Grey College continued their reign at the top of the Ruggas.co.za1stXV ranking, beating Affies 31-27 in a nailbiter on the Plaas. Grey College scored the winning points in the final seconds of the match. Grey once again showed that their counterattacks from anywhere on the pitch are their strength which has secured several close matches in 2024.
Affies dominated in the first half, forcing Grey College into making several uncharacteristic errors to lead 16-00 until the final seconds of the first half before Grey College scored a try to trail 07-16 going into the second half. Grey scored in the first minutes of the second half to reduce their host's lead to just two points. Thereafter, the match was balanced on a knife's edge despite Grey's "dominance", however, Grey scored a try with seconds left to play to "steal" a 31-27 win.
Affies started like a house on fire and converted three penalties to lead 09-00 after twenty-five minutes of play.
Despite Grey clawing their way back into the match, Affies picked up a dropped ball by the backline of Grey on the attack and scored a sixty-odd meter try in the corner to lead 16-00 minutes before halftime.
Grey College scored a try seconds before the halftime break to trail 07-16, however, a second try two minutes into the second half cut Affies' lead to just 16-14.
Three minutes later Affies scored an unconverted try which was followed by a converted try by Grey four minutes later to level the scores 21-21.
The ding-dong battle continued and Affies converted a penalty each before Affies converted a penalty with a minute left on the clock to play, to lead 27-24. However, Grey attacked from the kickoff and scored a dominant try with seconds left on the clock to secure a "smach-and-grab" 31-27 win.
