KES hosted Affies in Johannesburg on Saturday as part of their annual fixture list. The match was a very tightly contested affair with KES in the lead 13-12 until 9 minutes left in the match when they eventually succumbed to the slow poisoning by Affies, who used their dominant forwards, as well as deliberate and sustained pressure play to beat them 19-13.
Affies and KES played each other twice last season with Affies beating KES at home and KES, in turn, beating Affies at home. Not much was expected from the Affies 1stXV this season, however, the positive impact of the new Head of Rugby, Ryno van der Merwe and his coaching staff is already visible judging from the solid performance of the Affies 1stXV so far this season, which includes victories over top schools Paarl Gim and Paul Roos and now KES as one of the strongest schools in the Johannesburg area. The only loss for Affies so far was a 1 point score difference against Garsfontein. This positive impact is also visible throughout the rest of the teams where Affies beat all the KES teams.
Other results:
Affies 2nd vs KES 2nd 27 - 08
Affies 3rd vs KES 3rd 33 - 00
Affies 5th vs KES 4th 19 - 05
Affies 7th vs KES 5th 31 - 00
Affies 9th vs KES 6th 21 - 00
Affies 16A vs KES 16A 12 - 07
Affies 16B vs KES 16B 12 - 08
Affies 16C vs KES 16C 40 - 00
Affies 16D vs KES 16D 52 - 00
Affies 15A vs KES 15A 62 - 00
Affies 15B vs KES 15B 66 - 07
Affies 15E vs KES 15C 17 - 14
Affies 15F vs KES 15D 45 - 07
KES 1stXV Succumbed To Slow Poisoning By The Affies 1stXV
The first half started with KES making their intentions clear by playing the ball wide trying to avoid the big Affies forward pack. They initially managed to keep Affies pinned in their half from where they forced a penalty which they kicked to open their scoring tally 03-00 with 5 minutes played in the half.
Affies managed to attack into the KES quarter right from the restart of play, beating the KES midfield defence and nearly scoring a try. They however lost the ball forward giving KES a scrum put in from where they got the possession and managed to play out of their half. KES then forced Affies to concede another penalty inside their half which they kicked to increase their lead 06-00 after 10 minutes played in the half.
Affies again forced KES into their quarter from the restart of play after KES conceded a penalty which Affies kicked for the line. Affies then attacked the KES try line with slow and deliberate forward driving play to set up a base to spread the ball down the backline to try and beat the KES defence. Affies managed to get over the try line but the ball was held up.
Affies then nearly crossed the try line again however handling errors and the solid KES defence prevented them from scoring and allowed KES to exit their half with a very good line clearance kick. KES then attacked into the Affies' half with a good combination of forward and backline play but conceded penalties which allowed Affies to exit their half every time.
Affies then forced KES back into their half from where KES conceded a penalty which Affies kicked for a lineout in the KES quarter. Affies then launched a powerful driving maul and scored a try to open their scoring tally 6-5 with 14 minutes left to play in the half.
KES responded by attacking into the Affies quarter from where they cleverly chip-kicked the ball over the Affies backline defence which they collected to score a very good converted try under the uprights taking the score to 13-05 with 10 minutes left to play in the half.
With 5 minutes left to play in the half, Affies again attacked the KES try line from a lineout however the ball was lost forward due to the defensive pressure by KESp, spoiling another scoring opportunity. The halftime score was 13-05 in favour of KES.
The second half started with Affies playing into the KES quarter with more deliberate pressure play setting up an attacking lineout. However, Affies lost the ball on their throw-in and KES managed to again play themselves out of trouble with another good line clearance kick.
The pressure relief for KES was however short-lived as Affies launched a number of attacking driving mauls which resulted in KES being given a yellow card for repeated infringements whilst defending the mauls. Affies used this opportunity to score a converted try which closed the scoreline gap to 13-12 with 23 minutes left to play in the match.
Although the match play then briefly settled in the mid-field with the possession and territory changing hands, the slow poisoning by Affies was starting to take effect. They increased the match tempo and loosened the play by using their backline players to run the ball hard at the KES defence which started to waver.
With 9 minutes left to play in the match, Affies scored a very well-worked converted try after they launched a planned backline movement from a scrum in the KES quarter to take the lead for the first time in the match at 13-19.
Although KES tried to counter-attack during the last minutes of the match, the Affies defence and especially the pressure exerted by them in the lineouts, forced KES to commit errors and turn the possession over until the time ran out on the clock giving Affies a well-deserved 13-19 victory.
Scorers:
Affies: Tries: H. Venter (2), G. Maritz. Conversions: S. Heymans (2).
KES: Tries: K. Tekane. Conversion: TJ. Cardoso. Penalties: J. Cardoso (2).
Teams:
Affies: 15. M. de Lange, 14. S. Brits, 13. T. de Wet, 12. H. Horn, 11. M. Nel, 10. S. Heymans, 9. A. Shahia, 8. D. Schubert, 7. B. Roos, 6. E. van Heerden, 5. B. Andreas, 4. E. Jooste, 3. Z. Maritz, 2. H. Venter, 1. S. Truter. Replacements: 16. FC van Rooyen, 17. C. Steyn, 18. M. Kohler, 19. A. Grotius, 20. CF Delport, 21. A. Pretorius, 22. G. Maritz, 23. C. van der Westhuizen.
KES: 15. J. Cardoso, 14. O. Oluwole, 13. M. Ncunca, 12. C. Lombard, 11. K. Tekane, 10. T. Masondo, 9. B. Jackson, 8. K. Molefe, 7. V. van Buuren, 6. B. Shazi, 5. H. Njoteni, 4. T. Biyela, 3. L. Selahla, 2. J. Dullisear, 1. C. Hirschowitz. Replacements: 16. R. de Oliveira, 17. Z. Joubert, 18. L. Moloi, 19. J. Carr, 20. A. Anhaeusser, 21. M. Joubert, 22. A. Viljoen, 23. T. Jones.
Article by Francois du Toit