The final day of a very successful St John's Rugby Festival started in wet and cold conditions due to heavy rain during the night. This will, however, not dampen the spirits of the players, who are certain to deliver more exciting rugby during the tough match-ups scheduled for the day.
Maritzburg College 26-22 Jeppe
The rain came down for the final match of the festival. The first half started with an evenly yet tightly contested battle. Both teams used the boot with tactical and chip kicks to try and force the other to commit errors. Maritzburg eventually gained good territory and scored a converted try after strong forward-driving play in Jeppe's quarter to open the score at 07-00. Jeppe responded by attacking into the Maritzburg quarter where they scored a converted try to equal the score 07-07. Jeppe played into the Maritzburg quarter again with a penalty kick. From there they put together good forward attacking phases and scored a try to take a 12-07 lead which was the halftime score.
Jeppe increased their lead to 15-07 with a penalty kick early in the second half. Maritzburg then found some space and forced Jeppe into their quarter from where they scored a converted try to take the score to 15-14. Jeppe camped in the Maritzburg quarter for an extended period but was unable to score. Maritzburg then found a gap in the mid-field defence and sprinted through to score a converted try under the posts and took the lead at 21-15 for the first time. The arm wrestle then continued until Maritzburg scored a very well-worked try in the corner after again finding a gap in the mid-field defence. This increased their lead by 26-15. Jeppe in turn scored a great try at the end of the match by running it in from their half. However, Maritzburg had the last say as the well-deserved victors with a 26-22 score.
Pretoria Boys High 31-24 Nelspruit
Boys High was the first team to score when they went over the try line in the corner to score a well-worked converted try, taking a 07-00 lead within the first 2 minutes of the half. Boys High then worked their way back into the Nelspruit's quarter, where they scored another well-worked try in the corner, increasing their lead to 14-00. Nelspruit slowly forced Boys High into their quarter, where they scored a try after patient pressure play, closing the scoreline gap to 14-05. They scored another try soon after the restart of play to make it a 4-point score difference at 14-10, which was the halftime score.
Boys High threw the first punch in the second half when they scored a converted try after they beat the backline defence, increasing their lead by 21-10. Nelspruit responded by playing into Boys High's quarter with a penalty kick. They then took a quick-tap penalty in front of Boys High's posts and sniped through the defence to score a converted try. This closed the scoreline gap to 21-17. The possession then changed hands with both teams wanting to play the ball wide. Boys High took advantage of loose play in Nelspruit's quarter and used a long pass out wide to score a try in the corner taking the score to 26-17 with 9 minutes left to play. Boys High then effectively used a succession of driving mauls to gain ground up to the Nelspruit try line, where they scored a try from a penalty lineout driving maul. With the score now at 31-17 and 2 minutes left to play, Nelspruit attacked Boys High's try line and scored a converted try to close the gap to 31-24, which was the final score of a well-contested match.
Boland Landbou 50-15 Welkom Gim
Boland was the first team to fire shots when they scored a try after 5 minutes of play to take a 05-00 lead. Welkom Gim attacked into the Boland quarter where they forced them to concede a penalty, which they kicked to take the score to 05-03. Boland then got a penalty lineout 5 meters out from the Welkom Gim try line and scored a try to increase their lead 10-03. The match settled into a midfield arm wrestle with both teams using their forwards to gain ground. Boland broke the stalemate when they played the ball wide and beat the defence with pace to score a converted try in the corner. This increased their lead to 17-03. Welkom Gim responded by repeatedly attacking the Boland try line, coming close to scoring a few times. However, the solid Boland defence held tight until Welkom Gim managed to score a try from a quick-tap penalty, closing the scoreline gap to 17-08, which was the halftime score.
