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.
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.
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.
. 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 victory in a real arm-wrestle between two well-matched sides.
After the Makhanda side had jumped to a 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 some 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.
GBS Graeme Rugby Festival: day one results
First teams
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
