Graeme College 23 - 6 Muir College
On Saturday, Graeme hosted Muir in Grahamstown for the last derby fixture of the Winter season. With the weather getting a little closer to the expectations of the upcoming change of season, it was a perfect day for rugby.It’s a fixture that always signals the end of the rugby season - an opportunity for matrics to show their worth to the school one last time.
The Graeme junior school had a great day, winning 5 of their matches along with two draws. The senior school had similar results, losing just one match, along with one draw and 5 wins. Graeme will be delighted then to finished their last derby with 10 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss on the day. The Graeme sides have had a superb end to the season and can be very proud of their results. Most of the Graeme sides proved a little too strong for Muir on the day.
The first team match will be remembered as a scrappy encounter that never really got going. Both teams seemed content on playing the man rather than the ball as emotions ran high on the day.
Graeme scored two unconverted tries in the first half. The first came from a good rolling maul before the ball made its way out wide to Azizipho Mncongo, who beat his opposition defender and crashed over superbly in the corner. Azizipho would later be named the Graeme 1stXV player of the season and top try scorer. The second try came from a quick tap by Cameron Amos who then found Bukhosi Mhlambiso who also went over in the corner. Graeme kept mounting the pressure and would’ve been disappointed to not score another try before half time. Muir kicked a penalty to make it 10-3 at the break.
At half time the game was still there for the taking, as no one gained momentum in the scrappy affair, despite Graeme getting the majority of the opportunities. Graeme managed to kick a penalty to take the score to 13-3. Muir replied with one of their own penalties to make it 13-6. Again, Graeme’s forwards managed to gain the upper hand before the ball made its way out wide to centre Simamkele Ngxesha, who went over in the corner for Graeme’s third try. This time Sivu Ngqiyaza made no mistake as he converted to increase Graeme’s lead to 20-6. Shortly after that, he slotted another penalty to take the score to 23-6. Graeme were able to get the majority of the good ball from a forward pack that was dominant at set pieces.
Even though neither team ever found their stride Graeme will be delighted with the final result. They would’ve hoped for a slightly better record this season but nonetheless they have finished strongly since the draw to Nico Malan with wins over Union High, Pearson and Muir and a good result against a strong Kingswood side.
Summary of results:
Graeme Junior rugby results vs Muir:
U11D won 25-0
U11C drew 5-5
U11B won 17-12
U11A won 12-7
U13C won 29-10
U13B won 27-10
U13A drew 15-15
Graeme Senior rugby results vs Muir:
U14B lost 12-5
U14A won 37-5
U15A drew 17-17
u16a won 48-0
3rds won 24-7
2nds won 20-5
1st XV won 23-6