Welkom Gim kept Boland pinned in their half, defending their try line like demons for the first 8 minutes of the second half. However, Boland scored a converted try when they broke through the midfield defence to increase their lead 24-08. Welkom Gim immediately responded by scoring a converted try to close the scoreline gap to 24-15. Boland then scored a converted try when they sliced through the defence at pace, taking the score to 31-15 with 15 minutes left to play. They then used their forwards to attack the Welkom Gim try line, where they scored another try. With the score at 36-15, Boland was now well in control of the match with 10 minutes left to play. They continued to score points and comfortably won the match 50-15.
St Johns 18-07 St Charles
The first 20 minutes of the match was an arm wrestle with both teams unable to score points. St Johns thereafter started to set up camp in St Benedict's 22m and after launching wave after wave of attacks scored the first try of the match to lead 07-00 and 4 minutes left to play in the first half.
St John's attacked from the kickoff and scored their second try in two minutes to lead 12-00 at the halftime break which was obviously not a true reflection of the first 30 minutes of action.
An early penalty conversion by St Johns made it a three-score game for St Benedicts. A mistake by St John's on their own tryline allowed St Charles' scrumhalf to score their first points of the match.
A St John's penalty stretched their lead back to 18-07. However, St Charles played with a lot more confidence and launched wave after wave of attacks on St John's tryline. However, St John's defence held and earned them a well-deserved 18-07 win.
Noordheuwel 52-11 St Benedict's
St Benedict opened the scoring with a penalty after two minutes of play. Noordheuwel attacked from the following kickoff and mastered a spilt ball from st Benedict's to go over in the corner to lead 07-03 after 8 minutes of play.
Noorheuwel started to wrestle control from St Benedicts and scored two consecutive two tries following 5m lineout-mauls to lead 21-06 after 18 minutes of play. A fourth try by Noordheuwel gave them a well-deserved 28-06 lead.
St Benedicts scored their first try after 26 minutes of play to trail 11-28 at the halftime break.
Noordheuwel continued to dominate in the second half and added 24 unanswered points to win 52-11.
Graeme College 10-36 Hilton College
Graeme College opened the scoring tally 03-00 with a penalty kick very early in the half. However, Hilton flexed their muscles when they played up into the Graeme College half and scored two quick consecutive tries. This put them in the lead with 12-03 and 20 minutes left to play in the half. Graeme College responded with good attacking play in the Hilton half, playing the ball wide left and right at pace. But the Hilton defence held fast and they turned over the ball. Hilton then forced Graeme College to concede a penalty in front of their posts, which they kicked to increase their lead 15-03. Graeme College, not to be outdone, forced Hilton into their quarter. They scored a converted try after they relentlessly attacked the Hilton try line to close the scoreline gap to 15-10. Hilton kicked a penalty at the end of the half to take the halftime score to 18-10 in favour of Hilton.
Hilton forced another penalty 6 minutes into the second half, which they kicked to take the score to 21-10. 3 Minutes later they were awarded a penalty in the same spot, which they kicked to increase their lead 24-10. Graeme College played into the Hilton quarter and tried to break the solid Hilton defence, however, Hilton absorbed the pressure. They kicked the ball downfield and collected it to score another converted try after a Graeme College player dropped the catch. Hilton scored the final try of the match when they ran in from the midfield at pace to score in the corner to take a deserved 36-10 victory.
Grey College 40-07 LionsXV
Grey drew first blood in the half when they scored a converted try after 7 minutes. They used their forwards to methodically force their way up to the Lions' try line to score the try and take a 07-00 lead. The Lions tried to play into the Grey half, but Grey took control of the ball and scored another converted try when they beat the defence out wide, increasing their lead 14-00. Grey, who had the majority possession, continued to play the ball upfield using their forwards to get over the advantage line and gain good ground. However, the good Lions' defence and errors caused by the wet conditions prevented them from scoring. They eventually scored a try in extra time, after relentless attacking play, which took the half-time score to 19-00.
The Lions opened their scoring tally 19-07 early in the second half with a converted try, after good pressure play. Grey responded by scoring two converted tries to increase their lead to a comfortable 33-07. Grey then stayed in control for the remainder of the match and scored a final converted try at the end to take a well-deserved 40-07 victory.