Grey High withstood a ferocious onslaught from an organised and slick Michaelhouse outfit to secure a 28-19 victory on the opening day of the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival on the Kolisi Field in Gqeberha on Saturday.
The hosts trailed 19-15 at halftime but turned the match around after the break, dominating in the scrums, keeping their opponents scoreless in the second half and adding a converted try and two penalties to their tally.
It brought to a conclusion an exciting day of schools rugby on the Kolisi Field and Pollock Oval, in which one of the highlights was a pulsating encounter between Graeme College and Kearsney, won 35-33 by the Graemians.
Michaelhouse showed they meant business from the outset and clever tactical variations saw them cross for three tries in the first half through hooker Max Oliva, wing Laird Hamilton-Brown and flyhalf Jack Carmody.
Carmody added two conversions but despite those impressive efforts, they were unable to pull away from the hosts, who were highly effective when they used their forwards in a series of drives near the Michaelhouse line.
This enabled prop Juan Potgieter and Blake Parker to cross over, with flyhalf Nathan Trytsman adding a conversion and a penalty.
After Trytsman added a second penalty early in the second half to bring them to within one point, Grey captain and centre Ciaran Killian scored arguably the try of the match.
A smart backline move saw him cut through into space from 35 metres out, and although the Michaelhouse defence scrambled bravely, he was able to plant the ball over the whitewash as the home side took the lead for the first time, 25-19.
Then came a crucial period of the game when Michaelhouse camped on the Grey line for several minutes, sending in wave after wave of attackers.
Each time the home defence stood firm and eventually, when the visitors tried to spread it wide, they lost possession and Grey were able to counter-attack with a surge upfield. It almost resulted in a try at the other end, but Grey infringed and Michaelhouse were able to breathe again.
From then, Grey controlled most of the play, winning several penalties from scrums, which kept Michaelhouse pinned in their half.
From one of these, the hosts decided to kick for goal with two minutes to go and Likhona Nakani struck a superb penalty to virtually seal the victory.
In an earlier game, Graeme and Kearsney showed plenty of adventure and skill as they battled constantly for supremacy in an encounter where the result hinged on the final kick of the match.
Thanks to the deadly boot of skipper Erin Nelson, who slotted five conversions and also scored a try, Graeme led 35-33 with less than a minute remaining.
A failed drop goal attempt saw Graeme take a 22-metre dropout, but one of their players infringed when he tackled a Kearsney player in the air.
Flyhalf Daniel Miskey had kicked well all afternoon and although it wasn’t a straightforward opportunity, a shot at goal was well within his range.
Unfortunately for his team, he pulled it just left and the referee blew the final whistle soon afterwards.
In a thrilling start to the action on the Kolisi Field, Kingswood kept St Charles College at bay to win 22-19, being forced to hold on for victory in the dying moments.
Leading 22-12, Kingswood conceded a try with three minutes to go when Bonga Nkosi barged his way over and the successful conversion gave them a chance to snatch the game out of the fire.
They went immediately back onto the attack, but this time Kingswood were able to organise their defence properly and eventually turned over possession to win a scrum and kick the ball over the deadball line.
Framesby had a good first half against Parel Vallei, leading 14-10 at the break, but then fell away completely to concede six tries in the second half as the Somerset West school romped to a 50-14 victory.
Selborne and SACS had a humdinger, but the Cape Town side had just enough gas in the tank to register a 34-26 win, while Dale scored two intercept tries by scrumhalf Lukho Mzingaye to sink Pearson’s hopes 32-17.
Down 32-5 at one stage, Pearson came back well in the latter stages, but the gap was too big, and they were left reflecting afterwards on what could have been had they not conceded those 14 points.
The first team results on the opening day were:
Kingswood 22 St Charles College 19
Graeme College 35 Kearsney 33
Daniel Pienaar 34 Hudson Park 34
Parel Vallei 50 Framesby 14
Drostdy 74 St Stithians 0
SACS 34 Selborne 26
Dale 32 Pearson 17
Rondebosch 42 Glenwood 22
Grey High 28 Michaelhouse 19
Monday’s first team fixtures are:
Kolisi Field
8am: Pearson v Mzwandile Mali XV, 9.10: Kingswood v St Stithians; 10.25: SACS v Kearsney; 11.45: St Andrew’s v Michaelhouse; 12.55: Drostdy v Selborne; 14.05: Grey High v Glenwood; 15.25: Rondebosch v KES
Pollock Oval
9.10: Parel Vallei v Hudson Park; 11.45: Graeme v St Charles; 15.25: Muir v Dale
Note: A late change to the fixtures sees Pearson playing Mzwandile Mali XV at 8am, Selborne v Drostdy at 12.55, and Grey High against Glenwood at 14.05 on the Kolisi Field.
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