Day 2 of the St John's Rugby Festival promised to deliver more exciting rugby and will test the depth and preparedness of some teams, which were playing their second match in three days. There also may be some surprise results in the offer. The weather is perfect with warm, dry and windless conditions.
Pretoria Boys High 26-19 Grey High
After 13 minutes of action-packed rugby, it was Grey High that opened the scoring with a try to lead 05-00. It took Pretoria Boys Haai another 16 minutes to reply with a try to take a 07-05 lead and 7 minutes left to play in the first half.
The battle continued and with 17 minutes left to play Grey High scored a brilliant try down the tryline to retake the lead with 12-07 to which Pretoria Boys High replied within seconds to retake the lead once again 14-12.
Pretoria Boys High dominated the final minutes of play and extended their lead with two well-worked tries to lead 26-12 and three minutes to play.
Although Grey High scored a deserved consolation try Pretoria Boys High was the deserved winner with 26-19.
Jeppe 24-20 Hilton
Jeppe attacked from the kickoff and score a great try before Hilton could react to lead 07-00. This was followed by brilliant stepping from the Jeppe attackers and they scored a second try after just 6 minutes of play to lead 12-00.
A brilliant third try by Jeppe gave them a convincing 19-00 lead as the backs of Jeppe is running Hilton's defence to pieces.
It took Hilton 22 minutes to score their first points with a try in the corner. Hilton scored their second try after sustained pressure to go into the second half trailing 10-19.
Hilton started the second half as they started the first and scored their third try, bulldozing their way over the tryline to cut Jeppe's lead to 19-17. A converted penalty by Hilton gave them a 20-19 lead with 20 minutes to play.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Jeppe launched wave after wave of attacks and eventually scored a great try to lead 24-20 which was also the final score.
A brilliant match between two willing and able teams who left everything on the pitch.
Boland Landbou 26-19 Noordheuwel
It took Boland Landbou 30 seconds to score the first try of the match following a brilliant cross-kick which was controlled for a try in the corner to which Noorheuwel replied three minutes later with a converted penalty.
The rest of the first half was a fast-paced match with Boland Landbou maybe just the more dominant side. Noorheuwel converted a penalty on the stroke of halftime to trail 06-10.
After 12 minutes of action, both teams scored a try each and Boland Landbou still led 17-13 in a fast-paced match. Two penalties by Noordheuwel made it a 2 point game.
Boland Landbou scored their second try after setting up camp in Noordheuwel's red zone for five minutes to retake the lead 24-19 and seven minutes to play.
The final minutes were frantic rugby with both sides attacking with purpose and met by brutal defence. Boland Landbou was the victor after seventy minutes of brutal and exciting rugby.
Nelspruit 19-43 Maritzburg College
Nelspruit dominated from the word go and scored their first try after 6 minutes of play to lead 07-00. Maritzburg replied immediately with a try of their own to level the score after 10 minutes of play 07-07.
Both sides played some exciting rugby, however, the brilliant defence by both sides kept the other from scoring until Maritzburg College attacked out wide to score a brilliant try to take a 12-7 lead for the first time in the match.
Nelspruit attacked from the kickoff and scored after a missed tackle by Maritzburg College to take back the lead with 14-12. The ding-dong battle continued when it was Maritzburg College's turn to cross the whitewash and retook the lead with 19-14 to go into the second half with a 5-point lead.
Maritzburg College struck within two minutes of the start of the second half with their third try, whereafter they also added a converted penalty to lead 29-14 with 20 minutes of play left.
Both teams scored a try each during the next ten minutes with Maritzburg leading 36-19 and ten minutes to go. A trie late in the second half by Maritzburg College gave them an impressive 43-19 win.
St Johns College 20-20 Graeme College
Graeme Collge was on the board within a minute of play spreading the ball out wide and scoring in the corner. St John's reacted and spent 10 minutes in the red zone of Graeme College. Wave after wave of attacks eventually paid off when St Johns crossed the tryline for their first try of the match. However, Graeme College still led 07-05 as St Johns missed the conversion.
St Johns dominated play for most of the first half, however, Graeme College's backline broke free and after a few phases Grame College scored their second try against the run of play to lead 12-05. Graeme College struck almost immediately again when they scored in the other corner to lead 17-05 going into the second half.
St John's started like a house on fire and scored their second try after two minutes of play to cut Graeme College's lead to 17-12.
The following 16 minutes was a ding-dong battle with both teams having their opportunities to score. Graeme College converted a penalty to extend their lead to 20-12 and 12 minutes of play. However, St John's converted a penalty of their own two minutes later.
Thereafter St Johns set up camp in Graeme College's red zone and scored the equaliser with time already up on the clock.
St Charles 31-09 St Benedict's
St Charles quickly managed to pin St Benedict's in their quarter from where they attacked their try line. They scored a try and took a 05-00 lead. St Benedict's applied some pressure on St Charles in their half, however, St Charles played the ball wide and scored a good try when the ball was chipped down the sideline and dotted down behind the try line taking the score to 10-00. St Benedict's responded by forcing St Charles to concede a penalty, which they kicked to open their scoring tally 10-03. St Charles got possession from a heel against the head scrum. They broke down the sideline and scored a converted try in the corner to increase their lead by 17-03.
The second half started with St Benedict's forcing St Charles into their quarter from where they kicked a penalty to close the scoreline gap to 17-06. They soon followed it up with another penalty kick to close the gap to 17-09. St Charles felt the increasing scoreboard pressure and attacked St Benedict's try line. They scored a converted try with good forward-driving play, which increased their lead 24-09. St Charles took control of the match and started to enjoy more possession and territory. They scored another converted try when they sliced through St Benedict's midfield defence to take their score to 31-09, which was the final score.
Welkom Gim 19-17 Lions XV
The first half started with both teams flexing their muscles and being unwilling to concede territory. Welkom Gim eventually got the upper hand and forced the Lions into their quarters, where they attacked the try line. However, they conceded some penalties, which allowed the Lions to escape and counterattack into the Welkom Gim quarter. Welkom Gim conceded a penalty which the Lions kicked to open their scoring tally 03-00. Welkom Gim responded by again attacking the Lions' try line and they scored a converted try after repeated attempts to take a 07-03, which was the halftime score.
Welkom Gim drew first blood in the second half when they scored a converted try in the corner after they beat the defence out wide. This increased their lead to 14-03. Welkom Gim then camped in the Lions' quarter, until the Lions intercepted the ball and ran from there to score a converted try. This closed the scoreline gap to 14-10. The Lions then came close to scoring another try but lost the ball forward whilst going over the try line. With Welkom Gim on the attack, the Lions again intercepted a pass and scored a converted try in the corner to take a 17-14 lead for the first time in the match with 4 minutes left to play. The lead was, however, short-lived as Welkom Gim scored a try after beating the defence out wide, retaking the lead 19-17 and snatching the victory.
