Grey College delivered a masterclass in precision rugby to blow away Gqeberha rivals Grey High 48-10 on a windy Kolisi Field in their King Price Derby Series schools rugby clash on Saturday.
The home team may have been disappointed with their lack of accuracy at times, but that cannot detract from the ruthlessly clinical performance of Grey College, who swept in for six tries in the first half to lead 38-0 at the break.
As committed as College were on defence, so were they lethal on attack, typified by their third try when the Gqeberha team were camped in their opponents’ 22.
The Bloem team were quick to sense an opportunity for a counter-ruck, which won them the ball, and it was sent to outstanding fullback Lamla Mgedezi, who went on a thrilling 70-metre run for a try.
While Grey High had their chances early on, they struggled to break down the visiting defence.
In contrast, Grey College wasted no time in seizing their opportunities as they showed with two tries from a powerful maul in the first 16 minutes.
It was no surprise that, when the home team infringed twice in succession, Grey College kicked for touch and then drove their way over for Xander Smit to score their first try and Alexi Tyropolis to cross over a bit later in similar circumstances.
The magical Mgedezi then showed his influence before powerful centre Ethan Adams proved unstoppable on the left flank as Grey College went on the attack again.
Smit registered his second try after another driving maul and the visitors showed their confidence and attacking skill when they won an opposing line-out on the halfway line with the clock showing time up for halftime.
Instead of kicking the ball safely into touch, Grey College launched another offensive and as they spread the ball wide, Mgedezi sent a deft back-of-the-hand pass for wing Benjamin van den Berg to sprint over for the first of his two tries.
It looked ominous for the Grey High team at the break, but to their credit, they stayed in the fight until the end, in fact scoring three tries to the two of their opponents in the second half.
The first came in the 44th minute when a slick backline move saw centre Bradley Myburgh bamboozle the College defence to score near the poles.
Later on, lively wing Noah Mbizi was on hand to score two outstanding tries as he showed great commitment and pace to dodge his way through the visiting defence.
Those were negated somewhat by Grey College’s strong running, with centre O’Ryan Klein always in the thick of things, which saw them cross for further tries by Van den Berg and left wing Thristan Maree.
Grey High enjoyed one of their best rugby years in terms of overall performance, with nine wins in the 20 matches.
The Herald
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