Graeme College and Marlow delivered a gripping finale to another highly successful Wildeklawer Graeme Rugby Festival in Makhanda on Saturday, with the hosts securing a thrilling 42-28 victory.
In scoring six tries, the Graemians were able to use their potent backs to blunt a powerful forward performance by Marlow, who threatened to take complete control up front as they repeatedly pushed the home team back to their line.
This enabled them to power over for three tries in the first half from AJ Raubenheimer, CJ Botha and AC du Toit, but Graeme showed dynamic running from the backline for fullback Lucritia Magau to cross for a hat-trick of tries.
His first effort came from a clever chip ahead by scrumhalf Luke Doyle, enabling the Graeme No 15 to speed past the Marlow defenders to gather and crash over.
With centre Erin Nelson on song with the boot – he slotted all six conversions – the Graemians would have breathed a sigh of relief when they went into halftime level-pegging at 21-21.
The period soon after the restart proved crucial to the final outcome as Graeme began to come to terms with Marlow’s mauls, holding them up and also stealing the ball from time to time.
This robbed the Cradock team of their early effectiveness, while Graeme continued to look dangerous on attack.
A prolonged period deep in Marlow bore fruit when Doyle slipped the ball to flank Iviwe Mshubeki, who burst through for a try under the poles.
That was followed by arguably the try of the festival. Getting the ball around his own 22, Doyle unleashed the backs and the final pass put Magau in the clear as he used his pace to sprint 60 metres for another try under the posts.
That made it 35-21, but Marlow wing Jurgens van Staden kept the home supporters on the edge of their seats when he slipped the past the Graeme defence with little space to work in along the touchline for an outstanding try, closing the gap to seven points.
However, Graeme were not about to let this one go. From another scrum inside the Marlow 22, they worked the ball to the right and Magau went over in a tangle of bodies in the righthand corner for his hat-trick and the score which made the game safe for the hosts with two minutes left.
In another exciting finish, Stirling had to settle for a draw with Daniel Pienaar by the closest of margins after an attempt to win the match with a conversion after the hooter had gone saw the ball hit the left upright and bounce back to the field of play. That made it 24-24 as the referee blew the final whistle.
The Kariega team will be frustrated at letting this victory slip because they led 24-19 with just seven minutes remaining.
They had a chance to exit their territory with a kick downfield, but were ruled offside and from the ensuing penalty, Stirling grabbed their chance to level the scores with a try by Salusiwe Madalane, only to be denied by the upright.
Earlier, Muir showed good intent to outduel Gqeberha rivals Otto du Plessis 26-19, crossing for four tries, while Port Alfred also had to work hard for their 17-12 win over Ndzondelelo.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.