as Wilkinson barged over in the final minute.
Their lineout efficiency and cohesive driving saw skipper Imaani Pemba score twice, while other tries came from De Wet Goedhals and Tobias Nota.
SACS must get huge credit for their gutsy display, scoring through Endinako Peter on the stroke of halftime, with Rayaan Solomons adding two conversions and a penalty.
In the main curtain-raiser, Queen’s had no answer to a superb Jeppe performance. Thanks to swift recycling and precision distribution, the Johannesburg team were able to break through almost at will and indisputably produced the best rugby of the day.
In the stiff breeze, Muir and Parktown got the festival off to a rousing start on the Pollock Oval as the Johannesburg side recorded a 21-7 win.
Although the conditions made life difficult for both sides, it was a well-contested encounter, finally decided when livewire Parktown scrumhalf Thembela Folo took a quick tap near the 22-metre line and knifed through the Muir defence for their third try to make it 21-7.
Parktown led 14-7 at the break after tries by Owenkosi Sibero and Sihle Ncube, the second coming when Muir tried to run the ball deep in their territory, only for a knock-on to allow Parktown in.
Muir’s try came from talented fullback Lyle Meintjies, who showed amazing footwork to dance through the Parktown defence for a splendid score, which he converted.
On the Kolisi Field, Selborne were rewarded for some enterprising play and direct running as they outclassed Brandwag 32-0 after leading 5-0 at the break.
Ironically, neither side were able to take advantage of the wind at their backs and Selborne scored five tries when the conditions supposedly favoured Brandwag.
Forced to keep the ball in hand instead of trying to kick against the wind, Selborne were excellent as they moved it around, with tries coming from wing Thomas Braun (2), Jordan Luck, AJ Sogbanmu, Siya Sakhela and Josh Cloete.
Nico Malan and St John’s played out a thrilling draw in which both teams scored three tries, but neither of them could stamp their authority on the proceedings.
The lead constantly changed hands and just when St John’s seemed to have done enough to seal the win when they led 17-12, back came Nico Malan to level the scores.
This came after the Humansdorp team, with the wind at their backs, kept up sustained pressure to eventually create space on the left.
Nico Malan pressed hard for the win in the closing stages with a number of penalties putting them within striking distance, but St John’s fought heroically in defence to deny them the winning score.
Graeme College and KES fought out a terrific battle and, for 54 minutes, neither side could get points on the board. But it all changed in the final six minutes and constant pressure by the Johannesburg team was rewarded with two tries for a 12-0 victory
The first team results were:
Pretoria Boys’ High bt Invitation XV 15-5
Selborne bt Brandwag 32-0
Westville bt Voortrekker Bethlehem 28-5
Parktown bt Muir 21-7rounsi
Nico Malan drew with St John’s 17-17
KES bt Graeme 12-0
Hudson Park bt St Stithians 29-28
Jeppe bt Queen’s 51-5
Grey High bt SACS 27-17
Compiled by Neale Emslie