Kingswood College made it two wins out of two at the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival when they outgunned St Stithians 38-20 in their second match on the Kolisi Field in Gqeberha on Monday.
On Saturday the Makhanda side had been stretched to the limits by St Charles College before winning 22-19, but this time they exerted greater control to register a comfortable victory.
St Stithians drew first blood on Monday with a penalty by Matthew Anderson, but Kingswood quickly got back into the game.
Inside centre Sam Dunne scored the first try of the match and there was nothing subtle about it as he took a pass on the 22-metre line and barged through to score.
Anderson then added two more penalties as Saints took a 13-12 lead into the break.
While blindside flank Josh Mackenzie delivered a top-notch performance on Saturday for Kingswood, his brother, right wing James, rose to the occasion on Monday, crossing for a brilliant hat-trick of tries.
His first two tries were scored from kicks ahead by scrumhalf Ryan O’Sullivan and centre Luniko Marivate, while the third came when he burst away from a maul 25-metres out to make sure of victory for his team.
Grey High used the cohesion of their pack to grind out a tough 34-12 win over Glenwood in difficult conditions on the second and final day of the festival on the Kolisi Field in Gqeberha on Monday.
With a powerful westerly wind blowing down the field, neither side were able to produce the sort of running rugby for which they are renowned, and, in the end, it was the home side who managed the conditions better as they transformed a 17-5 halftime lead into the final victory.
After scoring three tries in the first half, they were able to starve their KwaZulu-Natal rivals of possession in the second period, when the visitors had the wind at the backs and a chance to dominate the territory stakes.
Instead, Grey employed a strong driving maul to send over Adam Fourie and Christopher Vosloo late in the game to put the final nails in the Glenwood coffin.
Earlier in the half, scrumhalf Ryan Swarbrick delivered the Durban side a big blow when he took the ball from a maul about 20-metres out and darted through a gap to beat the cover defence for a brilliant try.
That made it 22-5 and although fullback Rosco Williams crossed for a wonderful effort after a breakout from the halfway line, Glenwood could not penetrate the solid Grey defence easily.
In the first half, flank Cole Bennett scored twice and wing Noah Mbizi once, all through driving mauls.
Meanwhile, St Andrew’s and Selborne suffered tough defeats on the final day. St Andrew’s went down to Michaelhouse 41-5 and the East London team were outclassed by Drostdy 67-12.
Daily Dispatch
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