St Andrew’s College gave their supporters plenty to cheer about when they won their first schools rugby match of the season with a solid 33-27 result over Cradock rivals Marlow Agricultural in Makhanda on Saturday.
It was a typically bruising affair against a team who never go down without a fight, but eventually the home team had built up enough of a lead to hold their tenacious opponents at bay.
No 8 James Badenhorst was the standout player for St Andrew’s, crossing for two tries and being a constant threat to the Marlow defence with his surging runs.
Big lock Josh van Zyl was also a factor when St Andrew’s built up momentum and one of his drives upfield saw flyhalf Luke Chorley cross for a crucial score in the second half.
That match was on a knife’s edge at that stage, with St Andrew’s enjoying a narrow 21-20 lead with 15 minutes left.
Chorley’s try gave them some breathing space and then Van Zyl charged over for another score that restored their lead to a more comfortable 33-20 margin with just more than 10 minutes left.
Though the persistent Marlow team continued to press and scored one more try by JG de Lange, St Andrew’s had done enough to plant the seeds of a possible revival to their season.
Earlier St Andrew’s took the lead with a converted try by Ross Faber and Badenhorst’s first try, and the accurate boot of Will Stephens put them 14-10 ahead at the break.
Though Marlow hit back with tries by centre Matthew Lieberum before halftime and hooker Herman le Roux after the break, their lead at 17-14 was short-lived.
The home team bounced back through Badenhorst and then came the tries from Chorley and Van Zyl to put St Andrew’s in the driving seat, despite the late riposte from Marlow.
Across town on the Marais Field at Graeme College, the home side underlined all the quality of their attacking play among backs and forwards as they brushed aside the Cambridge challenge for a 66-0 halftime lead and a final score of 90-21.
Typically, fullback Lucritia Magau was in the thick of things with a hat-trick of tries, and towering wing Asakhe Ranuga and hooker Athi Manyati both went over twice.
There was never any way back for the visitors after that punishing first half, but accolades, though, must go to Cambridge, who showed enormous resolve after the break to score three tries to nearly match their opponents in that period.
In KuGompo City, Port Rex registered a solid 31-19 win over Ooskus Gymnasium, while the following matches were cancelled or postponed due to the heavy rain which fell in the region last week: Hudson Park vs Kingswood, Grey High vs Queen’s, Nico Malan vs Pearson, Muir vs Union High.
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