In a thunderous finale to the opening day of the Graeme College Rugby Festival, Graeme held on under intense pressure to hold off the power of Brandwag for a thrilling 31-27 victory.
It was a match in which both sides showed tremendous courage to produce a classic spectacle of schoolboy rugby.
After trailing 15-7 at halftime, Graeme blew the match wide open when they stunned their Kariega opponents with a three-try burst that took them into a 24-15 lead.
There was still plenty of time left, though, and Brandwag never panicked. Capitalising on a Graeme yellow card, they broke through twice to regain the lead 27-24.
But in another dramatic twist, Graeme scored their fifth try with four minutes remaining to go back in front and then held off two powerful drives by Brandwag five metres from their line to snatch a remarkable victory.
In the main curtain-raiser, Pearson produced a dramatic fightback with five minutes remaining, scoring two tries in that period to transform a 17-10 deficit into a 20-17 win.
Meanwhile, St John’s College sent a strong message to their Saturday opponents, Graeme, by demonstrating remarkable resilience in a 24-21 victory over Cambridge.
The match was a contest of shifting momentum, with each team enjoying periods of dominance.
St John’s took an early lead, surging ahead 14-0. However, Cambridge remained undeterred, as lock Nakwesi Masiso powered through to put his team on the scoreboard.
They struck again before halftime, and Masiso secured his second try shortly after the restart, giving St John’s a wake-up call as Cambridge took a 21-14 lead.
Regrouping, the Gauteng visitors capitalised on their forward strength to wrest back control, scoring two crucial tries to reclaim the lead, which they never relinquished.
The festival kicked off with an electrifying encounter between Mary Waters from Makhanda and Port Alfred High. In a thrilling battle, Mary Waters won 19-17.
Port Alfred led 5-0 at halftime and extended their advantage early in the second half to 12-0.
However, Mary Waters responded with determination, levelling the score with six minutes remaining. A dynamic attack down the right flank pushed them deep into Port Alfred territory, where powerful No 8 Johnny Mthembu stormed over from a five-metre scrum to put his team ahead 19-12.
Port Alfred refused to back down, responding with a third try after a well-executed play from a penalty on the 22-metre line. However, the missed conversion allowed Mary Waters to celebrate a dramatic victory.
In the second match, Otto du Plessis mounted an incredible comeback to edge Muir 29-26 in a game that could have ended differently had it not been for a crucial late-game error by Muir.
Leading 26-22 in the dying moments, Muir seemed poised for victory when Otto launched a final attack. The move broke down just metres from the Muir try line, but a costly mistake handed Otto an unexpected opportunity.
Instead of kicking the ball out to secure the win, a Muir defender illegally threw it over the touchline. This resulted in a penalty, which Otto capitalised on by powering over for the decisive try, completing a stunning turnaround after trailing 26-7 midway through the second half.
Stirling pulled away in the second half to claim a convincing 38-15 win over Hangklip. After a tightly contested first half, in which they trailed 15-14, Stirling ran in four tries in the second period to seal a commanding victory.