It has been an exciting start to rugby season as the St Charles College teams competed in the Wynberg Festival over the weekend. There were some epic encounters, and the 1st XV match reports are detailed below. We look forward to our 1st XV, U16A, U15A and U14A squads flying to PE this weekend for the Grey High Festival and then we wish all our hockey and rugby teams all the best as they travel to various Easter festivals.
1st XV Report (by Head Coach Craig Dwyer)
The St Charles College 1st XV recently travelled to Cape Town to take part in the 2025 Wynberg Rugby Festival. There was much excitement going into this tour as it gave our future 1st XV players an opportunity to showcase their skills and more importantly to compete at a higher level which will certainly be beneficial for the development of our young squad.
The first game of the festival kicked off against the hosts who looked very sharp and full of running in the lead-up to this clash. We always knew this was going to be a tough game as it was a home game in front of a big crowd for Wynberg, and Saints had just come off a tough loss against a very good Glenwood team 6 days earlier. As expected, the home team looked to stretch us early on and release their destructive backline, led by the current SA Schools flyhalf who was also just recently called into the Baby Bok squad. Saints got off to a great start and managed to pin the home side deep in their own half. After some very solid defence and some clinical work at the breakdown we were awarded an opportunity to take a shot at goal – Saints converted, 3-0. After feeling each other out and both teams having a crack, it was Wynberg’s turn to add to the scoreboard after a poor exit attempt which saw Wynberg win the scrum and simply crash over to take the score to 7-3. After a great bit of back and forth, Saints had an opportunity to strike from 5 meters out from a line-out – unfortunately knocking the ball on over the line. Just before the break Wynberg dotted down again and it took the score to 12-3. The message prior to the game was to win the game in 10-minute blocks, we certainly played all the footy going into the break, but execution and a few small errors let us down. The message at the break was simple, go out and win the next 10 minutes and the two 10-minute blocks following that. We came out the break firing and looking sharp, we were clinical at the breakdown, we were winning the collisions, and our first try came off a beautifully timed run from our 12 Athenkosi Qumo, who broke clean and chipped over their 15 which saw us rewarded with the try – the score was now 12-10 to Wynberg. The minutes following that saw a great exchange between the two sides, Saints had their tails up and the belief set in that we could cause a major upset. With 5 minutes to go we were awarded a shot at goal, the kick was unfortunately pushed wide, and the home crowd could breathe again. The home side were awarded a short arm penalty in the final minute and managed to crash over which drew a close to very entertaining match and the end of Day 1 on the main field.
On Day 3 of the festival, we took on a very physical team from Namibia who just came off a 43-3 loss to Bishops. We saw this as a great opportunity to build on our previous performance and not only show ourselves that we weren’t pretenders, but also to the loyal Saints supporters who believe in this group. Saints were off to a fast start scoring within the first few minutes and continued to pile on the pressure over the next 60 minutes, we played an attractive brand of rugby, while also showing grunt up front and not backing down to a physical and hearty Tsumeb side that refused to go away. The score finished 41-10 in favour of Saints.
