Grey High used the cohesion of their pack to grind out a tough 34-12 win over Glenwood in difficult conditions on the second and final day of the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival on the Kolisi Field in Gqeberha on Monday.
With a powerful westerly wind blowing down the field, neither side was able to produce the sort of running rugby for which they are renowned and, in the end, it was the home side who managed the conditions better as they transformed a 17-5 halftime lead into the final victory.
After scoring three tries in the first half, they were able to starve their KwaZulu-Natal rivals of possession in the second period, when the visitors had the wind at their backs and a chance to dominate the territory stakes.
Instead, Grey employed a strong driving maul to send over Adam Fourie and Christopher Vosloo late in the game to put the final nails in the Glenwood coffin.
Earlier in the half, scrumhalf Ryan Swarbrick delivered the Durban side a big blow when he took the ball from a maul about 20 metres out and darted through a gap to beat the cover defence for a brilliant try.
That made it 22-5, and although fullback Rosco Williams crossed for a wonderful effort after a breakout from the halfway line, Glenwood could not penetrate the solid Grey defence easily.
In the first half, flank Cole Bennett scored twice and wing Noah Mbizi once, all through driving mauls.
Earlier, in one of the comebacks of the day, SACS sent shockwaves through the Kearsney camp to snatch victory with three tries late in the game.
The KwaZulu-Natal side looked to have things under control when they led 27-14 going into the final quarter.
But SACS had the strong wind at their backs and by keeping Kearsney deep in their own half they managed to force their way over for two tries to reshape the game as they edged into a one-point lead.
For good measure, they added one more try to finish the match 33-27 ahead, leaving Kearsney to ponder what might have been at this festival after they lost to Graeme College by two points on Saturday.
The Graemians and Parel Vallei finished the festival on a high with wins over St Charles College and Hudson Park respectively.
Playing into the stiff breeze, Graeme were outstanding in the first half, led by elusive centre and captain Erin Nelson, as they piled on 29 points by the break, with St Charles scoring just one try.
Nelson produced the try of the game as he showed why it is so dangerous to give him a hint of space, sprinting 50 metres to cross the whitewash.
Other tries came from Selunathi Mfundisi, Luke Doyle and Asakhe Ranuga, while St Charles scored through Bongi Nkosi.
Graeme did not maintain the same momentum after the break, and St Charles came back with two good tries before the Makhanda team found some control again near the end to cross for two more tries to make it a decisive win.
Parel Vallei got ahead against Hudson Park and stayed there to win 28-15, while Kingswood turned on the power to outgun St Stithians 38-20.
Michaelhouse bounced back from their loss to Grey High to defeat St Andrew’s 41-5 and Drostdy had too much class for Selborne, winning 67-12.
In the final matches of the festival, Rondebosch beat KES 29-12, and Dale edged past Muir 29-26.
The day two results were:
Pearson 57-12 Mzwandile Mali XV
Kingswood 38-20t St Stithians
Parel Vallei 28-15 Hudson Park
SACS 33-27 Kearsney
Graeme 43-17 St Charles
Michaelhouse 41-05 St Andrew’s
Drostdy 67-12 Selborne
Grey High 34-12 Glenwood
Rondebosch 29-12 KES
Dale 29-26 Muir
